Gossen

Gossen is a German surname. The name has associations in both intellectual and technical history, most notably through the 19th-century German economist Heinrich Gossen, who formulated what are known as Gossen's laws concerning marginal utility and the distribution of resources. His work is regarded as an early foundation for modern utility theory and the concept of diminishing marginal returns.

In the realm of technology and photography, the name Gossen has been associated with a historic German manufacturer of measurement instruments, especially photographic light meters and other photometric devices. The company played a prominent role in the development of handheld exposure meters used by professional and amateur photographers. Over the course of the 20th century, the business underwent ownership changes and branding reorganizations, and the Gossen name has continued to appear in the market through various corporate structures that produce electrical and optical measuring instruments.

Today, Gossen functions both as a surname with historical significance and as a brand associated with measurement technology in Germany. The legacy includes contributions to economic theory through Gossen’s laws and to precision instrumentation through the development and propagation of light and photometric meters.