Max Theodor Felix von Laue (; 9 October 1879 – 24 April 1960) was a German
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 ...
who received the
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
in 1914 for his discovery of the
diffraction
Diffraction is defined as the interference or bending of waves around the corners of an obstacle or through an aperture into the region of geometrical shadow of the obstacle/aperture. The diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a s ...
of
X-rays
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Picometre, picometers to 10 Nanometre, nanometers, corresponding to frequency, ...
by crystals.
In addition to his scientific endeavors with contributions in
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...
,
crystallography
Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. Crystallography is a fundamental subject in the fields of materials science and solid-state physics (condensed matter physics). The wor ...
,
quantum theory
Quantum theory may refer to:
Science
*Quantum mechanics, a major field of physics
*Old quantum theory, predating modern quantum mechanics
* Quantum field theory, an area of quantum mechanics that includes:
** Quantum electrodynamics
** Quantum ...
,
superconductivity
Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...
, and the
theory of relativity
The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...
, Laue had a number of administrative positions which advanced and guided
German scientific research and development during four decades. A strong objector to
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
, he was instrumental in re-establishing and organizing German science after
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 ...
.
Biography
Early years
Laue was born in Pfaffendorf, now part of
Koblenz
Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...
, Germany, to Julius Laue and Minna Zerrenner. In 1898, after passing his ''
Abitur
''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
'' in
Strassburg
Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the E ...
, he began his compulsory year of military service, after which in 1899 he started to study mathematics, physics, and chemistry at the
University of Strassburg
The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers.
The French university traces its history to the ea ...
, 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 ...
, and the
Ludwig Maximilian 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 sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
(LMU). At Göttingen, he was greatly influenced by the physicists
Woldemar Voigt
Woldemar Voigt (; 2 September 1850 – 13 December 1919) was a German physicist, who taught at the Georg August University of Göttingen. Voigt eventually went on to head the Mathematical Physics Department at Göttingen and was succeeded in ...
and
Max Abraham
Max Abraham (; 26 March 1875 – 16 November 1922) was a German physicist known for his work on electromagnetism and his opposition to the theory of relativity.
Biography
Abraham was born in Danzig, Imperial Germany (now Gdańsk in Poland) t ...
and the mathematician
David Hilbert
David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician, one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many a ...
. After only one semester at Munich, he went to the
Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Berlin in 1902. There, he studied under
Max Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (, ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.
Planck made many substantial contributions to theoretical p ...
, who gave birth to the quantum theory revolution on 14 December 1900, when he delivered his famous paper before 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 ...
. At Berlin, Laue attended lectures by
Otto Lummer
Otto Richard Lummer (17 July 1860 – 5 July 1925) was a German physicist and researcher. He was born in the city of Gera, Germany. With Leon Arons, Lummer helped to design and build the Arons–Lummer mercury-vapor lamp. Lummer primarily worked ...
on
heat radiation
Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the thermal motion of particles in matter. Thermal radiation is generated when heat from the movement of charges in the material (electrons and protons in common forms of matter) is ...
and interference spectroscopy, the influence of which can be seen in Laue's dissertation on interference phenomena in plane-parallel plates, for which he received his doctorate in 1903. Thereafter, Laue spent 1903 to 1905 at Göttingen. Laue completed his
Habilitation
Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...
in 1906 under
Arnold Sommerfeld
Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld, (; 5 December 1868 – 26 April 1951) was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and mentored many students for the new era of theoretica ...
at LMU.
[Max von Laue](_blank)
– American Philosophical Society Author Catalog
– Nobel Prize Biography[Hentschel, 1996, Appendix F, see entry for Max von Laue.][Max von Laue Biography]
– Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin
Career
He was a ''
Privatdozent
''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
'' in Berlin and an assistant to Planck. He also met
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
for the first time; their friendship contributed to the acceptance and development of Einstein's
theory of relativity
The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...
. Laue continued as assistant to Planck until 1909. In Berlin, he worked on the application of entropy to radiation fields and on the thermodynamic significance of the coherence of light waves.
[
From 1909 to 1912, Laue was a ''Privatdozent'' at the Institute for Theoretical Physics, under ]Arnold Sommerfeld
Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld, (; 5 December 1868 – 26 April 1951) was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and mentored many students for the new era of theoretica ...
