Life and career

Max Margules studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry in Vienna. In 1877 he joined, as volunteer, ZAMG (Central Institute of Meteorology and Geodynamics) in Vienna . After two years he left Vienna to study 1 year at Berlin. He returned to Vienna and received his Phd degree in the area of Electrodynamics. During his doctoral studies he was Privatdozent

Privatdozent

Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...

. An unpaid position, but which allowed him to lecture students. Students' fees gave him some income.
Later, administration offered this teaching job to someone else, which ended his academic career. In 1882 he returned to ZAMG. During this time he focused on electro- and hydrodynamic problems. In his free time he studied physical and physico-chemical problems. The Duhem–Margules equation

Duhem–Margules equation

The Duhem–Margules equation, named for Pierre Duhem and Max Margules, is a thermodynamic statement of the relationship between the two components of a single liquid where the vapour mixture is regarded as an ideal gas:...

 and the Margules' Gibbs free energy equation

Margules activity model

-Introduction:Max Margules introduced in 1895 a simple thermodynamic model for the excess Gibbs free energy of a liquid mixture.After Lewis had introduced the concept of the activity coefficient, the model could be used to derive an expression for the activity coefficients \gamma_iof a compound i...

 are examples of his free-time devotion. In 1900 his interest switched to meteorology and deployed his thermodynamic knowledge. This led to the Margules formula, a formula for characterizing the slope of a front.

In 1919 the Austrian Society for Meteorology awarded him the silver Hann Medal of Acknowledgement. Margules accepted the medal, but rejected the money. He rejected all attempts to make the last year of his life bearable. His small pension and the devaluation of the currency due to WW I led to a life in poverty. He contented himself with food coupons in the post WW-I period. He got hunger edema

Edema

Edema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...

 and should be remedied. He refused to do this and on the 4th of October 1920 he died from starvation.

Today Julius von Hann

Julius von Hann

Julius Ferdinand von Hann was an Austrian meteorologist. He is seen as the father of modern meteorology.-Biography:...

, head of ZAMG in that time, and Max Margules are seen as theoretical pillars of meteorology.

Publications

Über die Schwingungen periodisch erwärmter Luft, in: Sbb. Wien, math. nat. Kl., Bd. 99, Abt. 2a, 1890

Luftbewegungen in einer rotierenden Sphäroidschale bei zonaler Druckverteilung, ibid., Bd. 101/02, Abt. 2a, 1892-93

Vergleichung der Barogramme von einigen Orten rings um Wien, in: Meteorolog. Z., Bd. 14, 1897

Material zum Studium der Druckverteilung und des Windes in NÖ, in: Jhb. der k. k. Centralanstalt für Meteorol. und Erdmagnetismus in Wien, NF, Bd. 35, 1900; Bd. 37, 1902

Temperaturstufen in NÖ im Winter 1898/99, ibid., Bd. 36, 1901

Über den Arbeitswert einer Luftdruckverteilung und die Erhaltung der Druckunterschiede, in: Denkschriften Wien, math.-nat. Kl., Bd. 73, 1901

Über rasche Erwärmungen, in: Meteorolog. Z., Bd. 20, 1903

Über Temperaturschwankungen auf hohen Bergen, ibid., Bd. 20, 1903

Über die Energie der Stürme, in: Jhb. der k. k. Centralanstalt für Meteorol. und Erdmagnetismus in Wien, NF, Bd. 42, 1905

Über Temperaturschichtung in stationär bewegter und in ruhender Luft, in: Meteorolog. Z., Hann-Bd., 1906

Über die Zusammensetzung der gesättigten Dämpfe von Mischungen. Sitzb. der math.-nat. Classe der kaiserlichen
Akademie der Wissenschaften Wien 104, 1885

Über die Änderung des vertikalen Temperaturgefälles durch Zusammendrückung oder Ausbreitung einer Luftmasse, ibid., Bd. 23, 1906

Zur Sturmtheorie, ibid., Bd. 23, 1906; etc.

Biography

Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon ÖBL, S. 84f

Neue Deutsche Biographie NDB, Bd. 16, S. 169; Familienartikel, 170f

Exner, W., Max Margules. In: Meteorologische Zeitschrift 37, 1920

Gold, E., Dr. Max Margules. In: Nature, Vol. 106, Issue 2661, S. 286-287 (1920)

In honor contribution of Max Margules to thermodynamics. Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion, Vol. 17, Nr. 1 / Jan. 1996. Springer, Boston

"Max Margules—A Cocktail of Meteorology and Thermodynamics", Jaime Wisniak, Journal of Phase Equilibria Vol. 24 No. 2 2003, p103-109

External links

• Quotation of Margules on PSU website http://www.ems.psu.edu/~bannon/Dynamics.html
• Life and work. http://maths.ucd.ie/~plynch/Publications/MTERF-TwoCol.pdf