Walter Gerlach

Walther Gerlach ( born August 1, 1889 in Biebrich on the Rhine; † August 10, 1979 in Munich) was a German physicist and university teacher. He is one of the leading nuclear physicists.

Biography

Gerlach began in 1908 to study at the University of Tübingen and was active in the Corps Borussia Tübingen. He received his doctorate in 1912 for Dr. rer. nat. and habilitated in 1916. since 1917 lecturer at the Georg -August- University Göttingen, he was ao 1921 Professor at the new Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. In 1922, he led with Otto Stern by Stern - Gerlach experiment for the detection of space quantization. In 1924 he returned as a full professor in Tübingen.

Gerlach in 1929 was appointed Professor of Experimental Physics at the Ludwig- Maximilians- University of Munich, where he remained until his retirement in 1957. From 1943 he led the trade division physics and the Consortium for Nuclear Physics in the Reich Research Council. He was initially authorized representative of the Reich Marshal of Nuclear Physics of the German uranium project, from 1944 Plenipotentiary for Nuclear Physics. When the war ended, he was interned by the Allies in Farm Hall. He was 1948-1951 president of the Ludwig- Maximilians- University and from 1949 to 1951 also the first President of the Fraunhofer -Gesellschaft. From 1951 to 1961 he was Vice President of the German Research Foundation ( DFG) and from 1956 to 1957 president of the German Physical Society (DPG).

Gerlach was one of the initiators and signatories of the Tübingen resolution from October 1, 1951: The demand for increased performance from 1945 entitled raised was in danger of suffocating the spiritual life through the abundance of material. " The penetration of the essence of the subjects has the absolute priority over any extension of the material area. " He signed the Declaration of Göttingen Eighteen, a group of 18 nuclear physicists who turned against nuclear armament of the Bundeswehr. The name leaned against the Göttingen Seven. Gerlach has written many popular books on the history of physics and the physics of everyday life. He was editor of several physics lexicons.

Walther Gerlach was the older brother of Werner Gerlach.

Honors

Works (selection)

  • Walther Gerlach. Experimental foundations of quantum theory, Vieweg, Braunschweig 1921 ( digitized at archive.org )
  • Walther Gerlach and Martha List: Johannes Kepler. 2nd edition. Piper, Munich, 1980, ISBN 3-492-00501-2.
  • Extracts from a correspondence of Richard Gans and Walther Gerlach in ' formative phase ' of the power cartel
  • (as ed., with the collaboration of Josef Brandmüller ): The fishing lexicon: Part 19: Physics, edition 239th - 243rd Thousand, Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1978, ISBN 3-596-40019-8.
  • H.-R. Bachmann, Helmut Rechenberg (Editor): Walther Gerlach ( 1889-1978 ). A selection from his writings and letters, Springer Verlag 1989
Biebrich (Wiesbaden) Operation Epsilon Fraunhofer Society Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft German nuclear energy project Internet Archive Hermann von Siemens Reimund Neugebauer Karl Vossler Michael Schmaus Integrated Authority File
812410
de