, at LMU. During the 1911 Christmas recess and in January 1912, Paul Peter Ewald
Paul Peter Ewald, FRS (January 23, 1888 in Berlin, Germany – August 22, 1985 in Ithaca, New York) was a German crystallographer and physicist, a pioneer of X-ray diffraction methods.
Education
Ewald received his early education in the clas ...
was finishing the writing of his doctoral thesis under Sommerfeld. It was on a walk through the Englischer Garten
The ''Englischer Garten'' (, ''English Garden'') is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Bavaria, stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Count ...
in Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
in January, that Ewald told Laue about his thesis topic. The wavelengths of concern to Ewald were in the visible region of the spectrum and hence much larger than the spacing between the resonators in Ewald's crystal model. Laue seemed distracted and wanted to know what would be the effect if much smaller wavelengths were considered. In June, Sommerfeld reported to the Physikalische Gesellschaft of Göttingen on the successful diffraction of X-rays by Laue, Paul Knipping and Walter Friedrich at LMU, for which Laue would be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
, in 1914. While at Munich, he wrote the first volume of his book on relativity during the period 1910 to 1911.[
In 1912, Laue was called to the ]University of Zurich
The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...
as an extraordinarius professor of physics. Upon his father's elevation to the ranks of hereditary nobility in 1913, he became 'Max ''von
The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''.
Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de ...
'' Laue'.[ A new professor extraordinarius chair of theoretical physics had been created in 1914 at the ]University of 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 was offered the position but turned it down, and it was offered to Max Born
Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a n ...
. But Born was in the army until WW I ended, and before he had occupied the chair, Laue changed his mind and accepted the position.
From 1914 to 1919, Laue was at the University of Frankfurt as ordinarius professor of theoretical physics. He was engaged in vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied.
The type kn ...
development, at the University of Würzburg
The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...
, for use in military telephony
Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunication services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is i ...
and wireless
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most ...
communications from 1916.[
He was called to the University of Berlin as ordinarius professor of ]theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...
, a position he held from 1919 until 1943, when he was declared emeritus, with his consent and one year before the mandatory retirement age. At the university in 1919, other notables were Walther Nernst, Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber (; 9 December 186829 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber–Bosch process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydroge ...
, and James Franck
James Franck (; 26 August 1882 – 21 May 1964) was a German physicist who won the 1925 Nobel Prize for Physics with Gustav Hertz "for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom". He completed his doctorate i ...
. Laue, as one of the organizers of the weekly Berlin Physics Colloquium, typically sat in the front row with Nernst and Einstein, who would come over from the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Physik in Berlin-Dahlem
Dahlem ( or ) is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in southwestern Berlin. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a part of the former borough of Zehlendorf. It is located between the mansion settlements of Grunewald and ...
, where he was the director. Among Laue's notable students at the university were Leó Szilárd
Leo Szilard (; hu, Szilárd Leó, pronounced ; born Leó Spitz; February 11, 1898 – May 30, 1964) was a Hungarian-German-American physicist and inventor. He conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, patented the idea of a nuclear ...
, Fritz London
Fritz Wolfgang London (March 7, 1900 – March 30, 1954) was a German physicist and professor at Duke University. His fundamental contributions to the theories of chemical bonding and of intermolecular forces ( London dispersion forces) are today ...
, Max Kohler, and Erna Weber. He published the second volume of his book on relativity in 1921.[
As a consultant to the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (PTR), Laue met ]Walther Meissner
Fritz Walther Meissner (German: ''Meißner'') (16 December 1882 – 16 November 1974) was a German technical physicist.
Meissner was born in Berlin to Waldemar Meissner and Johanna Greger. He studied mechanical engineering and physics at t ...
who was working there on superconductivity
Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...
. Meissner had discovered that a weak magnetic field decays rapidly to zero in the interior of a superconductor, which is known as the Meissner effect
The Meissner effect (or Meissner–Ochsenfeld effect) is the expulsion of a magnetic field from a superconductor during its transition to the superconducting state when it is cooled below the critical temperature. This expulsion will repel a ne ...
. Laue showed, in 1932, that the threshold of the applied magnetic field which destroys superconductivity varies with the shape of the body. He published a total of 12 papers and a book on superconductivity. One of the papers was co-authored with brothers Fritz
Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as well as for similar names including Fridolin a ...
and Heinz London
Heinz London (Bonn, Germany 7 November 1907 – 3 August 1970) was a German-British physicist. Together with his brother Fritz London he was a pioneer in the field of superconductivity.
