Karl Friedrich Franz Christian Scheel (10 March 1866 in
Rostock
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...
– 8 November 1936 in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
) was a German physicist. He was a Senior Executive Officer and head of Department IIIb at the
Reich Physical and Technical Institute. Additionally, he served as editor of the journal ', the semi-monthly bibliographic section of the journal ''Physikalische Berichte'', the ''Verhandlungen'' of the German Physical Society, and the Society’s journal ''Zeitschrift für Physik''. From 1926 to 1935, he was editor of the ''Handbuch der Physik''. An endowment by Scheel and his wife Melida funds the annual awarding of the Karl Scheel Prize by the Physical Society in Berlin.
Education
From 1885 to 1890, Scheel studied at the ''
Universität Rostock
The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...
'' and the ''Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität'' (today, the ''
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
''). He received his doctorate in 1890, at the University of Berlin, with a thesis on the expansion of water with temperature. Scheel was authorized to use the title ''Professor'', hence, at some point, he completed the requirements for
Habilitation.
Career
After receipt of his doctorate, Scheel became a part-time assistant at the ''Kaiserliche Normal-Aichungs-Commission'' (Imperial Bureau of Standards). From 1891, he was employed at the ''Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt'' (PTR, Reich Physical and Technical Institute, after 1945 renamed the ''
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt''). From 1904 to 1931, he was a ''Mitglied'' (member) and finally ''Geheimer Regierungsrat und Leiter'' (Senior Executive Officer and head) of Depeartment IIIb at the PTR.
Additionally, Scheel served as editor of various publications. From 1899 to 1918, he was editor of the journal ''Fortschritte der Physik'' and of the semi-monthly bibliographic section of the journal ''Physikalische Berichte''. From 1902, he was the editor of the ''Verhandlungen'' (Proceedings) of the ''
Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
The German Physical Society (German: , DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,547, as of 2019, making it the largest physics society in the world. It holds an annual conference () and multiple ...
'' (DPG, German Physical Society), and from 1920 editor of the Society’s journal ''
Zeitschrift für Physik
''Zeitschrift für Physik'' (English: ''Journal for Physics'') is a defunct series of German peer-reviewed physics journals established in 1920 by Springer Berlin Heidelberg. The series stopped publication in 1997, when it merged with other journ ...
''. From 1926 to 1935, he was editor of the prestigious, multi-volume series ''Handbuch der Physik'', together with
Hans Geiger
Johannes Wilhelm "Hans" Geiger (; ; 30 September 1882 – 24 September 1945) was a German physicist. He is best known as the co-inventor of the detector component of the Geiger counter and for the Geiger–Marsden experiment which discover ...
.
Honor
Scheel and his wife Melida left an endowment which is used by the ''Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin'' (PGzB, Physical Society in Berlin), a regional association of the ''
Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
The German Physical Society (German: , DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. The DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 60,547, as of 2019, making it the largest physics society in the world. It holds an annual conference () and multiple ...
'' (German Physical Society), to yearly award the ''Karl-Scheel-Preis'' (
Karl Scheel Prize
The ''Karl-Scheel-Preis'' (Karl Scheel Prize) is an award given annually by the Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin (PGzB, Physical Society of Berlin), a regional association of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (German Physical Society) ...
), for outstanding scientific work.
Karl-Scheel-Preis der Physikalischen Gesellschaft zu Berlin
– Karl Scheel Prize
Literature by Scheel
*Karl Scheel ''Die Physikalisch Technische Reichsanstalt in Charlottenburg'', ''Akademische Rundschau'' (January, 1913), as cited in E. S. Hodgson ''Twenty-Five Years' Work at the Physikalisch - Technische Reichsanstalt, Charlottenburg'', ''Nature'' Volume 91, Issue 2287, 665-667
*Karl Scheel ''Die Physik auf der 85. Versammlung Deutscher Naturforscher und Ärzte in Wien, September 1913'', ''Die Naturwissenschaften
''The Science of Nature'', formerly ''Naturwissenschaften'', is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering all aspects of the natural sciences relating to questions of biological significance. I ...
'' Volume 1, 1175–1179 (28 November 1913) and 1205–1208 (5 December 1913)
*Scheel, Holborn, Jaeger, and Brodhun ''Die Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt; Fünfundzwanzig Jahre ihrer Tätigkeit'', ''Die Naturwissenschafien'' Numbers 8, 10, 12, and 14 (1913), as cited in E. S. Hodgson ''Twenty-Five Years' Work at the Physikalisch - Technische Reichsanstalt, Charlottenburg'', ''Nature'' Volume 91, 665-667, Issue 2287
28 August 1913
*Karl Scheel (Geh. Reg.-Rat. Prof. Dr.) ''Die Tätigkeit der Physikalisch-Technischen Reichsanstalt im Jahre 1916: Abteilung III für Wärme und Druck'', ''Die Naturwissenschaften'' Volume 5, Number 47, 704 – 705
November, 1917
. Affiliation: ''Mitglied der Physikalisch-Technischen Reichsanstalt, Berlin-Dahlem''.
*Karl Scheel ''Die Tätigkeit der Physikalisch - Technischen Reichsanstalt im Jahre 1918'', ''Die Naturwissenschaften
''The Science of Nature'', formerly ''Naturwissenschaften'', is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering all aspects of the natural sciences relating to questions of biological significance. I ...
'' Volume 7, Number 52, 997 – 1002
December, 1919
. Affiliation: ''Mitglied der Physikalisch-Technischen Reichsanstalt, Berlin-Dahlem''.
Bibliography
*H. Ebert ''Karl Scheel'', ''Zeitschrift für Physik'' Volume 104, Numbers 1-2, I – III (January, 1937). Affiliation: Berlin-Wilmersdorf.
*Hentschel, Klaus (Editor) and Ann M. Hentschel (Editorial Assistant and Translator) ''Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources'' (Birkhäuser, 1996)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheel, Karl
1866 births
1936 deaths
20th-century German physicists
19th-century German physicists