Alfons Bühl
Encyclopedia
Alfons Bühl was a German
physicist. From 1934 to 1945, he was director of the physics department at the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe.
) and the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. He received his doctorate in 1925 under the Nobel Laureate Philipp Lenard
at Heidelberg and was a teaching assistant to Lenard.
and from 1929 was a Privatdozent
there in physics. From 1931 to 1933, he had a lectureship in the physics department at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. In 1934, he replaced Wolfgang Gaede as director of the physics department at the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe (today, the Universität Karlsruhe); Gaede had been forced out by the National Socialist regime as “politically unreliable” after he accepted the Dudell Medal of the London Physical Society in 1933. In 1936, Bühl was an untenured ausserordentlicher Professor (extraordinarius professor) and from 1937 to 1945 an ordentlicher Professor (ordinarius professor) at the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe.
Bühl was a physics advisor to the Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Dozentenbund (NSDDB, National Socialist German University Lecturers League). In 1940, Bühl attended the historic meeting known as the Münchner Religionsgespräche confronting the deutsche Phsyik
movement; Bühl was a principal there supporting the movement.
When Adolf Hitler
became Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933, the concept of deutsche Physik took on more favor and fervor. Deutsche Physik was anti-Semitic and anti-theoretical physics, especially including modern physics, i.e., quantum mechanics
. As applied in the university environment, political factors took priority over the historically applied concept of scholarly ability, even though its two most prominent supporters were Nobel Laureates Philipp Lenard
and Johannes Stark
. During the period in which deutsche Physik was gaining prominence, a foremost concern of the great majority of scientists was to maintain autonomy against political encroachment. Some of the more established scientists, such as Max von Laue
, could demonstrate more autonomy than the younger and less established scientists. This was, in part, due to political organizations, such as the NSDDB, whose district leaders had a decisive role in the acceptance of an Habilitationsschrift, which was a prerequisite to attaining the rank of Privatdozent
necessary to becoming a university lecturer. While some with ability joined such organizations out of tactical career considerations, others with ability and adherence to historical academic standards joined these organizations to moderate their activities. This was the case of Wolfgang Finkelnburg
. It was in the summer of 1940 that Finkelnburg became an acting director of the NSDDB at Technische Hochschule Darmstadt. As such, he organized the Münchner Religionsgespräche, which took place on 15 November 1940 and was known as the “Munich Synod.” The Münchner Religionsgespräche was an offensive against deutsche Physik. Finkelnburg invited five representatives to make arguments for theoretical physics and academic decisions based on ability rather than politics: Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
, Otto Scherzer
, Georg Joos
, Otto Heckmann, and Hans Kopfermann
. Alfons Bühl, a supporter of deutsche Physik, invited Harald Volkmann, Bruno Thüring
, Wilhelm Müller, Rudolf Tomaschek
, and Ludwig Wesch. The discussion was led by Gustav Borer, with Herbert Arthur Stuart
and Johannes Malsch as observers. While the technical outcome may have been thin, it was a political victory against deutsche Physik.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
physicist. From 1934 to 1945, he was director of the physics department at the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe.
Education
From 1919 to 1925, Bühl studied physics at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (today, the Humboldt-Universität zu BerlinHumboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt, whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities...
) and the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. He received his doctorate in 1925 under the Nobel Laureate Philipp Lenard
Philipp Lenard
Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard , known in Hungarian as Lénárd Fülöp Eduárd Antal, was a Hungarian - German physicist and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1905 for his research on cathode rays and the discovery of many of their properties...
at Heidelberg and was a teaching assistant to Lenard.
Career
In 1928, Bühl became a teaching assistant at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität FreiburgUniversity of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
and from 1929 was a Privatdozent
Privatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
there in physics. From 1931 to 1933, he had a lectureship in the physics department at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. In 1934, he replaced Wolfgang Gaede as director of the physics department at the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe (today, the Universität Karlsruhe); Gaede had been forced out by the National Socialist regime as “politically unreliable” after he accepted the Dudell Medal of the London Physical Society in 1933. In 1936, Bühl was an untenured ausserordentlicher Professor (extraordinarius professor) and from 1937 to 1945 an ordentlicher Professor (ordinarius professor) at the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe.
Bühl was a physics advisor to the Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Dozentenbund (NSDDB, National Socialist German University Lecturers League). In 1940, Bühl attended the historic meeting known as the Münchner Religionsgespräche confronting the deutsche Phsyik
Deutsche Physik
Deutsche Physik or Aryan Physics was a nationalist movement in the German physics community in the early 1930s against the work of Albert Einstein, labeled "Jewish Physics"...
movement; Bühl was a principal there supporting the movement.
When Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
became Chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933, the concept of deutsche Physik took on more favor and fervor. Deutsche Physik was anti-Semitic and anti-theoretical physics, especially including modern physics, i.e., quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
. As applied in the university environment, political factors took priority over the historically applied concept of scholarly ability, even though its two most prominent supporters were Nobel Laureates Philipp Lenard
Philipp Lenard
Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard , known in Hungarian as Lénárd Fülöp Eduárd Antal, was a Hungarian - German physicist and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1905 for his research on cathode rays and the discovery of many of their properties...
and Johannes Stark
Johannes Stark
Johannes Stark was a German physicist, and Physics Nobel Prize laureate who was closely involved with the Deutsche Physik movement under the Nazi regime.-Early years:...
. During the period in which deutsche Physik was gaining prominence, a foremost concern of the great majority of scientists was to maintain autonomy against political encroachment. Some of the more established scientists, such as Max von Laue
Max von Laue
Max Theodor Felix von Laue was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1914 for his discovery of the diffraction of X-rays by crystals...
, could demonstrate more autonomy than the younger and less established scientists. This was, in part, due to political organizations, such as the NSDDB, whose district leaders had a decisive role in the acceptance of an Habilitationsschrift, which was a prerequisite to attaining the rank of Privatdozent
Privatdozent
Privatdozent or Private lecturer is a title conferred in some European university systems, especially in German-speaking countries, for someone who pursues an academic career and holds all formal qualifications to become a tenured university professor...
necessary to becoming a university lecturer. While some with ability joined such organizations out of tactical career considerations, others with ability and adherence to historical academic standards joined these organizations to moderate their activities. This was the case of Wolfgang Finkelnburg
Wolfgang Finkelnburg
Wolfgang Karl Ernst Finkelnburg was a German physicist who made contributions to spectroscopy, atomic physics, the structure of matter, and high-temperature arc discharges...
. It was in the summer of 1940 that Finkelnburg became an acting director of the NSDDB at Technische Hochschule Darmstadt. As such, he organized the Münchner Religionsgespräche, which took place on 15 November 1940 and was known as the “Munich Synod.” The Münchner Religionsgespräche was an offensive against deutsche Physik. Finkelnburg invited five representatives to make arguments for theoretical physics and academic decisions based on ability rather than politics: Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German physicist and philosopher. He was the longest-living member of the research team which performed nuclear research in Germany during the Second World War, under Werner Heisenberg's leadership...
, Otto Scherzer
Otto Scherzer
Otto Scherzer was a German theoretical physicist who made contributions to electron microscopy.-Education:...
, Georg Joos
Georg Joos
Georg Jakob Christof Joos was a German theoretical physicist. He wrote Lehrbuch der theoretischen Physik, first published in 1932 and one of the most influential theoretical physics textbooks of the 20th Century.-Education:Joos began his higher education in 1912 at the Technische Hochschule...
, Otto Heckmann, and Hans Kopfermann
Hans Kopfermann
Hans Kopfermann was a German atomic and nuclear physicist. He devoted his entire career to spectroscopic investigations, and he did pioneering work in measuring nuclear spin...
. Alfons Bühl, a supporter of deutsche Physik, invited Harald Volkmann, Bruno Thüring
Bruno Thüring
Bruno Jakob Thüring was a German physicist and astronomer.Thüring studied mathematics, physics, and astronomy at the University of Munich and received his doctorate in 1928, under Alexander Wilkens and Arnold Sommerfeld...
, Wilhelm Müller, Rudolf Tomaschek
Rudolf Tomaschek
Rudolf Karl Anton Tomaschek was a German experimental physicist. His scientific efforts included work on phosphorescence, fluorescence, and gravitation. Tomaschek was a supporter of deutsche Physik, which resulted in his suspension from his university posts after World War II...
, and Ludwig Wesch. The discussion was led by Gustav Borer, with Herbert Arthur Stuart
Herbert Arthur Stuart
Herbert Arthur Stuart was a German experimental physicist who made contributions in molecular physics research. During World War II, he was director of the experimental physics department at the Technische Hochschule Dresden...
and Johannes Malsch as observers. While the technical outcome may have been thin, it was a political victory against deutsche Physik.
Literature by Bühl
- Alfons Bühl Über die elektrische Doppelschicht an der Oberfläche von Quecksilber, Annalen der Physik, Volume 385, Issue 10, pp. 137-180 (1926)
- Alfons Bühl Über wasserfallelektrische Wirkung an Lösungen ein-einwertiger Elektrolyte, Annalen der Physik, Volume 388, Issue 16, pp. 1207-1224 (1927)
- Alfons Bühl Wasserfallelektrische Wirkung im Vakuum, Annalen der Physik, Volume 395, Issue 7, pp. 978-992 (1929)
- Alfons Bühl Philipp LenardPhilipp LenardPhilipp Eduard Anton von Lenard , known in Hungarian as Lénárd Fülöp Eduárd Antal, was a Hungarian - German physicist and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1905 for his research on cathode rays and the discovery of many of their properties...
und die deutsche Naturforschung (1937) in Rudolf G. Weigel (editor) Philipp Lenard, der Vorkämpfer der Deutschen Physik Karlsruhe, Müller (= Karlsruher Akedemischen Reden, Number 17), as cited in Hentschel and Hentschel, 1996, References, page XCII, reference #920.