Biography
London was born in Bonn in a liberal Jewish-Ge ...
. Meissner published a biography on Laue in 1960.[
The Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften (Today: Max-Planck Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften) was founded in 1911. Its purpose was to promote the sciences by founding and maintaining research institutes. One such institute was the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik (KWIP) founded in Berlin-Dahlem in 1914, with Einstein as director. Laue was a trustee of the institute from 1917, and in 1922 he was appointed deputy director, whereupon he took over the administrative duties from Einstein. Einstein was traveling abroad when ]Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
became Chancellor in January 1933, and Einstein did not return to Germany. Laue then became acting director of the KWIP, a position he held until 1946 or 1948, except for the period 1935 to 1939, when Peter Debye
Peter Joseph William Debye (; ; March 24, 1884 – November 2, 1966) was a Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry.
Biography
Early life
Born Petrus Josephus Wilhelmus Debije in Maastricht, Netherlands, D ...
was director. In 1943, to avoid casualties to the personnel, the KWIP moved to Hechingen
Hechingen ( Swabian: ''Hächenga'') is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border.
Geography
The town lies at the foot of t ...
. It was at Hechingen that Laue wrote his book on the history of physics ''Geschichte der Physik'', which was eventually translated into seven other languages.
Opposition to Nazism
Laue opposed Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
in general and ''Deutsche Physik
''Deutsche Physik'' (, "German Physics") or Aryan Physics (german: Arische Physik) was a nationalist movement in the German physics community in the early 1930s which had the support of many eminent physicists in Germany. The term was taken ...
'' in particular – the former persecuted the Jews, in general, and the latter, among other things, put down Einstein's theory of relativity as ''Jewish physics'', which Laue saw as ridiculous: "science has no race or religion". Laue and his close friend Otto Hahn
Otto Hahn (; 8 March 1879 – 28 July 1968) was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and father of nuclear fission. Hahn and Lise Meitner ...
secretly helped scientific colleagues persecuted by Nazi policies to emigrate from Germany. Laue also openly opposed Nazi policies. An address on 18 September 1933 at the opening of the physics convention in Würzburg
Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River.
Würzburg is ...
, opposition to Johannes Stark, an obituary note on Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber (; 9 December 186829 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber–Bosch process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydroge ...
in 1934, and attendance at a commemoration for Haber are examples which clearly illustrate Laue's courageous, open opposition:
*Laue, as chairman of the ''Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft'', gave the opening address at the 1933 physics convention. In it, he compared the persecution of Galileo and the oppression of his scientific views on the solar theory of Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated ...
to the then conflict and persecution over the theory of relativity by the proponents of Deutsche Physik, against the work of Einstein, labeled "Jewish physics."
*Johannes Stark
Johannes Stark (, 15 April 1874 – 21 June 1957) was a German physicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1919 "for his discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the splitting of spectral lines in electric fields". This phe ...
, who had received the Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
in 1919, wished to become the ''Führer'' of German physics and was a proponent of ''Deutsche Physik''. Against the unanimous advice of those consulted, Stark was appointed President of the PTR in May 1933. However, Laue successfully blocked Stark's regular membership in the Prussian Academy of Sciences
The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...
.
*Haber received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
in 1918. In spite of this and his many other contributions to Germany, he was forced to emigrate from Germany as a result of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Hitler Service (german: Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums, shortened to ''Berufsbeamtengesetz''), also known as Civil Service Law, Civil Service Restoration Act, and Law to Re-es ...
, which removed Jews from their jobs. Laue's obituary note praising Haber and comparing his forced emigration to the expulsion of Themistocles
Themistocles (; grc-gre, Θεμιστοκλῆς; c. 524–459 BC) was an Athenian politician and general. He was one of a new breed of non-aristocratic politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy. A ...
from Athens was a direct affront to the policies of National Socialism.
*In connection with Haber, Max Planck, Otto Hahn and Laue organized a commemoration event held in Berlin-Dahlem on 29 January 1935, the first anniversary of Haber's death – attendance at the event by professors in the civil service had been expressly forbidden by the government. While many scientific and technical personnel were represented at the memorial by their wives, Laue and Wolfgang Heubner were the only two professors to attend. This was yet another blatant demonstration of Laue's opposition to National Socialism. The date of the first anniversary of Haber's death was also one day before the second anniversary of National Socialism seizing power in Germany, thus further increasing the affront given by holding the event.
