Viktor von Lang

Viktor von Lang ( born March 2, 1838 in Wiener Neustadt, † July 3, 1921 in Vienna) was an Austrian physicist and co-founder and pioneer of the study of crystallography.

Life

During the eight-semester program at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Vienna Lang worked for three years at the local Institute of Physics. He received his PhD in 1859 on " crystallized Physical relations body " at the University of Giessen and had early scientific connections to Paris and London.

From long after completing his PhD Gustav Robert Kirchhoff one year at and Robert Wilhelm Bunsen in Heidelberg and then moved to Paris at the Henri Victor Regnault experimental physicist.

In 1861 he returned to Vienna and completed his habilitation on "The Physics of Crystals". He was first appointed to the Kensington Museum in London; after two years of service he received in 1864 a reputation as an associate professor of physics in Graz, in 1866, finally he was appointed to the chair of physics in Vienna as successor to Kunzek.

Lang worked on a broad scientific field of physics. His lifelong main topic was the physical properties of the crystals.

He died in 1921 at the age of 84 in Vienna. 1929 a monument was erected to him in the arcades of the university. He was an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford, member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and member of the French Legion of Honour.

Importance

He is considered one of the pioneers and founders of Crystal Physics. His pupils included Franz Serafin Exner, Johann Puluj, Ernst Lecher, Anton Lampa, Felix Ehrenhaft. The latter two subsequently joined by the circle of Franz Serafin Exner -.