Famous German Scientists By: Korin

Science is Amazing! Just think; Everything around you is science. Science is happening to you RIGHT NOW and you can’t even feel it. Makes you wonder what else science is up to…

These men asked the same question and harvested some mighty important results. Most of what they found may not effect your daily life; however, their discoveries have added useful pieces to the puzzle that is life and reality as we know it.

Here are only a handful of the many great chemists and physicists that Germany has given us. Although you may vaguely learning some of this stuff in high school, remember; their discoveries were groundbreaking and unthinkable at the time.

Otto Hahn The “Father of Nuclear Chemistry” Born 8 th March, 1879 in Frankfurt Am Main, Hesse- Nassau, Prussia, German Empire Died 28 th July, 1968 in Göttingen, West Germany

Otto Hahn “The Father of Nuclear Chemistry” One of the most significant chemists of all time. Pioneered in the fields of Radioactivity, Radiochemistry and Nuclear Chemistry. Helped discover radioactive elements ( ) Discovered Nuclear Fission in 1938 –For this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944

Otto Hahn “The Father of Nuclear Chemistry” Nuclear Fission is used in nuclear reactors today (obviously). He was a strong opponent of Jewish persecution by the Nazi Party and after WWII passionately campaigned against the use of nuclear energy as a weapon. Due to his scholarly excellence and personal integrity, he became one of the most influential and revered citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Nuclear Fission

Niels Henrik David Bohr One of my role models! Born: 7 th Okt –Copenhagen, Denmark Died: 18 th Nov –Copenhagen, Denmark

Niels Bohr Won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his foundational contributions to the understanding of the atomic structure and quantum theory. Developed the Bohr Model of the atom. Predicted the existence of Hafnium [72]. –Named after the Latin name for Copenhagen where it was discovered. Bohrium [107] was later named after him. He made countless other discoveries but they’re too long to list.

Bohr Model of the Hydrogen Atom Energy levels of electrons are discrete. Electrons revolve (in stable orbits) around the center of a nucleus, but can jump from one orbit (energy level) or another.

Karl Ferdinand Braun Born: 6 th Jun –Fulda, Electorate of Hessen, Germany Died: 20 th Apr –Brooklyn, NY

Karl Ferdinand Braun Won the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the development of radio and television technology. Built the first Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) in 1897 and cathode ray tube oscilloscope. –Still called a “Braun Tube” in German countries Invented a crystal diode rectifier (cat’s whisker diode) in –Essentially made radio signals consume less bandwidth and allowed them to reach a much longer distance Created the phased array antenna in 1905, which then lead to the development of radar, smart antennas and MIMO.

Cathode-Ray Tube

Werner Karl Heisenberg Born: 5 th Dez –Würzburg, Bavaria, German Empire Died: 1 st Feb –Munich, Bavaria, West Germany

Werner Heisenberg He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1932 for “the creation of quantum mechanics”. He’s best known for his Uncertainty Principle, which he published in 1927, for which he built his philosophy. Also made great contributions to the theories of ferromagnetism, cosmic rays, subatomic particles and the atomic nucleus. He was instrumental in planning the first nuclear reactor at Karlsruhe as well as a research reactor in Munich in 1957.

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Born: 27 Mar –Lennep, Rhine Province, Germany Died: 10 th Feb –Munich, Germany

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 for his production and then discovery of Röntgen rays, or as we know them, X- Rays. –He made this groundbreaking discovery on 8 th Nov In 2004, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) named element 111, Roentgenium, after him.

Röentgen’s First X-Ray Images

Walther Nernst Born: 25 th Jun –Briesen, West Prussia Died: 18 th Nov –Zibelle, Lusatia, Germany

Walther Nernst Won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1920 for his theories behind the calculation of chemical affinity as embodied in the Third Law of Thermodynamics. He established the modern field of Physical Chemistry and contributed of Electrochemistry, Thermodynamics, Solid State Chemistry and Photochemistry. He developed the Nernst Equation.

Nernst’s Chemical Affinity “Chemical Affinity is the electronic property by which dissimilar chemical species (atoms/molecules/ions subjected to a chemical process or to a measurement) are capable of forming chemical compounds.”

Albert Einstein! Born: 14 th Mar –Ulm, Kingdom of Württemberg, Germany Died: 18 th Apr –Princeton, NJ

Albert Einstein Won Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the Photoelectric Effect. –The Photoelectric Effect would prove pivotal in establishing Quantum Theory. Developed the General Theory of Relativity. Most famous for discovering the Mass- Energy Equivalence formula E=mc²

Mass-Energy Equivalence In Physics, mass-energy equivalence is the concept that the mass of an object/system is a measure of its energy content.

Sorry to cut it short! But I took the liberty of making a review slide to go over the main points… …and to let you take notes if I went too fast or if you forgot!

To sum it up… Otto Hahn is famous for discovering nuclear fission. Niels Bohr created the Bohr Model of the atom. Karl Braun built the first Cathode Ray Tube (Braun Tube). Werner Heisenberg is famous for his Uncertainty Principle. Wilhelm Röntgen produced and discovered X-Rays (Röntgen Rays). Walther Nernst is famous for creating Chemical Affinity.

I encourage you to go out and explore what I’ve shared with you today! It’s amazing what happens when humans set their minds to something. You might just make the world a better place.

Works Cited /laureates/1922/bohr-bio.htmlhttp:// /laureates/1922/bohr-bio.html /laureates/1932/heisenberg-bio.htmlhttp:// /laureates/1932/heisenberg-bio.html and.ac.uk/Biographies/Heisenberg.htmlhttp://www-history.mcs.st- and.ac.uk/Biographies/Heisenberg.html /laureates/1909/braun-bio.htmlhttp:// /laureates/1909/braun-bio.html 57/Wilhelm-Conrad-Rontgenhttp:// 57/Wilhelm-Conrad-Rontgen ry/laureates/1920/nernst-bio.htmlhttp:// ry/laureates/1920/nernst-bio.html