Rudolf Ladenburg
Encyclopedia
Rudolf Walter Ladenburg (June 6, 1882, Kiel
– April 6, 1952, Princeton, New Jersey
) was a German
atomic physicist. He emigrated from Germany as early as 1932 and became a Brackett Research Professor at Princeton University. When the wave of German emigration began in 1933, he was the principal coordinator for job placement of exiled physicist in the United States.
, ordentlicher Professor (ordinarius professor) of chemistry at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
(1874-1899) and then at the Universität Breslau (1899-1909).
, Ladenburg became a Privatdozent
at Breslau and in 1921 an ausserordentlicher Professor (extraordinarius professor) there. In 1924, he took an appointment at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (today, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
) along with becoming a scientific member of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie (KWIPC, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry) of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft (KWG, Kaiser Wilhelm Society).
Ladenburg went to the United States as early as 1932, where he became a Brackett Research Professor at the Palmer Physics Laboratory, Princeton University
. When the emigration wave from Germany began in April 1933, Ladenburg was the principal coordinator for the employment of exiled physicists in the United States. He retired from Princeton in 1950.
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
– April 6, 1952, Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
) was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
atomic physicist. He emigrated from Germany as early as 1932 and became a Brackett Research Professor at Princeton University. When the wave of German emigration began in 1933, he was the principal coordinator for job placement of exiled physicist in the United States.
Background
Ladenburg was the son of the Jewish chemist Albert LadenburgAlbert Ladenburg
Albert Ladenburg was a German chemist.-Biography:Ladenburg was a member of a well known Jewish family in Mannheim. He was educated at a Realgymnasium at Mannheim and then, after the age of 15, at the technical school of Karlsruhe, where he studied mathematics and modern languages...
, ordentlicher Professor (ordinarius professor) of chemistry at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
University of Kiel
The University of Kiel is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the Academia Holsatorum Chiloniensis by Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and has approximately 23,000 students today...
(1874-1899) and then at the Universität Breslau (1899-1909).
Education
From 1900 to 1906, Ladenburg studied at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, the Universität Breslau, and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. He received his doctorate under Wilhelm Röntgen at Munich.Career
After completion of his HabilitationHabilitation
Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...
, Ladenburg became a 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...
at Breslau and in 1921 an ausserordentlicher Professor (extraordinarius professor) there. In 1924, he took an appointment at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (today, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
) along with becoming a scientific member of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie (KWIPC, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry) of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft (KWG, Kaiser Wilhelm Society).
Ladenburg went to the United States as early as 1932, where he became a Brackett Research Professor at the Palmer Physics Laboratory, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. When the emigration wave from Germany began in April 1933, Ladenburg was the principal coordinator for the employment of exiled physicists in the United States. He retired from Princeton in 1950.
Literature by Ladenburg
- Rudolf Ladenburg and Stanislaw Loria Nature, Anomalous Dispersion of Luminous Hydrogen Volume 79, 7-7 (05 November 1908)
- Rudolf Ladenburg Die quantentheoretische Bedeutung der Zahl der Dispersionelektronen, Z. Phys. Volume 4, Number 4, 451-468 (1921). Received on 8 February 1921. Institutional affiliation: Breslau, Physikal. Institut der Universität. English translation: The quantum-theoretical number of dispersion electrons in B. L. van der Waerden Sources of Quantum Mechanics (Dover, 1968) pp. 139 – 157.
- R. Ladenburg and F. Reiche Dispersionsgesetz und Bohrsche Atomtheorie, Die NaturwissenschaftenDie NaturwissenschaftenNaturwissenschaften is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer on behalf of several learned societies.- History :...
, Volume 12, Issue 33, pp. 672-673 (1924)
- Hans KopfermannHans KopfermannHans Kopfermann was a German atomic and nuclear physicist. He devoted his entire career to spectroscopic investigations, and he did pioneering work in measuring nuclear spin...
and Rudolf Ladenburg Elektrooptische Untersuchungen am Natriumdampf. (Anomale elektrische Doppelbrechung; Starkeffekt an der Resonanzstrahlung), Annalen der Physik, Volume 383, Issue 23, pp.659-679 (1925)
- Hans Kopfermann and Rudolf Ladenburg Untersuchungen über die anomale Dispersion angeregter Gase II Teil. Anomale Dispersion in angeregtem Neon Einfluß von Strom und Druck, Bildung und Vernichtung angeregter Atome, Zeitschrift für Physik Volume 48, Numbers 1-2, pp. 26-50 (January, 1928). Received 17 December 1927. Institutional affiliation: Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie, Berlin-Dahlem.
- H. Kopfermann and R. Ladenburg Experimental Proof of ‘Negative Dispersion’, Nature Volume 122, 438-439 (22 September 1928)
- R. Ladenburg and S. Levy Untersuchungen über die anomale Dispersion angeregter Gase VI. Teil: Kontrollversuche für den Nachweis der negativen Dispersion: Absorption, anomale Dispersion, Intensitätsverteilung und Intensität verschiedener Neonlinien Zeitschrift für Physik Volume 65, Numbers 3-4. pp. 189-206 (March, 1930). Received 12 August 1930. Institutional affiliation: Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für physikalische Chemie und Elektrochemie, Berlin-Dahlem.
- Rudolf Ladenburg Dispersion in Electrically Excited Gases Rev. Mod. Phys. Volume 5, 243 - 256 (1933). The author was cited as being at Princeton University.
- Rudolf W. Ladenburg Light absorption and distribution of atmospheric ozone, Journal of the Optical Society of America, Volume 25, Issue 9, p.259 (1935)
- Max BornMax BornMax Born was a German-born physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s...
, R. Fürth, and Rudolf Ladenburg Long Duration of the Balmer Spectrum in Hydrogen, Nature Volume 157, pp. 159-159 (09 February 1946). Institutional affiliations: Born and Fürth were identified as being in the Department of Mathematical Physics, The University, Edinburgh, and Ladenburg was identified as being in the Palmer Physical Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.
Books by Ladenburg
- Rudolf Walter Ladenburg Planck's elementares Wirkungsquantum und die Methoden zu seiner Messung (Hirzel, 1921)