Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887) 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, and two sets of independent concepts in both circuit theory and thermal emission are named "Kirchhoff's laws" after him, as well as a law of thermochemistry. The Bunsen-Kirchhoff Award for spectroscopy is named after him and his colleague, Robert Bunsen. He contributed greatly to the field of spectroscopy by formalizing three laws that describe the spectral composition of light emitted by incandescent objects. He also contributed to optics, carefully solving Maxwell's equations to provide a solid foundation for Huygen's principle (and correcting it in the process). He died in 1887 at the age of 63.