Christian Andreas Doppler ( (); 29 November 1803 – 17 March 1853)
[ was an Austrian ]mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
and 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 ...
. He is celebrated for his principle – known as the Doppler effect
The Doppler effect or Doppler shift (or simply Doppler, when in context) is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who d ...
– that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer.
Biography
Doppler was born in Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the ...
(today Austria) in 1803. After completing high school, Doppler studied philosophy in Salzburg and mathematics and physics at the Imperial–Royal Polytechnic Institute (now TU Wien
TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...
), where he became an assistant in 1829. In 1835 he began work at the Prague Polytechnic (now Czech Technical University in Prague
Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU, cs, České vysoké učení technické v Praze, ČVUT) is one of the largest university, universities in the Czech Republic with 8 faculties, and is one of the oldest institutes of technology in Centra ...
), where he received an appointment in 1841.
One year later, at the age of 38, Doppler gave a lecture to the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences and subsequently published his most notable work, '''' ("On the coloured light of the binary stars and some other stars of the heavens"). There is a facsimile edition with an English translation by Alec Eden. In this work, Doppler postulated his principle (later coined the Doppler effect
The Doppler effect or Doppler shift (or simply Doppler, when in context) is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who d ...
) that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer, and he later tried to use this concept for explaining the visible colours of binary stars
A binary star is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved using a telescope as separate stars, in wh ...
(this hypothesis was later proven wrong).
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 ...
Armand Hippolyte Louis Fizeau () also contributed to aspects of the discovery of the Doppler effect
The Doppler effect or Doppler shift (or simply Doppler, when in context) is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who d ...
, which is known by the French as the ''Doppler-Fizeau Effect''. Fizeau contributed towards understanding its effect with light and also developed formal mathematical theorems underlying the principles of this effect. In 1848, he predicted the frequency shift of a wave when the source and receiver are moving relative to each other, therefore, being the first to predict blue shifts and red shifts of spectral lines in stars.
Doppler continued working as a professor at the Prague Polytechnic, publishing over 50 articles on mathematics, physics and astronomy, but in 1847 he left Prague for the professorship of mathematics, physics, and mechanics at the Academy of Mines and Forests (its successor is the University of Miskolc
The University of Miskolc (before 1990: ''Technical University of Heavy Industry'') is the largest university of Northern Hungary.
Location
Most of the buildings can be found in Egyetemváros ("University Town"), a part of the city of Miskolc. I ...
) in Selmecbánya (then Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
, now Banská Štiavnica Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
).
Doppler's research was interrupted by the Hungarian Revolution of 1848
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although th ...
. In 1849, he fled to Vienna
en, Viennese
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, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
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, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and in 1850 was appointed head of the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
. While there, Doppler, along with Franz Unger, influenced the development of young Gregor Mendel
Gregor Johann Mendel, Augustinians, OSA (; cs, Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was a biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinians, Augustinian friar and abbot of St Thomas's Abbey, Brno, St. Thomas' Abbey in Br ...
, the founding father of genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
, who was a student at the University of Vienna from 1851 to 1853.
Doppler died on 17 March 1853 at age 49 from a pulmonary disease
Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, bron ...
in Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
(at that time part of the Austrian Empire). His tomb, found by Dr. Peter M. Schuster, is just inside the entrance of the Venetian island cemetery of San Michele.
Full name
Some confusion exists about Doppler's full name. Doppler referred to himself as Christian Doppler. The records of his birth and baptism stated Christian ''Andreas'' Doppler. Forty years after Doppler's death the misnomer ''Johann'' Christian Doppler was introduced by the astronomer Julius Scheiner
Julius Scheiner (25 November 1858 – 20 December 1913) was a German astronomer, born in Cologne and educated at Bonn. He became assistant at the astrophysical observatory in Potsdam in 1887 and its observer in chief in 1898, three years after h ...
. Scheiner's mistake has since been copied by many.
Works
* ''Christian Doppler (1803–1853)''. Wien: Böhlau, 1992.
** Bd. 1:
*** 1. Teil: Helmuth Grössing (unter Mitarbeit von B. Reischl): ''Wissenschaft, Leben, Umwelt, Gesellschaft'';
*** 2. Teil: Karl Kadletz (unter Mitarbeit von Peter Schuster und Ildikó Cazan-Simányi) ''Quellenanhang''.
** Bd. 2:
*** 3. Teil: Peter Schuster: ''Das Werk''.
See also
* List of Austrian scientists
This is a list of Austrian scientists and scientists from the Austria of Austria-Hungary.
Economists
* Siegfried Becher, economist and government minister
*Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk
*Ernst Fehr
*Simon Gächter
*Friedrich Hayek, economist and social ...
* List of Austrians
This is a list of notable Austrians.
Actors/actresses
*Helmut Berger (born 1944), actor
* Senta Berger (born 1941), actress
* Klaus Maria Brandauer (born 1943), actor
* Marie Geistinger (1836–1903), actress and opera singer
* Käthe Gold ...
* List of minor planets named after people
This is a list of minor planets named after people, both real and fictional.
Science
Astronomers
Amateur
*340 Eduarda (Heinrich Eduard von Lade, German)
* 792 Metcalfia (Joel Hastings Metcalf, American)
*828 Lindemannia (Adolph Friedrich Lindem ...
References
Further reading
* Alec Eden: ''Christian Doppler: Leben und Werk.'' Salzburg: Landespressebureau, 1988.
* Hoffmann, Robert (2007). ''The Life of an (almost) Unknown Person''. Christian Doppler's Youth in Salzburg and Vienna. In: Ewald Hiebl, Maurizio Musso (Eds.), ''Christian Doppler – Life and Work. Principle an Applications''. Proceedings of the Commemorative Symposia in Salzburg, Salzburg, Prague, Vienna, Venice. Pöllauberg/Austria, Hainault/UK, Atascadero/US, pages 33 – 46.
* David Nolte (2020). ''The fall and rise of the Doppler effect.'' Physics Today, v. 73, pgs. 31 - 35
DOI: 10.1063/PT.3.4429
External links
*
*
Christian Doppler Platform & Christian-Doppler-Fonds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doppler, Christian
1803 births
1853 deaths
19th-century Austrian mathematicians
19th-century Austrian physicists
Austrian Roman Catholics
Austro-Hungarian people
Austrian expatriates in Hungary
Scientists from Salzburg
Burials at Isola di San Michele
Czech Technical University in Prague alumni
Czech Technical University in Prague faculty
Doppler effects