Wilhelm Altar (August 27, 1900 - January 1, 1995), known to family and colleagues as William Altar, was an Austrian-born theoretical physicist whose significant contributions led to the development of the magneto ionic theory. Altar contributed to the mathematical and conceptual underpinnings that were verified by

Appleton Appleton may refer to: People *Appleton (surname) Places Australia * Appleton Dock Canada * Appleton, Newfoundland and Labrador * Appleton, Ontario United Kingdom * Appleton, a deserted medieval village site in the parish of Flitcham w ...

's research, in collaboration with Dr. Altar. Altar was not credited with his contributions until 1982, decades after Appelton received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1947.

Biography

Altar was born in Vienna in 1900. In 1923 he obtained a doctorate in

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 ...

from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

. Due to the poor job market post

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Altar, in 1925, moved to his uncle's home in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In London Professor A. O. Ranking at

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

introduced him to Edward Appleton in

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. In the 1930s he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where he joined the physics department of

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. From 1935 to 1937 he served as a researcher at the Frick Chemical Laboratory at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, working on a study of optical rotatory power in

organic molecules In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The s ...

. On several occasions, Dr. Altar had tea and discussions about physics with Dr. Albert Einstein in their native German language.

Appleton-Altar approach

During his time in

King's College King's College or The King's College refers to two higher education institutions in the United Kingdom: *King's College, Cambridge, a constituent of the University of Cambridge *King's College London, a constituent of the University of London It ca ...

, Altar and

made slow progress every day. The Appleton-Altar approach was an exercise in Lorentzian magneto-optics.

Magneto-Ionic Theory

References

20th-century Austrian physicists 1900 births 1995 deaths Academics of King's College London University of Vienna alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty Austrian emigrants to the United States {{physicist-stub