Hermann Heinrich Gossen, 1810 -1858, was a Prussian economist who also served as a public servant in the Prussian administration. Although he only wrote one book, that was also practically ignored until first Jevons and after Walras came across it, he became one of the biggest contributors to the value and distribution theory of the 19th century. Gossen is considered as a precursor of marginalism and mathematical economics.
In his “The Development of the Laws of Human Intercourse and the Consequent Rules of Human Action”, 1854, he uses mathematics to give a value to the utility concept of Bentham. Gossen develops the idea of marginal utility and reflects his ideas in what is known as Gossen’s Laws.
Gossen’s Laws:
The first law states: “The magnitude of a given pleasure decreases continuously if we continue to satisfy this pleasure without interruption until satiety is ultimately reached”, thus implying diminishing marginal utility.
The second law states: “The magnitude of each single pleasure at a moment when it’s enjoyable is broken off shall be the same for all pressure” which means that maximum satisfaction will be achieved when goods and needs are allocated and they provide the maximum utility.