1901 2009
Prize category:
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The Nobel Prize in Physics 1943
Otto Stern
Otto Stern
Born: 17 February 1888, Sorau, Germany (now Zory, Poland)
Died: 17 August 1969, Berkeley, CA, USA
Affiliation at the time of the award: Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Prize motivation: "for his contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton"
Field: Nuclear physics
Biography
Otto Stern was born in Sorau,
Upper Silesia, Germany, on February 17, 1888. In 1892 he moved
with his parents to Breslau, where he attended high school. He
began to study physical chemistry in 1906, receiving his Ph.D.
degree from the University of Breslau in 1912. In the same year
he joined Einstein at the University of Prague and later followed
him to the University of Zurich, where he became Privatdocent
of Physical Chemistry at the Eidgenössische Technische
Hochschule in 1913.
In 1914 he went to the University of Frankfurt am Main as
Privatdocent of Theoretical Physics, remaining there until 1921,
except for a period of military service. From 1921 to 1922 he was
Associate Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of
Rostock, becoming, in 1923, Professor of Physical Chemistry
and Director of the laboratory at the University of
Hamburg, where he remained until 1933. In that year he moved
to the United States, being appointed Research Professor of
Physics at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh where
he remained until 1945, then becoming professor emeritus.
His earliest work was in the field of theoretical physics,
especially that of statistical thermodynamics and quantum theory,
on which he has published important papers. After 1919, his
attention was directed more to experimental physics. His
development and application of the molecular beam method proved
to be a powerful tool for investigating the properties of
molecules, atoms and atomic nuclei. One of the early applications
of this was the experimental verification of Maxwell's law of
velocity distribution in gases. He collaborated with Gerlach to
work on the deflection of atoms by the action of magnetic fields
on their magnetic moment, then went on to measure the magnetic
moments of sub-atomic particles, including the proton. His work
on the production of interference by rays of hydrogen and helium
was a striking demonstration of the wave nature of atoms and
molecules.
Dr. Stern was awarded an LL.D. by the University of
California, Berkeley, 1930. He is a member of the National Academy of
Sciences (USA), the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
and the Philosophical Society. He holds foreign membership of the
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences. He lives at Berkeley,
California.
From Nobel Lectures, Physics 1942-1962, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1964
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
Otto Stern died on August 17, 1969.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1943
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