The speech and the obituary note earned Laue government reprimands. Furthermore, in response to Laue blocking Stark's regular membership in the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Stark, in December 1933, had Laue sacked from his position as advisor to the PTR, which Laue had held since 1925. Chapters 4 and 5, in Welker's ''Nazi Science: Myth, Truth, and the Atomic Bomb'', present a more detailed account of the struggle by Laue and Planck against the Nazi takeover of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.[
In a commonly reported anecdote Laue is supposed to have carried parcels in his hands when exiting his house, so to avoid having to give the ]Nazi Salute
The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute (german: link=no, Hitlergruß, , Hitler greeting, ; also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', ), or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. Th ...
Hidden Nobel prize
When Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
invaded Denmark in 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 ...
, the Hungarian chemist George de Hevesy
George Charles de Hevesy (born György Bischitz; hu, Hevesy György Károly; german: Georg Karl von Hevesy; 1 August 1885 – 5 July 1966) was a Hungarian radiochemist and Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate, recognized in 1943 for his key rol ...
dissolved the Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
gold medals of Laue and James Franck
James Franck (; 26 August 1882 – 21 May 1964) was a German physicist who won the 1925 Nobel Prize for Physics with Gustav Hertz "for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom". He completed his doctorate i ...
in aqua regia to prevent the Nazis from discovering them. At the time, it was illegal to take gold out of the country, and if it had been discovered that Laue had done so he could have faced prosecution in Germany. Hevesy placed the resulting solution on a shelf in his laboratory at the Niels Bohr Institute
The Niels Bohr Institute (Danish: ''Niels Bohr Institutet'') is a research institute of the University of Copenhagen. The research of the institute spans astronomy, geophysics, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum mechanics and biophysics ...
. After the war, he returned to find the solution undisturbed and precipitated the gold out of the acid. The Nobel Society then re-cast the Nobel Prize gold medals, using the original gold.
Post-war
On 23 April 1945, French troops entered Hechingen, followed the next day by a contingent of Operation Alsos
The Alsos Mission was an organized effort by a team of British and United States military, scientific, and intelligence personnel to discover enemy scientific developments during World War II. Its chief focus was on the German nuclear energy pr ...
– an operation to investigate the German nuclear energy effort, seize equipment, and prevent German scientists from being captured by the Soviets. The scientific advisor to the Operation was the Dutch-American physicist Samuel Goudsmit
Samuel Abraham Goudsmit (July 11, 1902 – December 4, 1978) was a Dutch-American physicist famous for jointly proposing the concept of electron spin with George Eugene Uhlenbeck in 1925.
Life and career
Goudsmit was born in The Hague, Nethe ...
, who, adorned with a steel helmet, appeared at Laue's home. Laue was taken into custody and taken to Huntingdon, England, and interned at Farm Hall
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
with other scientists thought to be involved in nuclear research and development.[
While incarcerated, Laue was a reminder to the other detainees that one could survive the Nazi reign without having "compromised"; this alienated him from others being detained.][ During his incarceration, Laue wrote a paper on the absorption of X-rays under the interference conditions, and it was later published in ''Acta Crystallographica''.][ On 2 October 1945, Laue, ]Otto Hahn
Otto Hahn (; 8 March 1879 – 28 July 1968) was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and father of nuclear fission. Hahn and Lise Meitner ...
, and Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series ...
, were taken to meet with Henry Hallett Dale
Sir Henry Hallett Dale (9 June 1875 – 23 July 1968) was an English pharmacologist and physiologist. For his study of acetylcholine as agent in the chemical transmission of nerve pulses (neurotransmission) he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Ph ...
, president of the Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
, and other members of the Society. There, Laue was invited to attend 9 November 1945 Royal Society meeting in memory of the German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen
Wilhelm may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm"
* Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
Other uses
* Mount ...
, who discovered X-rays
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 Picometre, picometers to 10 Nanometre, nanometers, corresponding to frequency, ...
