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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as Subject

Max von Laue

Photo

Dates

October 9, 1879 – April 23, 1960

Authorized Form of Name

Laue, Max von, 1879-1960

Additional Forms of Names

Lao-o, M. v., 1879-1960

Laue, M. v. (Max von), 1879-1960

Laue, Max Theodor Felix von, 1879-1960

Von Laue, Max, 1879-1960

Von Laue, Max Theodor Felix, 1879-1960

Biography

Abstract

Max van Laue was an atomic physicist at the Frankfurt-on-Main University. He was awarded the 1914 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals."

Important Dates

October 09, 1879Birth, Pfaffendorf (Germany).

1903Obtained Doctorate in Physics, University of Gottingen (Universität Göttingen), Göttingenn (Germany).

1906 – 1909Privatdozent, Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Berlin (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin).

1909 – 1912Privatdozent, University of Munich (Universität München), Munich (Germany).

1912 – 1914Professor of Physics, University of Zurich (Universität Zürich), Zurich (Switzerland).

1914Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics "for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals".

1914 – 1919Ordinarius Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Frankfurt (Universität Frankfurt am Main).

1916 – 1919Researcher, University of Wurzburg (Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg), Wurzburg (Germany).

1917 – 1946 or 1948Trustee (1917-1922); Deputy Director (1922-1933); and Director (1933-1946 or 1948, except for 1935-1939), Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Physik, Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften.

1919 – 1943Ordinarius Professor of Technical Physics, University of Berlin (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin), Berlin (Germany).

1934 – 1958Consultant, Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt, Berlin (Germany).

1946Initiated the founding of the German Physical Society (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft).

1948Honorary President, International Union of Crystallographers.

1951 – 1959Director, Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften. Fritz-Haber-Institut), Berlin (Germany).

1953Awarded Grand Cross with Star for Federal Services.

April 23, 1960Death, Berlin (Germany).

Occupation

Atomic physicist.

Places

Birth

Pfaffendorf (Germany)

Graduate Education

Göttingenn (Germany)

Employment

Berlin (Germany)

Munich (Germany)

Zurich (Switzerland)

Wurzburg (Germany)

Berlin (Germany)

Death

Berlin (Germany)

Subjects

Atomic and molecular physics.

Interferometry.

X-rays.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Goldhaber, Maurice, 1911-2011

Advised by von Laue at University of Berlin (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin).

Justi, Eduard W.

Post-doctorally advised by von Laue at Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt.

Kohler, Max

Advised by von Laue at University of Berlin (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin).

Planck, Max, 1858-1947

PhD advisor at University of Berlin (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin).

Reichardt, Werner, 1924-

Advised by von Laue at Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften. Fritz-Haber-Institut).

Szilard, Leo

Advised by von Laue at University of Berlin (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin), "Über die thermodynamischen Schwankungserscheinungen."

Additional

Biermann, Ludwig, 1907-1986

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

Born, Max, 1882-1970

Bragg, William Henry, 1862-1942

Bragg, William Lawrence, Sir, 1890-1971

Cochrane, W. (William)

Debye, Peter J. W. (Peter Josef William), 1884-1966

DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955

Epstein, Paul S. (Paul Sophus), 1883-1966

Ewald, Paul Peter, 1888-1985

Fajans, Kasimir, 1887-1975

Franck, James, 1882-1964

Friedrich, Walter, 1883-1968

Goetz, Alexander, 1897-1970

Herneck, Friedrich

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

Hilbert, David, 1862-1943

Hill, A. V. (Archibald Vivian), 1886-1977

Korn, Elizabeth P.

Kronig, R. (Ralph), 1904-

Kurti, Nicholas

Ladenburg, Rudolf Walter, 1882-1952

Landé, Alfred, 1888-

Laporte, Otto, 1902-1971

London, Fritz, 1900-1954

Mataré, Herbert F. (Herbert Franz)

Meissner, Karl Wilheim, 1891-

Meissner, Walther, 1882-1974

Meitner, Lise, 1878-1968

Mette, Herbert L., 1925-2009

Nernst, Walther, 1864-1941

Patterson, A. Lindo

Reichenbach, Hans

Schrödinger, Erwin, 1887-1961

Sponer, Hertha, 1895-1968

Stark, Johannes, 1874-1957

Touschek, Bruno, 1921-

Ueberreiter, Kurt, 1912-

Waller, Ivar, 1898-1991

Waly, Adnan

Weizsacker, Carl Friedrich, Freiherr von, 1912-2007

Wentzel, Gregor, 1898-1978

Weyl, Hermann, 1885-1955

Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995

Williams, Samuel Robinson, 1879-

Wood, Elizabeth A. (Elizabeth Armstrong)

Zeeman, Pieter, 1865-1943

Institutions

Major Positions

Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universitat Wurzburg

Researcher.

Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin

Privatdozent and Ordinarius Professor of Technical Physics.

Kaiser Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Furderung de Wissenschaften

Trustee; Deputy Director; and Director, Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Physik.

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften. Fritz-Haber-Institut

Director.

Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (Germany)

Consultant.

Universität Frankfurt am Main

Ordinarius Professor of Theoretical Physics.

Universität München

Privatdozent.

Universitat Zurich

Professor of Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (1963- )

Helped initiate its founding in 1946.

International Union of Crystallography

Honorary President.

Universität Göttingen

Obtained Doctorate in Physics (1903).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Gesprach uber seine Arbeiten zur Erforschug der Natur der Rontgenstrahlen[sound recording].

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Max von Laue additions to papers, 1937-1960.

Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften

Boltzmannstr. 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Max von Laue correspondence with Albert Einstein, 1900-1955.

Department of Manuscripts and Archives. Albert Einstein Archives

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Jerusalem

Max von Laue correspondence with Lise Meitner, 1922-1953.

Archives Centre

Churchill College

Cambridge CB3 0DS

Max von Laue correspondence with Niels Bohr, 1918-1952.

Niels Bohr Archive

Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark

Max von Laue correspondence with Otto Hahn, 1935-1963.

Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften

Boltzmannstr. 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Max von Laue correspondence with Walther Meissner.

Meissner Institut

Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften

Garching

Max von Laue letters to Albert Einstein, 1906-1959.

Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften

Boltzmannstr. 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Max von Laue letters to Hans Wilhelm von Ubisch, 1946-1959.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Max von Laue letters to James Franck, 1907-1964.

The Joseph Regenstein Library. Department of Special Collections

University of Chicago

1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA

Max von Laue papers, 1920-1947.

Archiv der Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften

Jägerstrasse 22/23, 10117 Berlin

Max von Laue papers.

Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften

Boltzmannstr. 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Subject

A. Lindo Patterson papers, 1902-1966.

Library

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Albert Einstein papers [microform].

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Alexander Goetz papers, 1919-1976 (bulk 1930-1976).

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Alfred Landé autograph collection, 1919-1973.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Archive for the History of Quantum Physics, 1898-1950 (bulk).

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Bruno Touschek papers, 1947-1978.

Dipartimento di Fisica

Università di Roma "La Sapienza"

Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Rome, Italy

David Hilbert papers.

Abteilung für Handschriften und seltene Drucke

Niedersächsische Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen

Papendiek 14, D-37073 Göttingen

Elizabeth A. Wood letters, invitations, and a photo, 1951-1977.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Elizabeth P. Korn sketches, 1928-1940s.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Erwin Schrödinger selected correspondence and papers [microform], 1906-1958.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Fritz London papers, 1926-1954.

Archives

Duke University

341 Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706, USA

Hans Reichenbach papers, undated.

Hillman Library. Archives of Scientific Philosophy in the Twentieth Century

University of Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA

Herbert F. Mataré letters from physicists, 1944-1969.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Herbert L. Mette physics textbooks and studienbuch, 1913-1951.

Special Collections Library

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

James D. Hoskins Library, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA

Hermann Weyl manuscripts and correspondence, 1909-1955.

Handschriftenabteilung

Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich

Zurich, Switzerland

International Physics Programs and History of Physics [sound recording], 2013 March 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Ivar Waller papers, circa 1912-1989.

Centrum för Vetenskapshistoria

Kungl. Svenska vetenskapsakademien

Stockholm, Sweden

Jesse W. M. DuMond papers, 1912-1976.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Johannes Stark correspondence, 1904-1927.

Deutsches Museum

Museumsinsel 1, 80306 Munich, Germany

Karl Herzfeld papers, 1914-1977.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Karl W. Meissner letters, 1939-1949.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Kasimir Fajans papers, 1912-1975.

Bentley Historical Library

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA

Max Planck papers, 1759-1994 (bulk 1830-1994).

Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften

Boltzmannstr. 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Niels Bohr collection of manuscripts by other authors, 1910-1961.

Niels Bohr Archive

Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark

Oral history interview with Adnan Waly, 1990 November 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Adnan Waly, 1994 February-March.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Carl Friedrich Weizsacker, 1986 January 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Eugene Paul Wigner, 1963 November 21 and December 3, 4.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Friedrich Herneck, 1988 July 2.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Gregor Wentzel, 1964 February 3 to 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Kurt Ueberreiter, 1988 June 29.

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 Ludwig Franz Benedikt Biermann, 1978 June 23 and July 6.

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 Nicholas Kurti, 1968 September 11 and 1972 November 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Niels Bohr, 1962 October 31, November 1, 7, 14, and 17.

