Vinko Dvořák (January 21, 1848 – May 6, 1922) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

- Croatian physicist, professor and academician. He studied mathematics and physics at the

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, and after graduating he became an assistant to professor

Ernst Mach Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach ( ; ; 18 February 1838 – 19 February 1916) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher, who contributed to the understanding of the physics of shock waves. The ratio of the speed of a flow or object to that of ...

. After obtaining his doctorate in Prague in 1873/1874 he came to

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

(at the time also part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

) and founded the Physics Cabinet at the

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

in 1875. Dvořák made many important discoveries in the field of experimental

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

and

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...

, which are known as the Dvořák-Rayleigh current, the Dvořák acoustic repulsion, and the Dvořák circuit. His work on acoustic radiometers coincided with that of

Lord Rayleigh John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh ( ; 12 November 1842 – 30 June 1919), was an English physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1904 "for his investigations of the densities of the most important gases and for his discovery ...

. He was the dean of the Faculty of Philosophy in 1881/82 and again in 1891/92 and the rector of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

in 1893/94. Professor Dvorak made constant advancements in physics experimentation at the Faculty—in 1896 he obtained a

Röntgen radiation Röntgen or Roentgen may refer to: * Roentgen (unit), unit of measurement for ionizing radiation, named after Wilhelm Röntgen * Wilhelm Röntgen (1845–1923), German physicist, discoverer of X-rays * Abraham Roentgen (1711–1793), German cabinet ...

device just six months after it was discovered."Povijest fizičkog odsjeka"
Department of Physics, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science He became a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1883 (associate) and 1887 (full member). He was also an associate member of the Czech Academy of

Franz Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

, a member of the ''Société francaise de physique'' (French Physics Society) and the Paris ''Société internationale des électriciens'', and a member of the

Royal Czech Society of Sciences Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences (; ; ) was established in 1784 – originally without the adjective "royal" – which was granted as late as in 1790 by King and Emperor Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold II – to be the scientific center ...

in Prague. Dvořák retired in 1911.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dvorak, Vinko 1848 births 1922 deaths Physicists from Austria-Hungary 19th-century Croatian people 19th-century Czech people Croatian physicists Czech physicists Rectors of the University of Zagreb Charles University alumni Croatian people of Czech descent Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Croatian mountain climbers Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery