Karl Meissner

Karl Wilhelm Meissner (December 15, 1891 in

Education
After Meissner’s abitur at the Humanistisches
Gymnasium, in 1910, he began the study of physics
and mathematics at University of Tübingen. After three
terms, he went to the University of Munich as a student
of the experimentalist Wilhelm Röntgen and the
theoretician Arnold Sommerfeld.[1] After one year at
Munich, he returned to Tübingen to be able to study
spectroscopy with Friedrich Paschen. While still a
Born December 15, 1891
student in 1914, Meissner was able to prove the
Reutlingen, German
existence of oxygen lines in the solar spectrum. He
Empire
was awarded his doctorate in 1915, on a thesis with the
Died 13 April 1959 (aged 67)
title Interferometrische Wellenlängenbestimmung im
En route to Europe
infraroten Spektralbereich.[2] In 1916 he became an
assistant to Edgar Meyer[3] at the University of Zurich, Nationality German-American
under whom he completed his Habilitation, in 1918, Alma mater University of Tübingen
with the Habilitationsschrift title Untersuchungen des University of Munich
Neonspektrums.[4] The following year, he married the Scientific career
Polish physicist Doctor Janka Kohn.[5]
Fields Spectroscopy
Institutions Purdue University
Worcester Polytechnic
Career Institute
In the summer of 1924, Meissner became a First Goethe University
Assistant at the Physics Institute of the University of Frankfurt
Zurich. Here he studied the spectra of indium, gallium, University of Zurich

neon, argon, and caesium, the arc spectrum of lead Doctoral advisor Arnold Sommerfeld
(spectrum of neutral or non-ionized lead), the Stark Other academic Friedrich Paschen
effect of neon, and general problems of detecting advisors Wilhelm Röntgen
radiation.[5]
The change from Zurich to the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main occurred in
1925. Meissner was appointed extraordinarius professor of physics there, when Walter Gerlach left for
the University of Tübingen. Shortly thereafter, he received calls to the Donro Institute at Davos and the
Physikalisch Technische Reichsanstalt in Berlin; he declined both. After the retirement of Martin Brendel
and with the support of Richard Wachsmuth, Meissner was appointed ordinarius professor of astronomy
and director of the University’s observatory. Upon retirement of Wachsmuth, Meissner was appointed as
his successor to the chair for astronomy and director of the astronomy institute in 1932.[5]

Spectral lines are broadened due to random movements and collisions of the emitting atoms; this limits
resolution. To reduce these broadening mechanism, Meissner, with K. F. Luft and independently of R.
Minkowski and H. Bruck, in 1935, developed the technique of observing particle beams perpendicular to
their direction of flow.[6] With this technique, Meissner could investigate the hyperfine structure of
spectra, which are due to the magnetic moment of the atomic nuclei. This is an area of experimental
research which would occupy Meissner for many years.[5]

Meissner’s wife, Janka, was Jewish. Due to persecution of the Jews by the Hitler regime, circumstances
caused Meissner stepped down as director in June 1937. While he continued his teaching responsibilities,
he was forced to resign in August of that year. Unable to find an industry position, Meissner traveled to
the United States in the spring of 1938 to lecture at 10 universities. Circumstances in Germany, including
Nazi regulation of travel, did not allow him to take Janka with him. From three offers in the United
States, Meissner selected a position as assistant professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in November
of that year. In early 1939, Janka died from cancer.[5]

From 1941, to the end of his career, Meissner was at Purdue University, first as a visiting professor and
then, after naturalization, a full professor and director of the spectroscopy laboratory. In 1942, he married
Hanna Hellinger, the sister of a former mathematician colleague at Frankfurt am Main, Ernst Hellinger,
who had emigrated from Germany in February 1941.[7] Hanna taught from 1944 to 1965 as professor of
sociology and social science at Purdue.[5]

Outside of physics, Meissner’s interests also included history, literature, and languages. He spoke
German, English, French, and Italian, and was able to also read Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.[5]

