Friedrich Heusler was a German

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...

 mining engineer

Mining engineering

Mining engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the practice, the theory, the science, the technology, and application of extracting and processing minerals from a naturally occurring environment. Mining engineering also includes processing minerals for additional value.Mineral...

 and chemist

Chemist

A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...

. He discovered a special group of intermetallics

Intermetallics

Intermetallics or intermetallic compounds is a term that is used in a number of different ways. Most commonly it refers to solid-state phases involving metals. There is a "research definition" adhered to generally in scientific publications, and a wider "common use" term...

 now known as Heusler phases

Heusler alloy

A Heusler alloy is a ferromagnetic metal alloy based on a Heusler phase. Heusler phases are intermetallics with particular composition and face-centered cubic crystal structure. They are ferromagnetic—even though the constituting elements are not—as a result of the double-exchange mechanism between...

, which are ferromagnetic though the constituting elements are not ferromagnetic.

Biography

He was born as son of Conrad Heusler the owner of the Isabellenhütte Dillenburg

Dillenburg

Dillenburg is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis....

, a non-ferrous metal works. He studied at the University of Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

 and University of Berlin and was awarded with his Ph.D in 1877 in Berlin. After working at the University of Göttingen he did his habilitation in Berlin 1894. In 1901 he discovered the ferromagnetic intermetallics

Intermetallics

Intermetallics or intermetallic compounds is a term that is used in a number of different ways. Most commonly it refers to solid-state phases involving metals. There is a "research definition" adhered to generally in scientific publications, and a wider "common use" term...

, now known as Heusler phases

Heusler alloy

A Heusler alloy is a ferromagnetic metal alloy based on a Heusler phase. Heusler phases are intermetallics with particular composition and face-centered cubic crystal structure. They are ferromagnetic—even though the constituting elements are not—as a result of the double-exchange mechanism between...

, and did some research in collaboration with the University of Marburg. Due to patent controversies it took until 1903 for the publication of the results. From 1902 he was head of the Isabellenhütte.