Siegfried Flügge

Siegfried Flügge (16 March 1912 in Dresden – 15 December 1997 in Hinterzarten) was a German theoretical physicist and made contributions to nuclear physics. He worked at the "Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Chemie" and worked in the German " Uranverein" (Uranium Club). He was editor of the 54-volume, prestigious "Handbuch der Physik".

Education

From 1929 to 1933, Flügge studied physics at the "Technische Hochschule Dresden" (after 1961, the Dresden University of Technology) and the Georg-August University of Göttingen. He received his doctorate at the latter, under Max Born, in 1933. [ Siegfried Flügge, Dissertation: "Der Einfluβ der Neutronen auf den inneren Aufbau der Sterne" Dr. rer. nat. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen [http://genealogy.mathematik.uni-bielefeld.de/genealogy/id.php?id=104796&fChrono=1 (1933)] . Advisor: Max Born.] [ Hentschel and Hentschel, 1996, Appendix F; see the entry for Flügge.]

Career

From 1933 to 1935, he was a teaching assistant at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. From 1936 to 1937, he was a teaching assistant to Werner Heisenberg at the University of Leipzig. From 1937 to 1942, as successor to Max Delbrück, Flügge was an assistant to Otto Hahn at the "Kaiser-Wilhelm Institut für Chemie" (KWIC, after World War II reorganized and renamed the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry), in Berlin-Dahlem. [ Hentschel and Hentschel, 1996, Appendix F; see the entry for Flügge.]

In 1938, Flügge completed his Habilitation at the "Technische Hochschule München" (today, the Technical University of Munich). [ Hentschel and Hentschel, 1996, Appendix F; see the entry for Flügge.]

In December 1938, the German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann sent a manuscript to " Naturwissenschaften" reporting they had detected the element barium after bombarding uranium with neutrons; [ O. Hahn and F. Strassmann "Über den Nachweis und das Verhalten der bei der Bestrahlung des Urans mittels Neutronen entstehenden Erdalkalimetalle" ("On the detection and characteristics of the alkaline earth metals formed by irradiation of uranium with neutrons"), "Naturwissenschaften" Volume 27, Number 1, 11-15 (1939). The authors were identified as being at the "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Chemie", Berlin-Dahlem. Received 22 December 1938.] simultaneously, they communicated these results to Lise Meitner, who had in July of that year fled to The Netherlands and then went to Sweden. [ Ruth Lewin Sime "Lise Meitner’s Escape from Germany", "American Journal of Physics" Volume 58, Number 3, 263- 267 (1990).] Meitner, and her nephew Otto Robert Frisch, correctly interpreted these results as being nuclear fission. [Lise Meitner and O. R. Frisch "Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons: a New Type of Nuclear Reaction", "Nature", Volume 143, Number 3615, 239-240 [http://www.nature.com/physics/looking-back/meitner/index.html (11 February 1939)] . The paper is dated 16 January 1939. Meitner is identified as being at the Physical Institute, Academy of Sciences, Stockholm. Frisch is identified as being at the Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Copenhagen. ] Frisch confirmed this experimentally on 13 January 1939. [ O. R. Frisch "Physical Evidence for the Division of Heavy Nuclei under Neutron Bombardment", "Nature", Volume 143, Number 3616, 276-276 [http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Chem-History/Frisch-Fission-1939.html (18 February 1939)] . The paper is dated 17 January 1939. [The experiment for this letter to the editor was conducted on 13 January 1939; see Richard Rhodes "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" 263 and 268 (Simon and Schuster, 1986).] ] [ In 1944, Hahn received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the discovery of nuclear fission. Some historians have documented the history of the discovery of nuclear fission and believe Meitner should have been awarded the Nobel Prize with Hahn. See the following references: Ruth Lewin Sime "From Exceptional Prominence to Prominent Exception: Lise Meitner at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry" [http://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/KWG/Ergebnisse/Ergebnisse24.pdf Ergebnisse 24] Forschungsprogramm "Geschichte der Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft im Nationalsozialismus" (2005); Ruth Lewin Sime "Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics" (University of California, 1997); and Elisabeth Crawford, Ruth Lewin Sime, and Mark Walker "A Nobel Tale of Postwar Injustice", "Physics Today" Volume 50, Issue 9, 26-32 (1997).] Flügge and Gottfried von Droste, an assistant to Meitner, independently also predicted a large energy release from nuclear fission. [ Siegfried Flügge and Gottfried von Droste "Energetische Betrachtungen zu der Entstehung von Barium bei der Neutronenbestrahlung von Uran", "Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie B" Volume 4, 274–280 (1939). Received on 22 January 1939.]

Also in 1939, Flügge published two influential articles on the exploitation of nuclear energy. [ Siegfried Flügge "Die Ausnutzung der Atomenergie. Vom Laboratoriumsversuch zur Uranmaschine – Forschungsergebnisse in Dahlem", "Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung" No. 387, Supplement (15 August 1939). English translation: Document #74 "Siegfried Flügge: Exploiting Atomic Energy. From the Laboatory Experiment to the Uranium Machine – Research Results in Dahlem [August 15, 1939] " in Hentschel, Klaus (Editor) and Ann M. Hentschel (Editorial Assistant and Translator) "Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources" (Birkhäuser, 1996) pp 197-206.] [ Siegfried Flügge "Kann der Energieinhalt der Atomkerne technisch nutzbar gemacht werden?", "Die Naturwissenschaften" Volume 27, Issues 23/24, 402-410 (1939).] From then he worked on the German nuclear energy project; collaborators on aspects of this project were for a time known collectively as the "Uranverein" (Uranium Club). Some with whom he collaborated were Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker and Fritz Houtermans on the theoretical basis of the "Uranmaschine" (literally uranium machine, i.e., nuclear reactor. Flügge also extended Niels Bohr’s and J. A. Wheeler’s theory of nuclear fission published in 1939. [ Niels Bohr and J. A. Wheeler "Mechanism of nuclear fission", "Phys. Rev." Volume 56, Issue 5, 426-450 (1939). Institutional citations: Niels Bohr, from the University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, was at The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, when he collaborated with John Archibald Wheeler, at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. Received 28 June 1939.]

The papers by Flügge on the exploitation of nuclear energy were an impetus for action. For example, the Auergesellschaft had a substantial amount of “waste” uranium from which it had extracted radium. After reading Flügge’s paper [ Siegfried Flügge "Kann der Energieinhalt der Atomkerne technisch nutzbar gemacht werden?", "Die Naturwissenschaften" Volume 27, Issues 23/24, 402-410 (1939).] in Die Naturwissenschaften on the technical use of nuclear energy from uranium, Nikolaus Riehl, the scientific director at Auergesellschaft, recognized a business opportunity for the company. In July 1939, he went to the Heereswaffenamt (HWA, Army Ordnance Office) to discuss the production of uranium. The HWA was interested. [ Hentschel and Hentschel, 1996, 369, Appendix F (see the entry for Nikolaus Riehl), and Appendix D (see the entry for Auergesellschaft).] [ Riehl and Seitz, 1996, 13.]

In 1940, on the initiative of Rudolf Tomaschek, despite Wilhelm Müller’s objection, Flügge lectured at the "Technische Hochschule München" on theoretical physics during the winter semester. From 1941, he was a lecturer at the "Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität" (today, the Humboldt University of Berlin). [ Hentschel and Hentschel, 1996, Appendix F; see the entry for Flügge.]

In 1944, Flügge was an ordinarius professor at the University of Königsberg. From 1945 to 1947, he took a position at his "alma mater", the University of Göttingen. From 1947 to 1949, he had a position at the " Philipps-Universität Marburg". From 1949 to 1950, he was a visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and in 1953 at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. Later, he was at the " Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg". [ Hentschel and Hentschel, 1996, Appendix F; see the entry for Flügge.]

From 1956 to 1984, Flügge was editor of the 54-volume, prestigious "Handbuch der Physik" ("Encyclopedia of Physics) published by Springer Verlag. [ Karen Rae Keck " [http://web.mit.edu/redingtn/www/netadv/FCflugge.html Siegfried Flügge (1912-1997)] ". ]

Internal report

The following reports were published in "Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte" ("Research Reports in Nuclear Physics"), an internal publication of the German " Uranverein". The reports were classified Top Secret, they had very limited distribution, and the authors were not allowed to keep copies. The reports were confiscated under the Allied Operation Alsos and sent to the United States Atomic Energy Commission for evaluation. In 1971, the reports were declassified and returned to Germany. The reports are available at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center and the American Institute of Physics. [ Hentschel and Hentschel, 1996, Appendix E; see the entry for "Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte".] [ Walker, 1993, 268–274.]

*Siegfried Flügge "Zur spontanene Spaltung von Uran und seinen nachbarelementen" G-140 (27 January 1942)

*Kurt Sauerwein and Siegfried Flügge "Untersuchungen I und II über den Resonanzeinfang von Neutronen beim Uran" G-185 (28 January 1942)

elected literature

*Siegfried Flügge "Kann der Energieinhalt der Atomkerne technisch nutzbar gemacht werden?", "Die Naturwissenschaften" Volume 27, Issues 23/24, 402–410 (9 June 1939).