On 9 April 1959, Meissner sailed from New York City for Europe to visit his sister and niece, visit the
Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (International Bureau of Weights and Measures), teach in the
summer semester at the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, and attend an interferometry conference
in London. During the voyage, he died on 13 April. His wife, Hanna, died thirty years later on 8 February
1989, in Lafayette, Indiana.[5]

Selected Literature
Meißner, K. W.; Luft, K. F. (1937). "Die Hyperfeinstruktur der Natrium-D-Linien". Annalen der
Physik (in German). 420 (7). Wiley: 667–672. Bibcode:1937AnP...420..667M ([Link]
[Link]/abs/1937AnP...420..667M). doi:10.1002/andp.19374200706 ([Link]
10.1002%2Fandp.19374200706). ISSN 0003-3804 ([Link]
804).
Meissner, Karl Wilh. (1942-04-01). "Application of Atomic Beams in Spectroscopy". Reviews
of Modern Physics. 14 (2–3). American Physical Society (APS): 68–78.
Bibcode:1942RvMP...14...68M ([Link]
 doi:10.1103/revmodphys.14.68 ([Link] ISSN 0034-
6861 ([Link] Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana.
Meissner, K. W.; Mundie, L. G.; Stelson, P. H. (1948-10-15). "Structure of the 2D Terms of
the Arc Spectrum of Lithium". Physical Review. 74 (8). American Physical Society (APS):
932–938. Bibcode:1948PhRv...74..932M ([Link]
932M). doi:10.1103/physrev.74.932 ([Link]
ISSN 0031-899X ([Link] Purdue University, Lafayette,
Indiana. Received 23 June 1948. When the article was published, Mundie was at the Naval
Ordnance Laboratory, White Oak, Maryland.
Deverall, G. V.; Meissner, K. W.; Zissis, G. J. (1953-07-15). "Hyperfine Structures of the
Resonance Lines of Indium (In115)". Physical Review. 91 (2). American Physical Society
(APS): 297–299. Bibcode:1953PhRv...91..297D ([Link]
Rv...91..297D). doi:10.1103/physrev.91.297 ([Link]
ISSN 0031-899X ([Link] Purdue University, West
Lafayette, Indiana. Received 3 April 1953.
Meissner, K. W.; Kaufman, Victor (1959-10-01). "Calcium Atomic Beam Source and
Interference beyond Two-Meter Retardation*". Journal of the Optical Society of America. 49
(10). The Optical Society: 942. Bibcode:1959JOSA...49..942M ([Link]
u/abs/1959JOSA...49..942M). doi:10.1364/josa.49.000942 ([Link]
49.000942). ISSN 0030-3941 ([Link]

Bibliography
Karl Meissner ([Link] – History
of Physics at Purdue
Karl Meissner ([Link] – Science News

Notes
1. K. W. Meissner reviews: Arnold Sommerfeld, translated from the first German edition by
Otto Laporte and Peter A. Moldauer Optics - Lectures on Theoretical Physics Volume IV.
American Journal of Physics 23 (7) 477-478 (1955). The author states that he attended
Sommerfeld’s lectures, and specifically on optics, in 1912. Sommerfeld taught each of the
six subjects (mechanics, mechanics of deformable bodies, electrodynamics, optics,
thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, and partial differential equations in physics) in
the length of a semester.
2. Translation from the German: Interferometric wavelength regulation in the infrared spectral
region.
3. Edgar Meyer ([Link] Archived ([Link]
[Link]/web/20070208073557/[Link] 2007-02-08 at
the Wayback Machine – Biographical Information
4. Translation from the German: Investigations of the neon spectrum.
5. Karl Meissner ([Link] Archived ([Link]
[Link]/web/20080915184054/[Link] 2008-09-
15 at the Wayback Machine – University of Frankfurt
6. R. Minkowski and H. Bruck, Zeits. f. Physik 95 284 (1935). K. W. Meissner and K. F. Luft,
Ann. d. Physik 28 667 (1937).
7. Ernst Hellinger – Wikipedia: Deutsch
Retrieved from "[Link]