; permission was, however, not forthcoming from the military authorities detaining von Laue.[
Laue was returned to Germany early in 1946. He went back to being acting director of the KWIP, which had been moved to Göttingen. It was also in 1946 that the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft was renamed the Max-Planck Gesellschaft, and, likewise, the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Physik became the Max-Planck Institut für Physik. Laue also became an adjunct professor 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 addition to his administrative and teaching responsibilities, Laue wrote his book on superconductivity, ''Theorie der Supraleitung'', and revised his books on electron diffraction, ''Materiewellen und ihre Interferenzen'', and the first volume of his two-volume book on relativity.[Hentschel, 1996, Appendix A, see entries on KWG and KWIP.]
In July 1946, Laue went back to England, only four months after having been interned there, to attend an international conference on crystallography. This was a distinct honor, as he was the only German invited to attend. He was extended many courtesies by the British officer who escorted him there and back, and a well-known English crystallographer as his host; Laue was even allowed to wander around London on his own free will.[
After the war, there was much to be done in re-establishing and organizing German scientific endeavors. Laue participated in some key roles. In 1946, he initiated the founding of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft in only the ]British Occupation Zone
The British occupation zone in Germany (German: ''Britische Besatzungszone Deutschlands'') was one of the Allied-occupied areas in Germany after World War II. The United Kingdom along with her Commonwealth were one of the three major Allied po ...
, as the Allied Control Council would not initially allow organizations across occupation zone boundaries. During the war, the PTR had been dispersed; von Laue, from 1946 to 1948, worked on its re-unification across three zones and its location at new facilities in Braunschweig
Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...
. Additionally, it took on a new name as the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) is the national metrology institute of the Federal Republic of Germany, with scientific and technical service tasks. It is a higher federal authority and a public-law institution directly under fed ...
, but administration was not taken over by Germany until after the formation of West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
on 23 May 1949. Circa 1948, the President of the American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
asked Laue to report on the status of physics in Germany; his report was published in 1949 in the ''American Journal of Physics
The ''American Journal of Physics'' is a monthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics. The editor-in-chief is Beth Parks of Colgate University."Current Fre ...
''.[ In 1950, Laue participated in the creation of the Verband Deutscher Physikalischer Gesellschaften, formerly affiliated under the Nordwestdeutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.]
In April 1951, Laue became director of the Max-Planck Institut für physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie, a position he held until 1959. In 1953, at the request of Laue, the Institute was renamed the Fritz Haber Institut für physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie der Max-Planck Gesellschaft.[
]
Personal life
It was in 1913 that Laue's father, Julius Laue, a civil servant in the military administration, was raised into the ranks of hereditary nobility. Thus Max Laue became Max von Laue.[ Laue married Magdalene Degen, while he was a Privatdozent at LMU. They had two children.][ Their son, Theodor Hermann von Laue (1916–2000), went to the United States in 1937, and received his B.A. and Ph.D. from Princeton University. After his service in the U.S. Army, Theodor taught modern history as a professor at various U.S. universities.
Among Laue's chief recreational activities were mountaineering, motoring in his automobile, motor-biking, sailing, and skiing. While not a mountain climber, he did enjoy hiking on the Alpine glaciers with his friends.]
On 8 April 1960, while he was driving to his laboratory, Laue's car was struck in Berlin by a motorcyclist, who had received his license only two days earlier. The motorcyclist was killed and Laue's car was overturned. He died from his injuries sixteen days later on 24 April. Being a profound believer, he had asked that his epitaph should read that he had died trusting firmly in God's mercy.
Organizations
* 1919: Corresponding member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...
[
* 1921: Regular member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences]
* From 1921: Chairman of the physics commission of the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft (Renamed in 1937: Deutsche Gemeinschaft zur Erhaltung und Förderun der Forschung. No longer active by 1945.)
* From 1922: Member of the Board of Trustees of the Potsdam Astrophysics Observatory
* 1925 – 1933: Advisor to the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (Today: Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt). Laue had been sacked in 1933 from his advisory position by Johannes Stark, Nobel Prize recipient and President of the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, in retribution for Laue's open opposition to the Nazis by blocking Stark's regular membership in the Prussian Academy of Sciences.
* 1931 – 1933: : Chairman 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 ...
* Memberships in the Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across t ...
, the Kant
Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aest ...
Society, the Austrian Academy of Sciences (1960), the American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
, the Société Française de Physique
The Société Française de Physique (SFP), or the French Physical Society, is the main professional society of French physicists. It was founded in 1873 by Charles Joseph d'Almeida.
