- Paul Scherrer
Infobox Scientist
box_width = 300px
name = Paul Scherrer
image_size = 300px
caption = Paul Scherrer (1890-1969)
birth_date =February 3 ,1890
birth_place =Herisau ,Switzerland
death_date =September 25 ,1969
death_place =Zürich ,Switzerland
residence = flag|Switzerland
citizenship =
nationality = flag|Switzerland|name=Swiss
ethnicity =
fields =Physicist
workplaces =ETH Zurich University of Göttingen
alma_mater =ETH Zurich University of Göttingen
doctoral_advisor =
academic_advisors =
doctoral_students =Hans Frauenfelder
notable_students =
known_for = Debye-Scherrer method
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author_abbrev_zoo =
influences =
influenced =
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footnotes =Paul Scherrer (1890-1969) was a Swiss
physicist . He was born inHerisau ,Switzerland . He studied atGöttingen ,Germany , before becoming a lecturer there. Later, Scherrer became head of the Department of Physics atETH Zurich .Early Studies
Scherrer began his studies in 1908 at the ETH in
Zurich . In 1912 he moved toKönigsberg for one term and then finished his studies in Göttingen. Still in Göttingen he earned his PhD in 1916 with a thesis on theFaraday effect of thehydrogen molecule. At the same time he developed the powder diffraction method withPeter Debye . This technique for measuring crystal structure is thus also known as the Debye-Scherrer method.Scherrer achieved the position of
Privatdozent atGöttingen before gaining a professorship at the ETH inZurich in 1920, and becoming head of experimental physics there in 1927.Nuclear and Atomic Physics
In the 1930s, Scherrer began to specialise in
nuclear physics , becoming president of the "Schweizerischen Studienkommission für Atomenergie" in 1946 and taking part in the 1954 founding ofCERN .Beginning in late 1944, Scherrer became close to
Moe Berg and, through Berg, gave the United States information about German science and German scientists, especially related to efforts to develop anuclear weapon . [Nicholas Dawidoff, "The Catcher Was a Spy", Vintage, 1994. ISBN 0679762892. "passim.", but especially p. 202 "et. seq."]Legacy
In 1988, two Swiss nuclear research institutes were combined to form the
Paul Scherrer Institute , which is based near Villigen, in Canton Aargau.Notes
See also
*
ETH Zurich
*Paul Scherrer Institute
*Powder diffraction
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