Werner Heisenberg

Physicist, Academic

1901 – 1976

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Who was Werner Heisenberg?

Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist and one of the key creators of quantum mechanics. This was published in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series of papers with Max Born and Pascual Jordan, during the same year, this matrix formulation of quantum mechanics was substantially elaborated. In 1927 he published his uncertainty principle, upon which he built his philosophy and for which he is best known. Heisenberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1932 "for the creation of quantum mechanics". He also made important contributions to the theories of the hydrodynamics of turbulent flows, the atomic nucleus, ferromagnetism, cosmic rays, and subatomic particles, and he was instrumental in planning the first West German nuclear reactor at Karlsruhe, together with a research reactor in Munich, in 1957. Considerable controversy surrounds his work on atomic research during World War II.

Following World War II, he was appointed director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics, which soon thereafter was renamed the Max Planck Institute for Physics. He was director of the institute until it was moved to Munich in 1958, when it was expanded and renamed the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics.

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Born
Dec 5, 1901
Würzburg
Parents
Siblings
Spouses
Children
Religion
  • Lutheranism
Nationality
  • Germany
Profession
Education
  • Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Employment
  • Georg-August University of Göttingen
  • Humboldt University of Berlin
  • University of Leipzig
  • Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
  • University of Copenhagen
  • University of St Andrews
Lived in
  • Germany
  • Würzburg
Died
Feb 1, 1976
Munich

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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"Werner Heisenberg." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/werner_heisenberg>.

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