Thomas Seebeck discovered the phenomenon of thermomagnetism, which is now called the "Seebeck effect." It was discovered in 1821, and though it made relatively little impact upon the scientific world for nearly a century, the Seebeck effect eventually became the foundation upon which all future work in thermoelectricity was built.

Seebeck was born in Estonia in 1770. The son of a wealthy German merchant, he was fortunate enough to study medicine at the universities of Berlin and Gottingen, the latter of which awarded him an M.D. in 1802. After graduation he moved to Jena, Germany, where he met the philosophers Schelling and Hegel, as well as the poet-philosopher Johann von Goethe, with whom he established something of a professional relationship--in fact, Seebeck was instrumental in the development of Goethe's (flawed) theories of light and color.

The discovery for which Seebeck is known came as a result of his...