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 Paul Peter Ewald, 1959 April 1.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Paul Peter Ewald, 1962 March 29 and May 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Paul Peter Ewald, 1968 May 17 and 24.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral History interview with Paul S. Epstein, 1965.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interview with Paul Sophus Epstein, 1962 May 25, 26 and June 2.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Peter J. W. Debye, 1962 May 3 and 4.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Peter J. W. Debye, 1965 December 22 to 16 June 1966.

Carl A. Kroch Library. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

Cornell University

2B Carl A Kroch Library, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

Oral history interview with Ralph de Laer Kronig, 1962 November 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Walter Friedrich, 1963 May 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Walther Meissner, 1963 February 8.

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

Paul Peter Ewald introduction and message, 1948-1974.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Paul S. Epstein papers, 1898-1966.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Peter J. W. Debye papers, 1901-1906 and 1918-1945.

Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften

Boltzmannstr. 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany

Pieter Zeeman papers, 1877-1946.

Rijksarchief in Noord-Holland

Kleine Houtweg 18, Haarlem, Netherlands

Professor A. V. Hill papers, 1894-1977.

Archives Centre

Churchill College

Cambridge CB3 0DS

Rudolf Ladenburg correspondence, manuscripts, reprints, clippings, and a typescript statement on the 25th anniversary of quantum theory, 1910-1952.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Samuel Robinson Williams papers, 1886-1955.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Sir William Lawrence Bragg papers.

Royal Institution of Great Britain

London, Englank UK

Walther Nernst letters.

Deutsches Museum

Museumsinsel 1, 80306 Munich, Germany

William Cochrane papers, 1921-1971.

Glasgow University Archive Services

University of Glasgow

13 Thurso Street, Glasgow G11 6PE, United Kingdom

William Henry Bragg papers, 1889-1960.

Royal Institution of Great Britain

London, Englank UK

Published Resources

Author

Briefwechsel 1938-1948 / Lise Meitner, Max von Laue ; [herausgegeben von] Jost Lemmerich.

Das Relativitätsprinzip / von Dr. M. Laue.

Die interferenz der Röntgenstrahlen / von M. v. Laue und seinen mitarbeitern W. Friedrich, P. Knipping sowie F. Tank (1912-1914) ; hrsg. von F. Rinne und E. Schiebold, mit 4 tafeln und 10 textfiguren.

Die Relativitätstheorie.

Energiesatz und neuere Physik / von Prof. Dr. Max von Laue, mit 20 Abbildungen auf 11 Tafeln.

Feier der 100. [i.e. Hundertsten] Geburtstage von Albert Einstein, Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, Max von Laue / hrsg. von d. Generalverwaltung d. Max-Planck-Ges., München ; mit Beitr. von Reimar Lüst ... [et al.].

Gesammelte Schriften und Vorträge.

Geschichte der Physik.

History of physics / by Max von Laue ; translated by Ralph Oesper.

Korpuskular und Wellentheorie / von M.V. Laue.

Materiewellen und ihre interferenzen / von M. von Laue ... Mit 156 figuren und 1 titelbild.

Röntgenstrahl-Interferenzen / von M. von Laue, mit 120 Figuren und 1 Ausschlagtafel.

Stereoskopbilder von kristallgittern / unter mitarbeit von Cl. von Simson und E. Verständig hrsg. von M. von Laue und R. von Mises.

Theorie der Supraleitung.

Vorlesungen über Elektrodynamik und Theorie des Magnetismus / von H. von Helmholtz. Hrsg. von Otto Krigar-Menzel und Max Laue. Mit 30 Figuren im Text.

Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, Kristallgeometrie, Kristallphysik, Kristallchemie : Referatenteil.

Subject

Gedächtnisausstellung zum 100 : Geburtstag von Albert Einstein, Otto Hahn, Max von Laue, Lise Meitner : in der Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, vom 1. März-12. April 1979 / Veranstaltet durch die Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften, die Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft und die Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker ; Katalog mit Beiträgen von Friedrich Beck, ARnold Flammersfeld, Otto R. Frisch, Armin Hermann, Eugen P. Wigner, Karl E. Zimen.

Max von Laue (1879-1960) : seine Bedeutung für den Wiederaufbau der deutschen Wissenschaft nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg / Katharina Zeitz.

Max von Laue / Friedrich Herneck.

Max von Laue Nobel Prize biography.

Offene Briefe an Albert Einstein u. Max v. Laue über die gedanklichen Grundlagen der speziellen und allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie / von Oskar Kraus.

Operation Epsilon: the Farm Hall transcripts, 1945.

Reality and scientific truth : discussions with Einstein, von Laue, and Planck / by Ilse Rosenthal-Schneider ; edited by Thomas Braun ; foreword by Arthur I. Miller.

The new physics : the route into the atomic age : in memory of Albert Einstein, Max von Laue, Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner / Armin Hermann.

Trends in atomic physics; essays dedicated to Lise Meitner, Otto Hahn, Max von Laue on the occasion of their 80th birthday. Edited by O.R. Frisch [and others].