An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

The radiation law which states that at thermal equilibrium the ratio of the energy emitted by a body to the energy absorbed by it depends only on the temperature of the body.

See also: Gustav Robert Kirchhoff (1824-1887), a German physicist who made major contributions to the understanding of electric circuits, spectroscopy, and the emission of black-body radiation from heated objects; → law.