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 spring conferences (), which are held at various locations and along topical subjects of given sections of the DPG.
The DPG serves the fields of pure and applied physics. Main aims are to bring its members and all physicists living in Germany closer together, represent their entirety outwards as well as foster the exchange of ideas between its members and foreign colleagues. The DPG binds itself and its members to advocate for freedom, tolerance, veracity and dignity in science and to be aware about the fact that the people working in science are responsible to a particularly high extent for the configuration of the overall human activity.
Conferences and fostering young talent
The DPG itself does not carry out any research, but its conferences promote the sharing of information about the latest findings in the field of physics. The traditional spring meetings held by the DPG each year at venues across the country are among largest physics conferences in Europe, attended by around 10,000 experts from Germany and abroad. Fostering young talent is another central concern of the DPG : its conferences provide a platform particularly for younger scientists. The conferences provide students with opportunities to meet renowned scientists in person. The DPG also runs a nationwide network for physics students in the working group Young DPG. Female physicists have a forum of their own in the annual German Conference of Women in Physics.
Awards and school projects
The DPG honours outstanding achievements in physics with awards of international repute. The highest awards which are presented by the DPG are the
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, ...
for work in theoretical physics, first awarded in 1929, and the
Stern–Gerlach Medal for work in experimental physics, first awarded in 1933. Some awards, such as the
Gustav Hertz Prize
Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to:
* Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film
* ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short car ...
for Young Physicists, intend to foster young talent. Others are awarded by the DPG in cooperation with other organisations in Germany and abroad, such as the
Max Born Medal and Prize
The Max Born Medal and Prize is a scientific prize awarded yearly by the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, German Physical Society (DPG) and the British Institute of Physics (IOP) in memory of the German physicist Max Born, who was a German-J ...
or the
Otto Hahn Prize
The Otto Hahn Prize is awarded biennially jointly by the Society of German Chemists (), the German Physical Society () and the city of Frankfurt am Main for outstanding achievement in the field of chemistry, physics or applied engineering science. ...
. The
Medal for Natural Science Journalism is awarded by the DPG to personalities who have made a special contribution to bringing scientific facts to the attention of the general public. In addition, the DPG awards prizes to school graduates throughout the country for outstanding achievements in physics. It supports competitions for school students such as the (national research contest for young scientists), promotes innovative school projects and organises advanced training courses for teaching staff.
Young Scientist Award for Socio- and Econophysics
Since 2002, the (Physics of Socio-Economic Systems Division) recognizes "outstanding original contributions that use physical methods to develop a better understanding of socio-economic problems".
Awardees are Vittoria Colizza (2013), Arne Traulsen (2012), Santo Fortunato (2011),
Dirk Brockmann (2010),
Duncan Watts
Duncan James Watts (born February 20, 1971) is a sociologist and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He was formerly a principal researcher at Microsoft Research in New York City, and is known for his work on small-world networks.
...
(2009), Fabrizio Lillo (2008), Katarzyna Sznajd-Weron (2007) for the
Sznajd model
The Sznajd model or United we stand, divided we fall (USDF) model is a sociophysics model introduced in 2000 to gain fundamental understanding about opinion dynamics. The Sznajd model implements a phenomenon called social validation and thus exten ...
, Xavier Gabaix (2006), Reuven Cohen (2005), Illes Farkas (2004), Vasliki Plerou (2002) and Damien Challet (2002).
Publications
The DPG produces a range of various publications. The membership journal of the DPG provides news reports from the DPG and about physics in general. Besides, the DPG joins forces with the British Institute of Physics to publish the electronic open access journal ''
New Journal of Physics
''New Journal of Physics'' is an online-only, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research in all aspects of physics, as well as interdisciplinary topics where physics forms the central theme. The journal was established in 1998 ...
''. The articles published here have gone through a strict peer review in line with the stringent scientific quality standards propounded by the ''New Journal of Physics''. Moreover, the DPG also publishes its conference programme every year under the name (Programme Booklets for DPG Conferences), listing the abstracts of around 8,000 papers. And the web portal www.welt-der-physik.de, operated jointly by the DPG and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), provides much information about physics even for nonexperts.
Historical publications
Publications of the DPG have included:
*
*
* (continued as )
*
* (continued as ''
European Physical Journal
The ''European Physical Journal'' (or ''EPJ'') is a joint publication of EDP Sciences, Springer Science+Business Media, and the Società Italiana di Fisica. It arose in 1998 as a merger and continuation of ''Acta Physica Hungarica'', ''Anales de F ...
'')
From the time of its creation in 1845, the DPG published and its , but by 1919, the had become too voluminous, so DPG chairman
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 ...
formed a committee consisting of
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 ...
