Berta Karlik

Berta Karlik (born 24 January 1904 in Vienna, † February 4, 1990 ibid ) was an Austrian physicist and the majority of their life at the University of Vienna operates. Her biggest success was the discovery of three isotopes of the element 85, astatine, in the natural radioactive decay series.

Life

Berta Karlik was the daughter of a well -off family (her father, Dr. Carl Karlik ( 1867-1951 ) was Director of the State Mortgage Institution) born in Vienna. There she attended a public high school girls, today GRG 13 Wenzgasse, from which she graduated in 1923 as a best in class with the matriculation examination. In the autumn of the same year Berta Karlik began her studies of physics at the University of Vienna, where she graduated in 1927 with a dissertation "On the dependence of the scintillations of the nature of the zinc sulfide and the essence of Szintillationsvorganges " with distinction. In 1928, shortly before Karliks ​​24th birthday, her promotion announced.

Thanks to a grant from the International Federation of University Women Karlik completed a year of study in Paris and London before it began its operations at the Vienna Institute of Radium Research in 1931. In 1933 she was appointed as scientific assistant and received in the same year, together with her colleague Elizabeth Rona Haitinger the Prize of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. 1936 sought to Karlik to habilitation and handed to her work " The limits of detectability of the heavy noble gases in helium " one. In 1937 she received the " venia legendi " and held from 1937 regularly lectures.

Because of their "Aryan " descent was Berta Karlik, unlike many of her colleagues, hardly affected by Austria's annexation to Germany. She could continue her career unhindered, their institutional career was unhindered. It was established in 1940 to assistant and promoted two years later to the diet lecturer. Ironically, during the war reached Karliks ​​research activity peaked. Together with her colleague Dr. Traude Bernert you succeeded in showing the isotopes 215, 216 and 218 of the member 85 ( astatine ) in the natural decay chains. ( The isotope 211 of element astatine was in 1940 created artificially in the U.S. by Emilio Segrè and employees ).

After the Second World War Berta Karlik was promoted to the provisional head of the Radium Institute, which meant the responsibility for the reconstruction of the institute. They also took care of at this time together with Ilse Knapitsch and Lore Antoine intensively to the founding of the Association of Academics in Austria. 1947 Karlik definitive director of Radium Institute. 1950 he was appointed extraordinary professor, and in 1956 received Karlik became the first woman ever a professorship ( = full professor ) at the University of Vienna. In 1951 she was awarded the Prize of the City of Vienna for the natural sciences.

1973, a year before her retirement, chose the Academy of Sciences Berta Karlik became the first woman to full-fledged member. The last 15 years of business at the University of Vienna spent Karlik mainly with administrative tasks such as the supervisor of master students and PhD students, the leadership of the institute, etc.

Berta Karlik almost spent her entire life in "their " institution. Aside from a few trips abroad, she dedicated the University of Vienna all their work force and was even after her retirement continued at the institute, where she died in 1990.

In 2011, in Vienna Hietzing ( 13th District ) was the Berta Karlik alley named after her.

Writings (selection )

• Berta Karlik, Traude Bernert: A new natural α - radiation. In: Natural Sciences. Vol 31, (1943 ), p 298
• Berta Karlik, Traude Bernert: The element 85 in the natural decay chains. In: Journal of physics. Vol 123 (1944), p 51