August Otto Föppl was a professor of Technical Mechanics and Graphical Statics at the Technical University of Munich

Technical University of Munich

The Technische Universität München is a research university with campuses in Munich, Garching, and Weihenstephan...

, Germany. He is credited with introducing the Föppl–Klammer theory and the Föppl–von Kármán equations (large deflection of elastic plates).

• Doctoral advisor: Christian Otto Mohr

• Notable student: Ludwig Prandtl

In 1894, Föppl wrote a widely read introductory book on Maxwell's theory of electricity, titled "Theorie der Elektriztät". Gerald Holton

Gerald Holton

Gerald Holton is Mallinckrodt Research Professor of Physics and Research Professor of the History of Science, Emeritus, at Harvard University.Born 1922 in Berlin, he grew up in Vienna before emigrating in 1938...

 argues, that some arguments of Föppl concerning electromagnetic induction

Electromagnetic induction

Electromagnetic induction is the production of an electric current across a conductor moving through a magnetic field. It underlies the operation of generators, transformers, induction motors, electric motors, synchronous motors, and solenoids....

, had some influence on Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...

's first paper on special relativity

Special relativity

Special relativity is the physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in the paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".It generalizes Galileo's...

.

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