Werner Gruber
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Werner Gruber (born 15 March 1970, in
Ostermiething Ostermiething is a municipality in the district of Braunau am Inn in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Geography Ostermiething lies in the upper Innviertel on the western edge of the Weilhart forest directly across the Salzach from Germany. The ...
) is an Austrian
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 ...
, author, lecturer, and cabaret artist and is well known from
ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
and as a member of the
Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
(SPÖ).


Biography

Gruber grew up in
Ansfelden Ansfelden is a town in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. The rivers Traun and Krems run through the municipality. The town is perhaps best known for being the birthplace of the composer and organist Anton Bruckner. Ansfelden has two museum ...
, Upper Austria and graduated in 1999 with a degree in physics 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 ...
. He then worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Vienna. Since February 2013 Gruber manages the astronomical institutions of the ''Adult Education centers in Vienna'' – the ''Planetarium Wien'', the
Kuffner Observatory The Kuffner observatory is one of two telescope-equipped public astronomical observatories situated in Austria's capital, Vienna. It is situated in the West of the city's Ottakring district, on the slope of the Gallitzinberg at 302 m altitude. ...
and the
Urania Urania ( ; grc, , Ouranía; modern Greek shortened name ''Ránia''; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven") was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy, and in later times, of Christian poetry. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, he ...
Observatory. He teaches the introduction to physics at the Medical Faculty of the
Sigmund Freud University Vienna Sigmund Freud University (SFU) is a private and For-profit education, for-profit university accredited by thAustrian Accreditation Councilin August 2005 located in Vienna, Austria. As a university in the field of Human Sciences, SFU specializes i ...
, and at the Institute of Experimental Physic at the University of Vienna. After performing on 26 September 2015, Gruber suffered a cardiac arrest, which he survived thanks to a prompt
cardiac massage Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spon ...
by his colleague Puntigam and a rapid successor rescue chain. He was then implanted with a pacemaker with a defibrillator and an internet connection. To be a "Sudden Death with Brain" he described in October 2015 as a great luck. Gruber had previously tried to reduce excess weight to reduce the resulting health risks. After the operative training of a
Gastric bypass surgery Gastric bypass surgery refers to a technique in which the stomach is divided into a small upper pouch and a much larger lower "remnant" pouch and then the small intestine is rearranged to connect to both. Surgeons have developed several differ ...
, he has lost 50 kg until November 2015. Gruber is also an active member of the
Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs , SPÖ), founded and known as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (german: link=no, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei Österreichs, SDAPÖ) unti ...
.


Popular scientific work

Gruber became known through popular scientific treatment of everyday physics in adult education courses in Vienna ("The Science of
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
", "The Physics of Paper Flying", "Culinary Physics"), in columns and on television appearances. With the theoretical physicist Heinz Oberhummer and the cabaret artist Martin Puntigam, he designed and presented the science cabaret ' at the Rabenhof Theater in Vienna. In these events, science was presented in an entertaining way. The Science Busters also presented in this lineup a weekly radio column on the youth radio station
FM4 FM4 is an Austrian national radio station operated by the ORF. Its main target is the youth audience, and much of the music output is characterised by an alternative rock and electronic music slant. Programmimg The programming of ''FM4'' is als ...
of the
ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...
. In February 2016, after Heinz Oberhummer's death, Gruber announced to leave the Science Busters, citing health problems of his own. In 2012, Gruber was awarded the Vienna Prize for Public Education. 2013, this book ''Gedankenlesen durch Schneckenstreicheln'' (together with Martin Puntigam and Heinz Oberhummer) was awarded as Knowledge Book of the Year. In early 2010 Gruber became known for a demonstration of the ineffectiveness of
full body scanner A full-body scanner is a device that detects objects on or inside a person's body for security screening purposes, without physically removing clothes or making physical contact. Unlike metal detectors, full-body scanners can detect non-metal o ...
s, which are to be introduced in the security control at airports, on
ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
. In 2015, Gruber gave an interview to the Austrian newspaper ''
Kurier ''Kurier'' is a German-language daily newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. History and profile ''Kurier'' was founded as ''Wiener Kurier'' by the United States Forces in Austria (USFA) in 1945, during the Allied occupation after World War II. ...
'', where he said that human impact played a formative role on climate change. Together with Heinz Oberhummer, Gruber acted as a
Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a fictional species in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the original ''Star Trek'' (''TOS'') series, Klingons were swarthy humanoids c ...
in two promotional videos from the Volkshochschule Wien in January 2015. In both videos Klingon was spoken to illustrate the diversity of the VHS language offering.Klingonisch-Wiki: ''VHS Wien'' (ger)
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Publications (selection)

* ''Flirten mit den Sternen''. Ecowin, Elsbethen bei Salzburg 2019, . * (with Heinz Oberhummer und Martin Puntigam): ''Das Universum ist eine Scheißgegend''. Carl Hanser Verlag, 2015, . * (with Heinz Oberhummer und Martin Puntigam): ''Gedankenlesen durch Schneckenstreicheln. Was wir von Tieren über Physik lernen können''. Carl Hanser Verlag, 2012, . * (with Heinz Oberhummer and Martin Puntigam): ''Wer nichts weiß, muss alles glauben.''
Ecowin Verlag EcoWin was a provider of worldwide economic and financial market data until it was taken over by Reuters Group in 2005. It was based in Gothenburg, Sweden, where it was founded in 1994. It had offices in London, Paris, New York City and Gdańsk ...
, 2010. * (with Natascha Riahi and Christian Rupp): ''Die kleine Sonne auf großer Fahrt''. Bildungsverlag EINS, Troisdorf 2010. * ''Die Genussformel: Kulinarische Physik''
Ecowin Verlag EcoWin was a provider of worldwide economic and financial market data until it was taken over by Reuters Group in 2005. It was based in Gothenburg, Sweden, where it was founded in 1994. It had offices in London, Paris, New York City and Gdańsk ...
, 25. August 2008. * ''Unglaublich einfach. Einfach unglaublich. Physik für jeden Tag.'' Ecowin Verlag, Salzburg 2006. * (with Natascha Riahi and Christian Rupp): ''Die Reise der kleinen Sonne.'' Bildungsverlag EINS, Troisdorf 2006, . * ''Hollywood und die Physik'', Facultas-Verlag, Wien 2006.


Links

*
''Brain-Modelling: Physikalische Modelle über das Gehirn.''
Lecture by Werner Gruber at the University of Vienna.
Website ''Science Busters.''


Interview at Heise.de.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruber, Werner 1970 births Living people Austrian physicists 21st-century Austrian astronomers University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of the University of Vienna Social Democratic Party of Austria People from Linz-Land District