Charles Wheatstone was born on February 6, 1802 in Barnwood England, the son of a music seller and teacher. He became one of the most important experimental scientists of the 19th century. His list of inventions include
talking machine
Wheatstone is perhaps best known for the Wheatstone bridge a device that can measure the unknown value of a resistor given known values of three other resistors :
Wheatstone did not actually invent the device, but was the first to make extensive use of it. In mathematics, the term is sometimes used for the underlying abstract graph in which the resistors and the galvanometer are replaced by generic edges. It is commonly used as a simple example in reliability theory and in random walks.
Wheatstone was knighted in 1868 for his many contributions to science. He died on October 19, 1875 in Paris.