Hans Motz (1 October 1909 – 6 August 1987) is known for his pioneering work at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

on undulators which led to the development of the wiggler and the

free-electron laser A free-electron laser (FEL) is a fourth generation light source producing extremely brilliant and short pulses of radiation. An FEL functions much as a laser but employs relativistic electrons as a active laser medium, gain medium instead of using ...

.Paolo Luchini, Hans Motz, ''Undulators and Free-electron Lasers'', Oxford University Press, 1990. Hans Motz was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and died in

Oxford, England Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He was survived by his widow

Lotte Motz Lotte Motz, born Lotte Edlis (August 16, 1922 – December 24, 1997), was an Austrian-American scholar, obtaining a Ph.D. in German and philology, who published four books and many scholarly papers, primarily in the fields of Germanic mythology ...

, his daughter Anna Motz, and his protégé of many years, George B. Purdy. On Oct. 19, 1942, he spoke on the topic “Is a ‘Mechanistic’ View of the Universe Scientifically Tenable?” at the Socratic Club in Oxford. In 1958 he was the Donald Pollock Reader in the Department of Engineering at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

and also a member of St Catherine's Society, Oxford, which became

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

in 1962, at which time he became a Fellow. In 1977 he became the only Full Professor (at that time) in the Department of Engineering. He has written a number of books, including ''The Physics of Laser Fusion'', and a book on microwave theory.Hans Motz, ''Electromagnetic Problems of Microwave Theory'' (Methuen's Monographs on physical subjects), Wiley and Sons, 1951. He is also a coauthor with Paolo Luchini of the book ''Undulators and Free-electron Lasers''. In the early 1960s he had a grant from

Rand corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

to see how much classified nuclear physics he could rediscover using an electronic computer. There was a feeling that freer access would allow the US nuclear power industry to develop more quickly. Using Oxford University's Feranti Mercury computer he was able to rediscover essentially all of the basics, and these were subsequently declassified and taught in university nuclear engineering programs.

References

1909 births 1987 deaths Scientists from Vienna Fellows of St Catherine's College, Oxford Austrian emigrants to the United Kingdom {{Austria-scientist-stub