Pieter Zeeman

Biography

Abstract

Pieter Zeeman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1902 with H. A. Lorentz "in recognition of the extraordinary service they rendered by their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena." During the majority of his career he held positions at the University of Amsterdam.

Important Dates

May 25, 1865Birth, Zeeland (Netherlands : Province).

1890Assistant to H. A. Lorentz, University of Leiden, Leiden (Netherlands).

1893Ph.D. in Physics, University of Leiden, Leiden (Netherlands).

1895 – 1896Privatedozent, University of Leiden, Leiden (Netherlands).

1897 – 1935Lecturer in Physics; Professor of Physics (1900); Director, Institute of Physics (1908); and Director, Zeeman Laboratory (1923), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam (Netherlands).

1902Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics with H. A. Lorentz "in recognition of the extraordinary service they rendered by their researches into the influence of magnetism upon radiation phenomena".

1912Awarded the Matteucci Medal, Italian National Academy of Science.

1921Awarded the Henry Draper Medal, U.S. National Academy of Sciences.

1921Foreign Member, Royal Society.

1922Awarded the Rumford Medal, Royal Society.

1925Awarded the Franklin Medal, Franklin Institute.

October 9, 1943Death, Amsterdam (Netherlands).

1989Member; and Secretary (1912), Mathematical-Physics Section, Royal Academy of Sciences.

Occupation

Physicist.

Places

Birth

Zeeland (Netherlands : Province)

Graduate Education

Leiden (Netherlands)

Employment

Leiden (Netherlands)

Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Death

Amsterdam (Netherlands)

Subjects

Optics.

Zeeman effect.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Bakker, C.J. (Cornelis Jan), 1904-1960

Advised by Zeeman, University of Amsterdam.

Faraday, Michael, 1791-1867

Collaborated on book, "The Effects of a Magnetic Field on Radiation."

Kamerlingh Onnes, Heike, 1853-1926

PhD advisor at Leiden University (Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden).

Kerr, John, 1824-1907

Collaborated on book, "The Effects of a Magnetic Field on Radiation."

Lorentz, H. A. (Hendrik Antoon), 1853-1928

Advisor at Leiden University and co-awarded Nobel Prize of Physics, 1902.

Additional

Bragg, William Henry, 1862-1942

Cotton, Aimé Auguste, 1869-1951

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

Ehrenfest, Paul, 1880-1933

Fajans, Kasimir, 1887-1975

Gorter, C. J. (Cornelis Jacobus), 1907-

Goudsmit, Samuel A. (Samuel Abraham), 1902-1978

Korn, Elizabeth P.

Landé, Alfred, 1888-

Laue, Max von, 1879-1960

Lenard, Philipp, 1862-1947

Meggers, William F. (William Frederick), 1888-1966

Natanson, Wladyslaw, 1864-1937

Planck, Max, 1858-1947

Richardson, O. W. (Owen Willans), 1879-1959

Rutherford, Ernest, 1871-1937

Segrè, Emilio

Stark, Johannes, 1874-1957

Struik, Dirk J. (Dirk Jan), 1894-2000

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

Uhlenbeck, George Eugène, 1900-1988

Voigt, Woldemar

Waals, J. D. van der (Johannes Diderik), 1837-1923

Waly, Adnan

Institutions

Major Positions

Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen

Member; and Secretary, Mathematical-Physics Section.

Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden

Ph.D in Physics (1893); and Privatdozent.

Universiteit van Amsterdam

Lecturer in Physics; Professor of Physics; Director, Institute of Physics; and Director, Zeeman Laboratory.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Accademia nazionale delle scienze dette dei XL

Awarded the Matteucci Medal (1912).

Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Awarded the Franklin Medal (1925).

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Awarded the Henry Draper Medal (1921).

Royal Society (Great Britain)

Foreign Member; and awarded the Rumford Medal (1922).

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

Kasimir Fajans papers, 1912-1975.

Bentley Historical Library

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA

O. W. Richardson papers, 1897-1959 (bulk 1920-1940).

Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center

University of Texas at Austin

P.O. Drawer 7219, Austin, TX 78713-7219, USA

Pieter Zeeman papers, 1877-1946.

Rijksarchief in Noord-Holland

Kleine Houtweg 18, Haarlem, Netherlands

Subject

Aime Auguste Cotton papers, 1895-1951.

Department of Physics, Library

Ecole normale supérieure.

24, rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris CEDEX 05, France

Alfred Landé incoming letters [microform], 1915-1927.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Alfred Landé papers, 1915-1970.

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

Dirk Jan Struik autobiography, chapter V: Leiden science, 1973.

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

Emilio Segrè correspondence with Cornelis Bakker, 1931-1946.

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA

H. A. Lorentz papers, 1888-1928.

Algemeen Rijksarchief

The Hague, Netherlands

Inventory of the papers of Pieter Zeeman (1865-1943) physicist and Nobel Prize winner : c. 1877-1946 / by P.J.M. Velthuys-Bechthold.

Rijksarchief in Noord-Holland

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 Cornelis Jacobus Gorter, 1962 November 13.

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 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 Samuel Abraham Goudsmit, 1963 December 5 and 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Paul Ehrenfest papers, 1902-1933.

Rijksmumsum voor de Geschiedenis van de Natuurwetenschappen en van de Geneeskunde 'Museum Boerhaave'

Steenstraat IA, 2313 BS Leiden, Netherlands

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

Quantum physics correspondence, 1918-1948.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz.

Potsdamer Strasse, Postfach 1107, W-1000, Berlin 30, Germany

Samuel A. Goudsmit correspondence [microform], 1921-1933.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Samuel A. Goudsmit papers, 1921-1979.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

William F. Meggers home movies [motion picture], 1927-1959.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Wladyslaw Natanson correspondence, 1884-1937.

Uniwersytet Jagiellonski. Archiwum.

Ul. sw. Anny 6, 31-007 Kraców, Poland

Woldemar Voigt letters from Pieter Zeeman, 1899-1919.

Deutsches Museum

Museumsinsel 1, 80306 Munich, Germany

Published Resources

Author

Collected papers.

Pieter Zeeman, 1865--25 Mei--1935 : verhandelingen op Mei 1935 aangeboden aan P. Zeeman.

Researches in magneto-optics, with special reference to the magnetic resolution of spectrum lines, by P. Zeeman

The effects of a magnetic field on radiation : memoirs by Faraday, Kerr, and Zeeman / ed. by E.P. Lewis.

Verhandelingen van Dr. P. Zeeman over magneto-optische verschijnselen.

Subject

Nobel Prize Laureate Pieter Zeeman biography and facts.

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific: Obituary and biography of Pieter Zeeman.