Adolf (Christoph Wilhelm) Bestelmeyer (21 December 1875 – 21 November 1957) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

experimental

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

Life and work

Bestelmeyer studied

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

at the

Technical University of Berlin The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was ...

, the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

and the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

. After his promotion, he worked in 1904 as an assistant at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was active in

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

research, and afterwards he was professor of physics at the

University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; german: Universität Greifswald), formerly also known as “Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pom ...

from 1917 to 1921. He then served until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a laboratory manager in various companies (like Askania), especially in the area of torpedo construction. Meyer, Helmut: ''Geschichte der Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft im Nationalsozialismus''. 16, Wallstein, pp. 122-123, 2007, In 1907, Bestelmeyer questioned the accuracy of the measurements by Walter Kaufmann regarding the speed dependence of the

electromagnetic mass Electromagnetic mass was initially a concept of classical mechanics, denoting as to how much the electromagnetic field, or the self-energy, is contributing to the mass of charged particles. It was first derived by J. J. Thomson in 1881 and was for ...

. Bestelmeyer used a

velocity filter A velocity filter removes interference (communication), interfering signals by exploiting the difference between the travelling velocities of desired seismic waveform and undesired interfering signals. Introduction In geophysics, geophysical a ...

for his own experiments on

cathode ray Cathode rays or electron beam (e-beam) are streams of electrons observed in discharge tubes. If an evacuated glass tube is equipped with two electrodes and a voltage is applied, glass behind the positive electrode is observed to glow, due to ele ...

s, and this method was later also used by

Alfred Bucherer Alfred Heinrich Bucherer (* 9 July 1863 in Cologne; † 16 April 1927 in Bonn) was a German physicist, who is known for his experiments on relativistic mass. He also was the first who used the phrase "theory of relativity" for Einstein's theory of ...

. While Bucherer saw the results of his experiments as a confirmation of

special relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory regarding the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein's original treatment, the theory is based on two postulates: # The laws o ...

, his methods were criticized by Bestelmeyer, thus a polemical dispute between these two researchers arose. It took years until those problems could be resolved, and the results of further experiments confirmed the predictions of special relativity. Which are now again under suspicion. Bestelmeyer is also known for developing a magnetic detonator for torpedoes in 1917, for which he was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

1st Class (although there was no time for testing this device in World War I anymore). Schubert, P.; Sohst, H.: ''Die Deutschen Marinen im Minenkrieg''. Books on Demand, Rostock 2006, pp. 411f,

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bestelmeyer, Adolf 1875 births 1957 deaths 20th-century German physicists Academic staff of the University of Greifswald Experimental physicists

Life and work

See also

References

External links