Kurt Mendelssohn

Kurt Alfred Georg Mendelssohn ( born January 7, 1906 in Berlin, † 18 September 1980 in Oxford ) was a German - British physicist.

Mendelssohn's work in physics

Mendelssohn studied physics at the University of Berlin, where he also received his doctorate. He was a student of Max Planck, Walther Nernst, Erwin Schrödinger and Albert Einstein. In 1933 he emigrated to England. Here he worked from 1933 at the University of Oxford. He was Reader in Physics, 1955-1973, Emeritus Reader, 1973; Emeritus Professorial Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford, 1973 ( Professorial Fellow, 1971-1973 ).

His research interests were low-temperature physics, transuranic elements, and medical physics.

Since 1951 he was a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1967 he was awarded the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society.

Mendelssohn Egyptological work

Mendelssohn also wrote popular science books, for example, about the history of low-temperature physics and the Egyptian pyramids. His book " The Riddle of the Pyramids " ( The Riddle of the Pyramids ) appeared in 1974 He represented therein the thesis that the partial collapse of the Meidum pyramid was based on a construction errors that have led to the inclination of the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur during the. building was flattened. The thesis was rejected by archaeologists as IES Edwards immediately after publication of the book, since according to the archaeological record of the collapse was not until a thousand years after the construction of the Pyramid of Dahsur and the current state is considered as resulting from earthquakes and erosion at a later time. Mendelssohn continued to represent the view that the pyramids served less the construction of tombs of the Pharaohs as the political and social unification of the country. Also, this thesis was not accepted.

Works

• The Riddle of the Pyramids, Fischer TB 1976 (English: The Riddle of the Pyramids, Thames & Hudson, 1974; Sphere Cardinal Edition, 1976. )
• Walther Nernst and his time: rise & decline d dt Naturwiss. Weinheim: Physics Publishing, 1976, ISBN 3-87664-027- X
• In China Now
• Science and Western Domination, Thames & Hudson, 1976.
• Progress in Cryogenics (1959 )
• The Quest for Absolute Zero: The Meaning of Low Temperature Physics (1966 )
• Cryogenic Engineering: Present Status and Future Development (1968 )
• Cryophysics (1983 )