History
The French Physical Society is a state-approved non- ...
and the Société Française de Mineralogie et Crystallographie.
* Corresponding Member of the Academies of Sciences of Göttingen, Munich, Turin, Stockholm, Rome (Papal), Madrid, the Accademia dei Lincei
The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...
of Rome, and the Royal Society of London
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
.
Honours and awards
*1914: Nobel Prize for Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
*1932: Max-Planck Medal
The Max Planck medal is the highest award of the German Physical Society , the world's largest organization of physicists, for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics. The prize has been awarded annually since 1929, with few exceptions, ...
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 ...
*1952: Knight of the Order Pour le Mérite
The ' (; , ) is an order of merit (german: Verdienstorden) established in 1740 by Frederick the Great, King Frederick II of Prussia. The was awarded as both a military and civil honour and ranked, along with the Order of the Black Eagle, the Or ...
*1953: Grand Cross with Star for Federal Services
*1957: Officer of the Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
of France
*1959: Helmholtz Medal of the East-Berlin Academy of Sciences[
*Landenburg Medal
*Bimala–Churn–Law Gold Medal of the Indian Association at Calcutta
]
Selected bibliography
*Max von Laue ''Die Relativitätstheorie. Band 1: Die spezielle Relativitätstheorie'' (Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig, 1911, and 1919)
*Max von Laue ''Das Relativitätstheorie. Erster Band. Das Relativitätsprinzip der Lorentz-transformation. Vierte vermehrte Auflage.'' (Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, 1921)
*Max von Laue ''Die Relativitätstheorie. Zweiter Band : Die Allgemeine Relativitätstheorie Und Einsteins Lehre Von Der Schwerkraft '' (Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn, Braunschweig, 1921 and 1923)
*Max von Laue ''Korpuskular- und Wellentheorie'' (Leipzig, 1933)
*Max von Laue ''Die Interferenzen von Röntgen- und Elektronenstrahlen. Fünf Vorträge.'' (Springer, 1935)
*Max von Laue ''Eine Ausgestaltung der Londonschen Theorie der Supraleitung'' (Barth, 1942)
*Max von Laue ''Materiewellen und ihre Interferenzen'' (Akadem. Verl.-Ges. Becker & Erler, 1944) (Geest und Portig, 1948)
*Max von Laue ''Theorie der Supraleitung'' (Springer, 1947 and 1949)
**Max von Laue, translated by Lothar Meyer and William Band ''Theory of Superconductivity'' (N.Y., 1952)
*Max von Laue ''Geschichte der Physik'' (Univ.-Verl., 1946 and 1947), (Athenäum-Verl., 1950) and (Ullstein Taschenbücher-Verl., 1959, 1966 and 1982) .html" ;"title="his book was translated into seven other languages.">his book was translated into seven other languages.**Max von Laue, translated by Ralph E. Oesper ''History of Physics'' (Academic Press, 1950)
**Max von Laue ''Histoire De La Physique'' (Lamarre, 1953)
**Max von Laue ''Geschiedenis der natuurkunde'' ('s Gravenhage, Stols, 1950 and 1954)
*Max Planck and Max von Laue ''Wissenschaftliche Selbstbiographie'' (Barth, 1948)
*Max von Laue ''Röntgenstrahlinterferenzen'' (Akadem. Verl.-Ges., 1948)
*Max von Laue ''Die Relativitätstheorie. Bd. 2. Die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie'' (Vieweg, 1953)
*Max Planck and Max von Laue ''Vorlesungen über Thermodynamik'' de Gruyter (Gebundene, 1954)
*Walter Friedrich, Paul Knipping, and Max von Laue ''Interferenzerscheinungen bei Röntgenstrahlen'' (J. A. Barth, 1955)
*Max von Laue ''Die Relativitätstheorie. Bd. 1. Die spezielle Relativitätstheorie'' (Vieweg, 1955)
*Max von Laue ''Die Relativitätstheorie. Bd. 2. Die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie'' (Vieweg, 1956)
*Max von Laue ''Max von Laue''
*Max von Laue ''Röntgenwellenfelder in Kristallen'' (Akademie-Verl., 1959)
*Max von Laue ''Von Laue-Festschrift. 1'' (Akadem. Verl.-Ges., 1959)
*Max von Laue ''Von Laue-Festschrift. 2'' (Akadem. Verl.-Ges., 1960)
*Max von Laue and Ernst Heinz Wagner ''Röntgenstrahl-Interferenzen'' (Akadem. Verl.-Ges., 1960)
*Max von Laue and Friedrich Beck ''Die Relativitätstheorie. Bd. 1. Die spezielle Relativitätstheorie'' (Vieweg, 1961 and 1965)
*Max von Laue ''Gesammelte Schriften und Vorträge. Bd. 1'' (Vieweg, 1961)
*Max von Laue ''Gesammelte Schriften und Vorträge. Bd. 2'' (Vieweg, 1961)