,
Eugen Goldstein
Eugen Goldstein (; 5 September 1850 – 25 December 1930) was a German physicist. He was an early investigator of discharge tubes, the discoverer of anode rays or canal rays, later identified as positive ions in the gas phase including the h ...
,
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 hydrogen ...
,
E. Jahnke,
Karl Scheel
Karl Friedrich Franz Christian Scheel (10 March 1866 in Rostock – 8 November 1936 in Berlin) was a German physicist. He was a Senior Executive Officer and head of Department IIIb at the Reich Physical and Technical Institute. Additionally, ...
, and
Wilhelm Westphal
Wilhelm Heinrich Westphal (3 March 1882, in Hamburg – 5 June 1978, in Berlin) was a German physicist. From 1918, he was a professor at the University of Berlin. During the period 1922 to 1924, he was also an expert adviser to the Prussian Minist ...
, which recommended that a new journal, the , should be established for rapid publication of original research articles by established scientists without peer review; it began publication the following year. In 1975 was merged with ''
Physics of Condensed Matter
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 su ...
'' (). was published as a 4-part journal from 1920–1997 by
Springer-Verlag
Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing.
Originally founded in 1842 in ...
under the auspices of the DPG. During the early 20th century, it was considered one of the most prestigious journals in physics, with its golden years coinciding with the golden years of
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...
.
It was the vehicle used by those with avant-garde views and the young generation of quantum physicists in the 1920s.
Physics and public relations
The DPG plays an active role in the dialogue between science and the general public with a range of popular scientific publications,
physics outreach, and public events. These activities also include the Highlights of Physics, an annual physics festival organised jointly by the DPG and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It is the largest festival of its kind in Germany with around 30,000 visitors every year.
Studies and social commitment
The DPG engages in socio-political discussions by releasing press statements, carrying out studies, giving statements and attending parliamentary evenings. It deals with current issues such as fostering young talent, climate protection, energy supply or arms control through to science and cultural history issues. The DPG is very particularly committed to equal opportunities for men and women and to promote women in natural sciences.
In Bonn and Berlin
The DPG office headed by the Chief Executive Bernhard Nunner is located in the (physics conference centre in Bad Honnef), in the neighbourhood of the university and federal city of Bonn. The is not only a meeting place and discussion forum of outstanding significance for physics in Germany but also an international brand for the discipline of physics. Students and cutting edge scientists through to Nobel Prize winners meet here to share their thoughts and ideas on a scientific level. Teaching staffs also gladly come to Bad Honnef time and again to attend advanced training courses relating to pure physics and the didactic aspects of this discipline, in the seminars held by the DPG. The DPG is also present in Germany's capital Berlin. It has been running the Magnus-Haus in Berlin since its reunification with the Physical Society of East Germany in 1990. This urban palace completed in 1760 – bearing the name of the natural scientist Gustav Magnus – has close links to the history of the DPG: it was the regular meeting place of scholars during the 19th century that eventually resulted in the Physical Society of Berlin being founded in 1845, which later became the DPG. Today it is a venue for meetings and lectures on physical and socio-political issues. The Magnus-Haus is also home to the DPG's historical archive.
Under National Socialism
The DPG was in opposition to
National Socialism's persecution of the Jews in general, and their promotion of , in particular. On 7 April 1933, barely two months after
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 ...
came to power on 30 January 1933, 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 ...
, was passed; under this law, Jewish civil servants and regime opponents were removed from their jobs. These policies had significant effects on physics in Germany through significant qualitative and quantitative losses of physicists as a result of emigration and through political decisions overriding those based on academic and scientific considerations; 25% of the physicists holding academic positions in the period 1932–1933 were lost due to the policies. The opposition can be illustrated by just a few examples, such as the DPG not immediately dismissing Jews after passage of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service,
Max von Laue's address at the opening of the 1933 physics convention in Würzburg, opposition to
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 phen ...
exercising the in attempting to become the dictator of physics, and
Carl Ramsauer's opposition to the politicization of education:
*When the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service was passed in 1933, the DPG dragged its feet in the dismissal of Jews for more than five years. It was not until the end of 1938, on the initiation of Herbert Stuart and
Wilhelm Orthmann
Wilhelm Orthmann (1 May 1901 – 6 July 1945) was a German physicist. He was director of the physico-technical department of the Industrial College of Berlin. During World War II, he was also employed by the Reich Aviation Ministry.
Education
...
, that the DPG asked Jewish members to withdraw their membership.
[Hentschel, 1996, Appendix A; see the entry for the DPG.]
*
Max von Laue
Max Theodor Felix von Laue (; 9 October 1879 – 24 April 1960) was a German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals.
In addition to his scientific endeavors with cont ...
, as chairman of the DPG, gave the opening address at the 1933 physics convention held 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 ...
. In it, he compared the persecution of
Galileo
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...
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 , against
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 ...
