# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/johann-jakob-balmer
# Generated: 2026-08-31T15:50:26.163Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/johann-jakob-balmer"
name: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
slug: "johann-jakob-balmer"
description: "A Swiss mathematician who cracked hydrogen's visible light puzzle in 1885 with an equation so precise it became the Rosetta Stone for atomic structure — though he never knew why it worked."
tagline: "Swiss mathematician (1825–1898)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Balmer.jpeg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Switzerland"
  isoCode: "CH"
category:
  name: "Academics"
  slug: "academics"
profileType:
  name: "Academic"
  slug: "academic"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1825-05-01"
deathDate: "1898-03-12"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           54.11
  momentum:             4.927536231884058
  historical:           22.038412
  currentAttention:     27.37520128824477
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Scientists"
    slug: "scientists"
  - name: "Scientist"
    slug: "scientist"
  - name: "Physics"
    slug: "physics"
  - name: "Mathematics"
    slug: "mathematics"
  - name: "Switzerland"
    slug: "switzerland"
  - name: "Europe"
    slug: "europe"
  - name: "19th Century"
    slug: "19th-century"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q122986"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Johann%20Jakob%20Balmer"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1"
    title: "یوهان بالمر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%8B%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A8_%E0%A6%9C%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%AC_%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0"
    title: "জোহান জ্যাকব বামার"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%93%CE%B9%CF%8C%CF%87%CE%B1%CE%BD_%CE%93%CE%B9%CE%AC%CE%BA%CE%BF%CE%BC%CF%80_%CE%9C%CF%80%CE%AC%CE%BB%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%81"
    title: "Γιόχαν Γιάκομπ Μπάλμερ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DB%8C%D9%88%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1"
    title: "یوهان بالمر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://gv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%94%D7%90%D7%9F_%D7%99%D7%90%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%91_%D7%91%D7%9C%D7%9E%D7%A8"
    title: "יוהאן יאקוב בלמר"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ht.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%85%D5%B8%D5%B0%D5%A1%D5%B6_%D5%85%D5%A1%D5%AF%D5%B8%D5%A2_%D4%B2%D5%A1%D5%AC%D5%B4%D5%A5%D6%80"
    title: "Յոհան Յակոբ Բալմեր"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Jakob_Balmer"
    title: "Johann Jakob Balmer"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1"
    title: "يوهان بالمر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1"
    title: "يوهان بالمر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Johann Jakob Balmer was born on 1 May 1825 in Switzerland, trained as a mathematician rather than a physicist. In middle age he turned his attention to the spectrum of hydrogen, hunting for a pattern in the wavelengths of its visible light. The formula he produced — the Balmer series — predicted those wavelengths with uncanny accuracy, revealing an order no one had yet explained. He published it without understanding the atomic mechanics beneath, years before quantum theory arrived to show what he'd found. Balmer died on 12 March 1898, his equation outliving him as a cornerstone of spectroscopy and a key that later unlocked the atom itself.