Robert Otto Pohl (December 17, 1929 – August 30, 2024) was a German-American physicist, specializing in

condensed matter physics Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the sub ...

topics such as solid state physics, thermal conductivity, and thin films, who was the Goldwin Smith Emeritus Professor of Physics at Cornell University where he has been on the faculty since the 1950s.

Life and career

Robert O. Pohl's father was the physicist Robert Wichard Pohl (1884–1976), whose maternal grandfather was Friedrich Wichard Lange (1826–1884), a member of the Hamburg Parliament. After completing undergraduate study at the University of Freiburg, Robert O. Pohl matriculated as a graduate student at the University of Erlangen. There he graduated with a ''

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from grc, δίπλωμα ''diploma'') is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus ...

'' (M.S.) in 1955 and a doctorate in 1957 and worked as an assistant in physics for the academic year 1957–1958. He emigrated to the United States in 1958. At Cornell University he was a research associate (from 1958 to 1960), an assistant professor from 1960 to 1963, an associate professor from 1963 to 1968), a full professor from 1968 to 2000, and Goldwin Smith Emeritus Professor of Physics from 2000 to 2024. He held visiting appointments at

RWTH Aachen University RWTH Aachen University (), also known as North Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Rhine-Westphalia Technical University of Aachen, Technical University of Aachen, University of Aachen, or ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hoch ...

(1964), the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wit ...

(1966–1967), 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 ...

, the University of Konstanz, the University of Regensburg, New Zealand's

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

, China's Tongji University, and the Nuclear Research Center in

Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', nl, Gulik, french: Juliers, Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. As a border region betwe ...

. Robert O. Pohl has done research on experimental investigations of glass and glassy materials, as well as heat transport and lattice transport behavior in crystalline solids and in amorphous solids, structure of glass, cryogenic techniques, and energy problems. In 1985 he received the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize for "his pioneering work on low energy excitations in amorphous materials and continued important contributions to the understanding of thermal transport in solids." It was considered the highest recognition in condensed matter physics. Pohl was elected in 1972 a fellow 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 ...

, in 1984 a fellow of

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

and in 1999 a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. For the academic year 1973–1974 he was a Guggenheim Fellow. In 1980 he received the Humboldt US Senior Scientist Award. His doctoral students included

Venkatesh Narayanamurti Venkatesh Narayanamurti is an American scientist, public policy leader and academic administrator. He studied physics at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, where he gained his bachelor's degree in 1958 and a master's degree in 1960. He was awarded ...

. Springer published Robert Wichard Pohl's 3-volume edition of ''Einführung in die Physik'' (vol. 1, ''Mechanik und Akustik'', 1930; vol. 2, ''Elektrizitätslehre'', 1927; vol. 3, 1940, ''Optik'') with many later editions and a 2-volume edition edited by Klaus Lüders and Robert O. Pohl (vol. 1, ''Mechanik, Akustik und Wärmelehre'', 19th edition, 2004; vol. 2, 22nd edition, 2006). Robert O. Pohl added videos of demonstration experiments for the latest editions. Pohl died in Göttingen, Germany on August 30, 2024, at the age of 94.

Pohl's opinions on nuclear waste disposal

In addition to his main research interests, Robert O. Pohl was concerned about radioactive waste disposal and its effects on the environment and human health. During the

Carter administration Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican President ...

he served on a Presidential advisory committee on nuclear waste disposal. In a 1982 article published in ''Physics Today'', Pohl wrote:

Selected publications

Articles

* * (over 500 citations) * * (over 2200 citations) * (over 1050 citations) See

aluminium nitride Aluminium nitride ( Al N) is a solid nitride of aluminium. It has a high thermal conductivity of up to 321 W/(m·K) and is an electrical insulator. Its wurtzite phase (w-AlN) has a band gap of ~6 eV at room temperature and has a potenti ...

. * (over 400 citations) * * * (over 450 citations) * * (over 3050 citations) * * * * (over 2000 citations) * * * * * (over 400 citations) *

Books

* translated from ''Pohls Einführung in die Physik, Band. 1 : Mechanik, Akustik und Wärmelehre'' by William D. Brewers (Vol. 1 contains 77 videos of experiments.) * translated from ''Pohls Einführung in die Physik, Band.2 : Elektizitaetslehre und Optik'' by William D. Brewer (Vol. 2 contains 41 videos of experiments.)

References

External links

* (movie from the early 1970s) * * (creators: Klaus Lüders, Robert Otto Pohl, ''et al.'') * (creators: Klaus Lüders, Robert Otto Pohl, ''et al.'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Pohl, Robert Otto 1929 births 2024 deaths 20th-century German physicists 21st-century German physicists 20th-century American physicists 21st-century American physicists Condensed matter physicists University of Freiburg alumni University of Erlangen-Nuremberg alumni Cornell University faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize winners