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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as Subject

Otto Stern

Photo

Dates

February 17, 1888 – August 17, 1969

Authorized Form of Name

Stern, Otto, 1888-1969

Biography

Abstract

Otto Stern was Emeritus Professor of Physics at Carnegie Institute of Technology (1945-1969). Other institutional affiliations included University of Hamburg and University of Frankfurt. His contributions to physics included the Stern-Gerlach experiment (the discovery of space quantization), the measurement of atomic magnetic moments, the development of the molecular-beam technique, the discovery of the anomalous magnetic moment of the proton, and the demonstration of the wave nature of atoms and molecules.

Important Dates

February 17, 1888Birth, Żory (Poland).

1912Obtained PhD in Physical Chemistry, University of Breslau, Wroclaw (Poland).

1913 – 1914Privatdozent in Physical Chemistry, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zurich.

1914 – 1921Privatdozent in Theoretical Physics, University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main (Germany).

1921 – 1922Associate Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Rostock.

1923 – 1933Professor of Physical Chemistry and Laboratory Director, University of Hamburg, Hamburg (Germany).

1933 – 1969Research Professor of Physics (1933-1945) and Emeritus Professor of Physics (1945-1969), Carnegie Institute of Technology, Pittsburgh (Pa.).

1943Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics "for his contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton".

1945Member, National Academy of Sciences.

August 17, 1969Death, Berkeley (Calif.).

Occupation

Nuclear physicist.

Places

Birth

Żory (Poland)

Graduate Education

Wroclaw (Poland)

Employment

Frankfurt am Main (Germany)

Hamburg (Germany)

Pittsburgh (Pa.)

Death

Berkeley (Calif.)

Subjects

Molecular beams.

Nuclear physics.

Quantum theory.

Statistical thermodynamics.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Born, Max, 1882-1970

Research advisor at University of Frankfurt.

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955

Post-doc advisor at University of Zurich.

Frisch, Otto Robert, 1904-

Advised as post-doc by Stern at University of Hamburg.

Gerlach, Walther, 1889-1979

Performed the Stern-Gerlach Experiment.

Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988

Advised as post-doc by Stern at University of Hamburg.

Colleagues

Cohen, Bernard Leonard, 1924-

Both employed at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Creutz, E.

Both employed at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Griffiths, R. B. (Robert Budington)

Both employed at Carnegie-Mellon University.

Kohn, Walter, 1923-2016

Both employed at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Langer, James S.

Both employed at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Rostoker, Norman

Both employed at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Both employed at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Stever, H. Guyford

Both employed at Carnegie-Mellon University.

Wick, G. C. (Gian Carlo)

Both employed at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Wolfenstein, L. (Lincoln)

Both employed at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

Zener, Clarence, 1905-

Both employed at Carnegie-Mellon University.

Additional

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

Casimir, H. B. G. (Hendrik Brugt Gerhard), 1909-2000

Estermann, I. (Immanuel), 1900-1973

Franck, James, 1882-1964

Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976

Heitler, Walter, 1904-

Herschbach, Dudley R.

Herzfeld, Karl F. (Karl Ferdinand), 1892-

Jordan, Pascual, 1902-1980

Kapitsa, P. L. (Petr Leonidovich), 1894-1984

Klein, Oskar

Landé, Alfred, 1888-

Laporte, Otto, 1902-1971

Lewis, Gilbert Newton, 1875-1946

Markovitz, Hershel, 1921-2006

Meitner, Lise, 1878-1968

Morrison, Philip

Nernst, Walther, 1864-1941

Pauli, Wolfgang, 1900-1958

Planck, Max, 1858-1947

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Reiche, F. (Fritz), 1883-1969

Schrödinger, Erwin, 1887-1961

Segrè, Emilio

Thomson, J. J. (Joseph John), 1856-1940

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Institutions

Major Positions

Carnegie Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Research Professor of Physics and Emeritus Professor of Physics.

Carnegie-Mellon University. Physics Department

Emeritus Professor of Physics.

Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich

Privatdozent in Physical Chemistry.

Universität Frankfurt am Main

Privatdozent in Theoretical Physics.

Universität Hamburg

Professor of Physical Chemistry and Laboratory Director.

Universität Rostock

Associate Professor of Theoretical Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau

Obtained PhD in Physical Chemistry (1912).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Alfred Landé autograph collection, 1919-1973.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Otto Stern, 1962 May 29 and 1963 May 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Otto Stern Collection.

Leo Baeck Institute at the Center for Jewish History

15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011, USA

Otto Stern papers, circa 1888-1969.

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA

Subject

Albert Einstein letters to Otto Stern, 1914-1917.

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA

Alfred Landé papers, 1915-1970.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Gilbert Newton Lewis papers, 1908-1945.

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA

I. I. Rabi papers, 1899-1989 (bulk 1945-1968).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Niels Bohr scientific correspondence, supplement, 1910-1962.

Niels Bohr Archive

Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark

Norman Ramsey materials on the history of magnetic resonance, 1983-1995.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Alfred Landé, 1962 March 5, 6, 7, 8 and June 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Dudley Herschbach, 2003 May 21 and 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Emilio Gino Segrè, 1964 May 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ernst Pascual Jordan, 1963 June 17, 18, 19 and 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Fritz Reiche, 1962 March 30 to May 9.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir, 1963 July 5 and 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with I. I. Rabi, 1963 December 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Immanuel Estermann, 1962 December 13.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Isidor Isaac Rabi, 1980 February 11 and 21.

Oral History Research Office

Columbia University

Box 20, Room 801 Butler Library, New York, NY 10027, USA

Oral history interview with Karl F. Herzfeld, 1962 June 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Karl F. Herzfeld, 1978 May 11.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Lincoln Wolfenstein, 1997 April 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Lise Meitner, 1963 May 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Max Born, 1960 June 1, 1962 October 17 and 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Oskar Benjamin Klein, 1962 September 25 to 16 July 1963.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Otto Laporte, 1964 January 29 and 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Otto Robert Frisch, 1963 May 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Otto Robert Frisch, 1967 May 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Philip Morrison, 1967 February 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Victor Frederick Weisskopf, 1963 July 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Walter Heitler, 1963 March 18 and 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Walther Gerlach, 1963 February 18 and 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Werner Heisenberg, 1962 November 30, 1963 February 7, 11, 13, 15, 19, 22, 25, 27, 28 and 1963 July 5, 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history joint interview with James Franck and Hertha Sponer-Franck, 1962 July 9 to 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Petr L. Kapitsa papers, 1920.

Institute of Physical Problems.

ul. A. N. Kosygina 2, Moscow 117973, Russia

Pupin lecture: Physics colloquium, 1966 May 13.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Wolfgang Pauli letters.

Bibliothek

Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich

ETH Zentrum, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland

Published Resources

Subject

"Otto Stern: 1888-1969", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

Otto Stern : Physiker, Querdenker, Nobelpreisträger / Horst Schmidt-Böcking; Karin Reich.

Otto Stern Nobel Prize biography.

Otto Stern, Co-discoverer of Space Quantization, Dies at 81 Physics Today obituary.

Recent research in molecular beams; a collection of papers dedicated to Otto Stern on the occasion of his seventieth birthday.