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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectW. Wien
Dates
January 13, 1864 – August 30, 1928
Authorized Form of Name
Wien, W. (Wilhelm), 1864-1928
Additional Forms of Names
Wien, Wilhelm, 1864-1928
Wien, Willy, 1864-1928
Wien, Willy (Wilhelm Carl Werner Otto Fritz Franz), 1864-1928
Biography
Abstract
Wilhelm Carl Werner Otto Fritz Franz Wien was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1911 "for his discoveries regarding the laws governing the radiation of heat." He held Professorships at University of Munich, University of Wurzburg, University of Giessen, and the Technical University of Aachen, and was a research assistant at University of Berlin.
Important Dates
January 13, 1864Born in Gaffken, Prussia (modern day Russia), Kaliningradskai︠a︡ oblastʹ (Russia).
1883 – 1890Research assistant (doctoral and post-doc) to Hermann von Helmholtz, University of Berlin and Technical University of Aachen.
1886Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Berlin, Berlin (Germany).
1893Announced the law of displacement, which states that the wavelength changes with the temperature.
1896Published the Formula of Wien, which later influenced Max Planck's work.
1896Professor of Physics, Technical University of Aachen, Aachen (Germany).
1899Professor of Physics, University of Giessen, Giessen (Germany : Landkreis).
1900Published Lehrbuch der Hydrodynamik (Textbook of hydrodynamics).
1900 – 1920Professor of Physics, University of Wurzburg, Wurzburg (Germany).
1913Visiting Lecturer, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).
1920Professor of Physics, University of Munich, Munich (Germany).
August 30, 1928Death, Munich (Germany).
Occupation
Particle physicist.
Places
Birth
Kaliningradskai︠a︡ oblastʹ (Russia)
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Family
Wien, Max, 1866-1938
Cousin and physicist.
Advisors & Collaborators
Helmholtz, Hermann von, 1821-1894
Advisor at University of Berlin and Technical University of Aachen.
Kirchhoff, G. (Gustav), 1824-1887
Collaborated on book "Vorlesungen uber mechanik."
Quincke, Georg Hermann, 1834-1924
Advisor and instructor to Wien during a brief period of study at University of Heidelberg.
Additional
Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005
Debye, Peter J. W. (Peter Josef William), 1884-1966
Drude, Paul Karl Ludwig
Gerlach, Walther, 1889-1979
Heitler, Walter, 1904-
Hertz, Heinrich, 1857-1894
Herzfeld, Karl F. (Karl Ferdinand), 1892-
Hilbert, David, 1862-1943
Kangro, Hans
Koenigsberger, Johann Georg
Lau, Ernst Gustav, 1893-
Lebedev, P. N. (Petr Nikolaevich), 1866-1912.
Lorentz, H. A. (Hendrik Antoon), 1853-1928
Meitner, Lise, 1878-1968
Michelson, Vladimir Aleksandrovich
Minkowski, H. (Hermann), 1864-1909
Nordheim, Lothar, 1899-
Peierls, Rudolf E. (Rudolf Ernst), 1907-1995
Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988
Röntgen, Wilhelm Conrad, 1845-1923
Schrödinger, Annemarie, 1896-1965
Sommerfeld, Arnold, 1868-1951
Sponer, Hertha, 1895-1968
Institutions
Major Positions
Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universitat Wurzburg
Professor of Physics.
Columbia University. Department of Physics
Visiting Lecturer.
Justus Liebig-Universität Giessen
Professor of Physics.
Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
Research assistant to Herman von Helmholtz and Professor of Physics.
Universitat Munchen. Fakultat fur Physik
Professor of Physics.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin
Received PhD in physics (1886) and doctoral and post-doc researcher.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Correspondence with Max Planck, 1900-1928.
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz.
Potsdamer Strasse, Postfach 1107, W-1000, Berlin 30, Germany
Diary, 1928.
In private hands
Germany
Erwin Schrodinger correspondence to Wilhelm Wien, 1925-1927.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Wilhelm Wien papers [microform], 1890-1928.
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Wilhelm Wien papers, 1898-ca. 1930.
Deutsches Museum
Museumsinsel 1, 80306 Munich, Germany
Subject
Arnold Sommerfeld papers [microform], 1896-1950.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Columbia University Department of Physics Historical Records, 1862-1997.
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Columbia University
Butler Library, 6th Floor East, New York, NY 10027, USA
Copies of papers from elsewhere not directly related to Niels Bohr, 1920-
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
Abteilung für Handschriften und seltene Drucke
Niedersächsische Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen
Papendiek 14, D-37073 Göttingen
Items relating to the development of the telegraph, 1833-1868.
Deutsches Postmuseum.
Postfach 70 02 62, 60552 Frankfurt
Johann Koenigsberger correspondence.
Handschriftenabteilung
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
Zurich, Switzerland
Johannes Stark correspondence, 1904-1927.
Deutsches Museum
Museumsinsel 1, 80306 Munich, Germany
Johannes Stark selected correspondence [microform], 1904-1927.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, 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
Oral history interview with Annemarie Bertel Schrödinger, 1963 April 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ernst Gustav Lau, 1963 May 15.
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 Hans Bethe, 1964 January 17.
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 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 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 Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim, 1977 July 24.
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 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 Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls, 1963 June 17 and 18.
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 Walter M. Elsasser, 1962 May 29.
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
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
Papers ("Old" Sommerfeld Nachlass).
Deutsches Museum
Museumsinsel 1, 80306 Munich, Germany
Petr N. Lebedev papers.
St. Petersburg Branch. Archive
Russian Academy of Sciences
Universitetskaia hab., 1, Korp. 2, St. Petersburg 199034
Scientists collection, 1563-1973.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Vladimir A. Michelson papers, 1884-1927.
St. Petersburg Branch. Archive
Russian Academy of Sciences
Universitetskaia hab., 1, Korp. 2, St. Petersburg 199034
Published Resources
Author
Die Relativitätstheorie vom standpunkte der Physik und Erkenntnislehre / von W. Wien.
Handbuch der Experimentalphysik / Herg. von W. Wien und F. Harms
Handbuch der Experimentalphysik; Ergänzungswerk, hrsg. von M. Wien und G. Joos.
Lehrbuch der Hydrodynamik / von W. Wien.
Vorlesungen uber mechanik / von Gustav Kirchhoff.