Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (German: ['k??çh?f]; 12 March 1824 – 17 October 1887) was a German physicist who contributed to the fundamental understanding of electrical circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation by heated objects.He coined the term black-body radiation in 1862.
Several different sets of concepts are named "Kirchhoff's laws" after him, concerning such diverse subjects as black body radiation and spectroscopy, electrical circuits, and thermochemistry.
The Bunsen–Kirchhoff Award for spectroscopy is named after him and his colleague, Robert Bunsen.