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Stefan Meyer (27 April 1872 – 29 December 1949) was an
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n
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 ca ...
involved in research on radioactivity. He became director of the Institute for Radium Research in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
and received the Lieben Prize in 1913 for his research on radium. He was the brother of
Hans Leopold Meyer Hans Leopold Meyer (31 March 1871 – 28 November 1942) was an Austrian chemist. He was the brother of Stefan Meyer who also received the Lieben Prize. Hans Leopold Meyer studied at the Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Vienna Univer ...
who was also awarded the Lieben Prize.


Life and work

Stefan was the second son of Jewish parents: a lawyer and notary Gotthelf Karl Meyer and his wife Clara (née Goldschmidt, sister of Victor Mordechai Goldschmidt). He went to school in Vienna and later graduated from gymnasium in Horn in 1892. He studied physics at the University of Vienna and attended the University of Leipzig for one year. He obtained his PhD in 1896 for work with Franz Serafin Exner and 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 ...
in 1900. In 1897, Meyer became assistant of Ludwig Boltzmann at the Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Vienna. His research was dedicated to magnetic permeability of liquids. After a talk of Friedrich Oskar Giesel – a pioneer in the research and production of radium – he obtained a sample of radium from Giesel to determine magnetic properties of the new element. Meyer and his colleague
Egon von Schweidler Egon Schweidler, (* 10 February 1873, in Vienna; † 10 February 1948, in Salzburg Seeham) was an Austrian physicist. Biography He was born in 1873 as the son of the court and ''Gerichtsadvokaten'' Emil von Schweidler born in Vienna. After studyin ...
were able to show that the Becquerel rays (beta rays) could be deflected by magnetic fields; this effect was discovered simultaneously by several scientists, but Meyer ''et al.'' also showed that the radiation from polonium (alpha rays) behaved differently in the magnetic field. Meyer was able to organize the production of 4 
gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to ...
s of radium, as recommended in 1901 by the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The chemical plant of
Auer von Welsbach Auer von Welsbach: * Alois Auer, ''Ritter von'' Welsbach ** Carl Auer, ''Freiherr (Baron) von'' Welsbach, son of Alois See also * Auer (surname) * Auer (disambiguation) Auer may refer to: People * Auer (surname) Places and rivers ; Germany ...
, which was used to produce rare earth elements, provided the necessary technical equipment and knowledge for separation of small quantities of material from ore. Meyer became interim head of the institute for one year after the suicide of Boltzmann. During that time, Meyer had also contacted
Lise Meitner Elise Meitner ( , ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish physicist who was one of those responsible for the discovery of the element protactinium and nuclear fission. While working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute on ra ...
before she left for Berlin in 1907. Meyer became assistant of Exner in 1908 and professor in 1909. The ample supply of radium which he shared with the Curies in Paris, Rutherford in Manchester and Ramsey in London made him a key figure in the research on radium. The only larger source for radium-containing pitchblende was the Sankt Joachimsthal mines, which were located in
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
. To improve the industrial use and mining of radium, Austrian industrialist donated 500,000 Austrian kronen to found an institute for research on radium in 1908. In 1910, the Institute for Radium Research in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
was opened. Meyer became its first acting director under Exner who was the official director of the institute. The institute in Vienna opened two years before the Institute du Radium in Paris. During the time when Meyer was acting director, a number of prominent scientists worked at the institute, including George de Hevesy, Victor Francis Hess and
Friedrich Paneth Friedrich Adolf Paneth (31 August 1887 – 17 September 1958) was an Austrian-born British chemist. Fleeing the Nazis, he escaped to Britain. He became a naturalized British citizen in 1939. After the war, Paneth returned to Germany to b ...
. With the Anschluss Österreichs in 1938, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, Meyer as a Jew had to leave office. He requested retirement before he was forced out of the institute. He stayed in his house in the countryside of Austria and, because of the intervention of several people, was left unharmed for the rest of the war. His older brother
Hans Leopold Meyer Hans Leopold Meyer (31 March 1871 – 28 November 1942) was an Austrian chemist. He was the brother of Stefan Meyer who also received the Lieben Prize. Hans Leopold Meyer studied at the Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Vienna Univer ...
, a professor of chemistry, was less protected and was killed in the
Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination camp ...
in 1942. After the war, Meyer was rehabilitated and allowed to return to his Institute as director. Meyer died in Bad Ischl in 1949 and is buried in the Bad Ischl Friedhof.


Publications

Stefan Meyer published several articles on radioactivity together with Schweidler. He compiled most of the findings on radioactivity in a book. This book became a standard German textbook on radioactivity similar to the book of Curie in French and the book of Rutherford in English. During his forced retirement, he wrote a book on musical instruments and acoustics.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Stefan Austrian nuclear physicists Austrian Jews 1872 births 1949 deaths Burials at the Bad Ischl Friedhof