*Siegfried Flügge "Die Atusnutzung der Atomenergie. Vom Laboratoriumsversuch zur Uranmaschine – Forschungsergebnisse in Dahlem", "Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung" No. 387, Supplement (15 August 1939). English translation: Document #74 "Siegfried Flügge: Exploiting Atomic Energy. From the Laboatory Experiment to the Uranium Machine – Research Results in Dahlem [August 15, 1939] " in Hentschel, Klaus (Editor) and Ann M. Hentschel (Editorial Assistant and Translator) "Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources" (Birkhäuser, 1996) pp 197-206. [This article is Flügge's popularized version of the June 1939 article in "Die Naturwissenschaften".]

*Siegfried Flügge and Gottfried von Droste "Energetische Betrachtungen zu der Entstehung von Barium bei der Neutronenbestrahlung von Uran", "Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie B" Volume 4, 274–280 (1939). Received on 22 January 1939.

Books

*Erwin Madelung, Karl Böhle, and Siegfried Flügge "Mathematischen Hilfsmittel des Physikers (Mathematical Tools for the Physicist), Dritte vermehrte und verbesserte Auflage)" (Dover, 1943)

*Walther Bothe and Siegfried Flügge. "Nuclear Physics and Cosmic Rays: FIAT Review of German Science 1939-1946." 2 volumes. 230; 198 pages. (Office of Military Government for Germany, 1948)

*Siegfried Flügge "Theoretische Optik. Die Entwicklung einer physikalischen Theorie" (Wolfenbüttler Verlagsanstalt, 1948)

*Siegfried Flügge "Bucher der Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften" (Wolfenbutteler-Verlags-Anstalt, 1948)

*Siegfried Flügge and Hans Marschall "Rechenmethoden Der Quantentheorie" (Springer Verlag, 1952)

*Siegfried Flügge and Hans Marschall "Rechenmethoden der Quantentheorie. Dargestellt in Aufgaben und Lösungen. Erster Teil: Elementare Quantenmechanik." (Springer-Verlag, 1952)

*Siegfried Flügge "Handbuch der Physik. Bd. 7. 1. Kristallphysik 1" (Springer Verlag, 1955)

*Siegfried Flügge "Lehrbuch der Theoretischen Physik (in 5 Bänden). Band 1: Einführung - Elementare Mechanik und Kontinuumsphysik." (Springer, 1961)

*Siegfried Flügge "Lehrbuch der theoretischen Physik. Bd. III: Klassische Physik II. Das Maxwellsche Feld. Bln." (Spinger, 1961)

*Siegfried Flügge "Lehrbuch der Theoretischen Physik (in 5 Bänden). Band 4: Quantentheorie I." (Springer, 1964)

*Siegfried Flügge "Rechenmethoden der Quantentheorie;Elementare Quantenmechanik - Dargestellt in Aufgaben und Lösungen" (Springer Verlag, 1965)

*Siegfried Flügge "Lehrbuch Der Theoretischen Physik Band Ii - Klassische Physik I Mechanik Der Geordneten Undungeorneten Bewegungen" (Springer, 1967)

*Siegfried Flügge "Wege und Ziele der modernen Physik." (Schulz Freiburg, 1969)
*Siegfried Flügge "Practical Quantum Mechanics - Volume 1 and Volume 2" (Springer, 1971)

*Siegfried Flügge "Wege und Ziele der Physik" (Springer-Verlag, 1974)

*Siegfried Flügge "Practical Quantum Mechanics" (Springer, 1998)

External links

*"The Atomkeller-Museum at Haigerloch" [http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1CTW Waymark]

Bibliography

*Bernstein, Jeremy "Hitler’s Uranium Club: The Secret Recording’s at Farm Hall" (Copernicus, 2001) ISBN 0-387-95089-3

*Hentschel, Klaus (Editor) and Ann M. Hentschel (Editorial Assistant and Translator) "Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources" (Birkhäuser, 1996)

*Riehl, Nikolaus and Frederick Seitz "Stalin’s Captive: Nikolaus Riehl and the Soviet Race for the Bomb" (American Chemical Society and the Chemical Heritage Foundations, 1996) ISBN 0-8412-3310-1.

*Walker, Mark "German National Socialism and the Quest for Nuclear Power 1939–1949" (Cambridge, 1993) ISBN 0-521-43804-7

Notes