, labeled as “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 phen ...
, a holder of 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 " ...
, was a proponent of . Acting under the , Stark attempted to become “dictator of physics,” as part of a plan to reorganize and coordinate German scientific societies to National Socialist ideology and policies. These actions brought opposition from members of the DPG. For example,
Max von Laue
Max Theodor Felix von Laue (; 9 October 1879 – 24 April 1960) was a German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals.
In addition to his scientific endeavors with cont ...
, in 1933, blocked Stark's regular membership in the . Furthermore, also in 1933, Stark, President of the (PTR), ran for president of the DPG against Karl Mey, the industrial physicist and head of
Osram
Osram Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). Osram positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and tre ...
. Stark received only two votes! In retribution, Stark canceled the DPG's use of its rooms in the PTR, deleted PTR travel expenses for its personnel to attend DPG meetings, and forbade PTR personnel from lecturing at DPG meetings.
*
Carl Ramsauer
Carl Wilhelm Ramsauer (6 February 1879 – 24 December 1955) was a German professor of physics and research physicist, famous for the discovery of the Ramsauer–Townsend effect. He pioneered the field of electron and proton collisions with gas ...
, president of the DPG 1940 to 1945, and his deputy, Wolfgang Finkelnburg, steered a relatively independent course from the party line of the National Socialists and against , which was
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
and anti-theoretical physics, especially including modern physics, i.e.,
quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, ...
. Early in 1942, as chairman of the DPG, Ramsauer, on Felix Klein's initiative and with the support of
Ludwig Prandtl
Ludwig Prandtl (4 February 1875 – 15 August 1953) was a German fluid dynamicist, physicist and aerospace scientist. He was a pioneer in the development of rigorous systematic mathematical analyses which he used for underlying the science of ...
, submitted a petition to Reich Minister
Bernhard Rust
Bernhard Rust (30 September 1883 – 8 May 1945) was Minister of Science, Education and National Culture ( Reichserziehungsminister) in Nazi Germany.Claudia Koonz, ''The Nazi Conscience'', p 134 A combination of school administrator and zealous ...
, at the (Reich Education Ministry). The petition, a letter and six attachments, addressed the atrocious state of physics instruction in Germany, which Ramsauer concluded was the result of politicization of education.
Reunification
After the conclusion of
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 ...
, in 1946, von Laue initiated the founding of the in only the British Zone, as the
Allied Control Council
The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority (german: Alliierter Kontrollrat) and also referred to as the Four Powers (), was the governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany and Allied-occupied Austria after the end of Wo ...
would not initially allow organizations across occupation zone boundaries. The DPG was eventually also reinstituted individually in the American and French sectors. These individually established organizations were united in West Germany in 1950, only after the formation of the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
on 23 May 1949. It was only after the fall of the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
that the DPG again fully unified across Germany.
[Hentschel, 1996, Appendix A; see the entry on the DPG.]
Presidents
See also
*
European Physical Society
The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical so ...
*
Japan Society of Applied Physics
(JSAP) is a Japanese group of researchers in the field of applied physics. JSAP originated in 1932 from a voluntary forum of researchers belonging to the University of Tokyo and the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research. During World War ...
*
Institute of Physics
The Institute of Physics (IOP) is a UK-based learned society and professional body that works to advance physics education, research and application.
It was founded in 1874 and has a worldwide membership of over 20,000. The IOP is the Physica ...
*
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) promotes science and the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies. Its corpora ...
References
Further reading
*Beyerchen, Alan D. ''Scientists Under Hitler: Politics and the Physics Community in the Third Reich'' (Yale, 1977)
*Heilbron, J. L. ''The Dilemmas of an Upright Man: Max Planck and the Fortunes of German Science'' (Harvard, 2000)
*Hentschel, Klaus, editor and Ann M. Hentschel, editorial assistant and Translator ''Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources'' (Birkhäuser, 1996)
*Hoffmann, Dieter ''Between Autonomy and Accommodation: The German Physical Society during the Third Reich'', ''Physics in Perspective'' 7(3) 293–329 (2005)
*
Jungnickel, Christa and
Russell McCormmach
Russell Keith McCormmach (born 9 October 1933), the husband of the late Christa Jungnickel, is an American historian of physics.
McCormmach grew up in Walla Walla, Washington and studied physics at Washington State College with bachelor's degree i ...
. ''
Intellectual Mastery of Nature: Theoretical Physics from Ohm to Einstein, Volume 2: The Now Mighty Theoretical Physics, 1870 to 1925.'' (University of Chicago Press, Paper cover, 1990)
*Kragh, Helge ''Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth Century'' (Princeton, 1999)
External links
*
{{Authority control
Scientific organizations established in 1845
1845 establishments in Prussia
1899 establishments in Germany