Wolfgang Pauli was born on April 25th, 1900 in Vienna.¹ Considered "outstanding among the brilliant mid-twentieth century school of physicists,²" this young Austrian-American physicist invented a rule of physics called the Exclusion Principle which states that two electrons cannot use the same energy state in an atom at equal moments in time.³ The principle of this rule aides to the explanation as to why objects cannot blend together. Pauli was the first to discover the existence the neutrino -- an uncharged and mass-less particle which carries off energy in radioactive ß-disintegration in 1931. Twenty-five years later scientists confirmed its existence.³ During his experimental years and career he acquired a well-known reputation as a Physicist, primarily focusing in the field of quantum mechanics. In 1945 Pauli was nominated by Albert Einstein, and received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery on the "Exclusion Principle," which also came to be known as the "Pauli Principle." ¹
Pauli's early education ended in 1918 when he graduated at Döblinger-Gymnasium in Vienna.² From there he studied at the University of Munich under Arnold Sommerfeld -- the German scientist who assumed that the orbits of electrons doesn't have to be spherical but can also be elliptic. In 1921 he received his doctor's degree, then spent a year at the University of Göttingen.² During his years of education he studied under many intelligent professors and scientists including Max Born and Niels Bohr. between 1923-1928 he spent his days as a lecture at the University of Hamburg before his appointment as Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. In 1930 he was awarded the Lorentz Medal which is an award given every four years by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences to researchers in the field of theoretical physics. Shortly afterward, he married to Franciska Bertram on April 4th, 1934. In 1940 he was elected to the Chair of Theoretical Physics at Princeton, but returned to Zurich at the end of World War II. Almost two decades later, in 1958, Pauli was awarded the Max Planck medal, shortly after,he became ill with pancreatic cancer, and died on December 15, 1958. ¹
After the death of Wolfgang Pauli, his widowed wife, Mrs Franca Pauli was given advice by one of Pauli's former assistance, Professor Victor F. Weisskopf to begin sorting and administering her husband's legacy which included important scientific correspondence.
Pauli was well-known for his success and achievements on the Pauli Exclusion Principle, The Pauli-Villars Regularization, Pauli Matrices, Pauli Effect, Pauli Equation, Pauli Group, And coining "not even wrong." Two people that played an important role in Pauli's life were Ernst Mach who was Pauli's godfather, who Pauli called his 'real part," and Carl Jung. These two men influenced Pauli in many ways during his life. pauli also receive several medals and awards in recognition for his success. These included the: ¹ Lorentz Medal (1931) Nobel Prize in Physics (1945) Matteucci Medal (1956) Max Planck Medal (1958)
2. Nobel Lectures. " Wolfgang Pauli thumb picture Wolfgang Pauli The Nobel Prize in Physics 1945". Nobel Prize. Aprl 23, 2009 <http://nobelprize.org /nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1945/pauli-bio.html>.
3. Cromex Technologies. "Some Famous Scientists". The World Almanac. Aprl 23, 2009 <http://www.waforkids.com/WAKI-ViewArticle.aspx?pin=wak- 026007&article_id=528&chapter_id=12&chapter_title=Science&article_title=Famous_Scientists>.
Wolfgang Pauli
(25 April 1900 – 15 December 1958)
Wolfgang Pauli was born on April 25th, 1900 in Vienna.¹ Considered "outstanding among the brilliant mid-twentieth century school of physicists,²" this young Austrian-American physicist invented a rule of physics called the Exclusion Principle which states that two electrons cannot use the same energy state in an atom at equal moments in time.³ The principle of this rule aides to the explanation as to why objects cannot blend together. Pauli was the first to discover the existence the neutrino -- an uncharged and mass-less particle which carries off energy in radioactive ß-disintegration in 1931. Twenty-five years later scientists confirmed its existence.³ During his experimental years and career he acquired a well-known reputation as a Physicist, primarily focusing in the field of quantum mechanics. In 1945 Pauli was nominated by Albert Einstein, and received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery on the "Exclusion Principle," which also came to be known as the "Pauli Principle." ¹
Pauli's early education ended in 1918 when he graduated at Döblinger-Gymnasium in Vienna.² From there he studied at the University of Munich under Arnold Sommerfeld -- the German scientist who assumed that the orbits of electrons doesn't have to be spherical but can also be elliptic. In 1921 he received his doctor's degree, then spent a year at the University of Göttingen.² During his years of education he studied under many intelligent professors and scientists including Max Born and Niels Bohr. between 1923-1928 he spent his days as a lecture at the University of Hamburg before his appointment as Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. In 1930 he was awarded the Lorentz Medal which is an award given every four years by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences to researchers in the field of theoretical physics. Shortly afterward, he married to Franciska Bertram on April 4th, 1934. In 1940 he was elected to the Chair of Theoretical Physics at Princeton, but returned to Zurich at the end of World War II. Almost two decades later, in 1958, Pauli was awarded the Max Planck medal, shortly after,he became ill with pancreatic cancer, and died on December 15, 1958. ¹
After the death of Wolfgang Pauli, his widowed wife, Mrs Franca Pauli was given advice by one of Pauli's former assistance, Professor Victor F. Weisskopf to begin sorting and administering her husband's legacy which included important scientific correspondence.
Pauli was well-known for his success and achievements on the Pauli Exclusion Principle, The Pauli-Villars Regularization, Pauli Matrices, Pauli Effect, Pauli Equation, Pauli Group, And coining "not even wrong." Two people that played an important role in Pauli's life were Ernst Mach who was Pauli's godfather, who Pauli called his 'real part," and Carl Jung. These two men influenced Pauli in many ways during his life. pauli also receive several medals and awards in recognition for his success. These included the: ¹
Lorentz Medal (1931)
Nobel Prize in Physics (1945)
Matteucci Medal (1956)
Max Planck Medal (1958)
Sources Cited:
1."Wolfgang Pauli". Wikipedia. Aprl 23, 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Pauli>.
2. Nobel Lectures. " Wolfgang Pauli thumb picture Wolfgang Pauli The Nobel Prize in Physics 1945". Nobel Prize. Aprl 23, 2009 <http://nobelprize.org /nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1945/pauli-bio.html>.
3. Cromex Technologies. "Some Famous Scientists". The World Almanac. Aprl 23, 2009 <http://www.waforkids.com/WAKI-ViewArticle.aspx?pin=wak- 026007&article_id=528&chapter_id=12&chapter_title=Science&article_title=Famous_Scientists>.