*Max von Laue ''Gesammelte Schriften und Vorträge. Bd. 3'' (Vieweg, 1961)
*Max von Laue ''Aufsätze und Vorträge'' (Vieweg, 1961 and 1962)
*Max von Laue and Friedrich Beck ''Die Relativitätstheorie. Bd. 2. Die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie'' (Vieweg, 1965)
*Max von Laue ''Die Relativitätstheorie II. Die allgemeine Relativitätstheorie'' (Vieweg Friedr. und Sohn Ver, 1982)
Other publications
* Received 1 April 1913, published in issue No. 10 of 15 May 1913. As cited in Mehra, Volume 5, Part 2, 2001, p. 922.
* Received 1 October 1913, published in issue No. 21 of 1 November 1913. As cited in Mehra, Volume 5, Part 2, 2001, p. 922.
* Presented on 24 September 1913 at the 85th Naturforscherversammlung, Vienna, published in issue No. 22/23 of 15 November 1913. As cited in Mehra, Volume 5, Part 2, 2001, p. 922.
* Received 21 November 1913, published in issue No. 25 of 15 December 1913. As cited in Mehra, Volume 5, Part 2, 2001, p. 922.
*
See also
*History of special relativity
The history of special relativity consists of many theoretical results and empirical findings obtained by Albert A. Michelson, Hendrik Lorentz, Henri Poincaré and others. It culminated in the theory of special relativity proposed by Albert Eins ...
*Laue equations
In crystallography and solid state physics, the Laue equations relate incoming waves to outgoing waves in the process of elastic scattering, where the photon energy or light temporal frequency does not change by scattering, by a crystal lattice. T ...
*Sagnac effect
The Sagnac effect, also called Sagnac interference, named after French physicist Georges Sagnac, is a phenomenon encountered in interferometry that is elicited by rotation. The Sagnac effect manifests itself in a setup called a ring interferomet ...
*Trouton–Noble experiment
The Trouton–Noble experiment was an attempt to detect motion of the Earth through the luminiferous aether, and was conducted in 1901–1903 by Frederick Thomas Trouton and H. R. Noble. It was based on a suggestion by George FitzGerald that ...
*Twin paradox
In physics, the twin paradox is a thought experiment in special relativity involving identical twins, one of whom makes a journey into space in a high-speed rocket and returns home to find that the twin who remained on Earth has aged more. Thi ...
* Einstein synchronisation
*Institut Laue–Langevin
The Institut Laue–Langevin (ILL) is an internationally financed scientific facility, situated on the Polygone Scientifique in Grenoble, France. It is one of the world centres for research using neutrons. Founded in 1967 and honouring the ph ...
* Laue (crater)
* 10762 von Laue
References
Sources
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Max von Laue Biography
– Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin
* – University of Frankfurt on Main
* including the Nobel Lecture, 3 June 1920 ''Concerning the Detection of X-ray Interferences''
– An account of Laue's work is by Professor G. Granqvist, Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laue, Max Von
1879 births
1960 deaths
20th-century German physicists
Scientists from Koblenz
Experimental physicists
Optical physicists
Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
Nobel laureates in Physics
German Nobel laureates
People from the Rhine Province
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)
University of Strasbourg alumni
University of Göttingen alumni
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
Humboldt University of Berlin faculty
People associated with the University of Zurich
Goethe University Frankfurt faculty
Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences
Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars
Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925)
Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Honorary Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Foreign Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Crystallographers
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Road incident deaths in Germany
Winners of the Max Planck Medal
Scientists from Frankfurt
Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Operation Epsilon
Members of the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Recipients of the Matteucci Medal
German Christians
Max Planck Institute directors
Fellows of the American Physical Society