Johann Carl "John" Vogel (7 September 1932 – 30 January 2012) was a South African isotope physicist with a specific interest in archeology for which he used

radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...

to establish timeframes.

Career

Vogel was born on 7 September 1932 in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. He obtained a BSc in chemistry in 1951, and a MSc in 1955, both from the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria ( af, Universiteit van Pretoria, nso, Yunibesithi ya Pretoria) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and de facto capital of South Africa. The university was ...

. He moved to Germany to study at

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

where he obtained a doctorate under

Otto Haxel Otto Haxel (2 April 1909, in Neu-Ulm – 26 February 1998, in Heidelberg) was a German nuclear physicist. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project. After the war, he was on the staff of the Max Planck Institute for Phy ...

in 1959. The subject of his thesis was determination of carbon isotope fractionation factors. In 1961 Vogel wanted to move back to South Africa, but there being no suitable job available for him he instead moved to the Netherlands and obtained the position of head of the Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen in ...

. The position had become available after the death of

Hessel de Vries Hessel de Vries (November 15, 1916 in Annen – December 23, 1959 in Groningen), was a Dutch physicist and professor at the University of Groningen who furthered the detection methods and applications of radiocarbon dating to a variety of s ...

. Vogel later became a professor of isotope geology at Groningen. In 1967 Vogel returned to South Africa and set up a laboratory at the

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is South Africa's central and premier scientific research and development organisation. It was established by an act of parliament in 1945 and is situated on its own campus in the cit ...

in Pretoria. Vogel was head of the Quaternary Dating Research Unit until 1997, when he retired. In 1988, Vogel received the De Beers Gold Medal from the South African Institute of Physics in 1988. He was a Fellow of the

Royal Society of South Africa The Royal Society of South Africa is a learned society composed of eminent South African scientists and academics. The society was granted its royal charter by King Edward VII in 1908, nearly a century after Capetonians first began to conceive of ...

. Vogel was married to Ursula Weidemann, a professor of Ancient History at the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA), known colloquially as Unisa, is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, U ...

. He died on 30 January 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vogel, Johann Carl 1932 births 2012 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of South Africa Heidelberg University alumni People from Pretoria 20th-century South African physicists Academic staff of the University of Groningen University of Pretoria alumni South African archaeologists Presidents of the South African Archaeological Society