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Early life
Werner Heisenberg's full name was Werner Karl Heisenberg. He was born in Würzburg, Germany, and was the second son of Dr. August and Annie Wecklein Heisenberg. In 1910 Dr. August gained the opportunity to be a Greek philology professor at the University of Munich. The following year Werner entered the Maximilians-Gymnasium, where he impressed the teachers with his precocity in mathematics. (Beyler, 2022) -
Education, 1920-1924
Heisenberg entered the University of Munich, where he was studying theoretical physics. He was also a student of Arnold Sommerfeld and atomic spectroscopy and exponent of the quantum model of physics expert. In 1923 Heisenberg obtained his doctorate with a dissertation on hydrodynamics. He became Assistant to Max Born, a German physicist at the University of Göttingen. In 1924 he gained the venia legendi (authorization to teach) at that University. (NobelPrize.org, 2022) -
Dr. Heisenberg and Niels Bohr
In 1924 he completed his habilitation to be qualified to teach at the university level in Germany. From 1924-1925 Heisenberg worked alongside Niels Bohr on a Rockefeller Grant at the University of Copenhagen. Then he solved the problem of accounting for an anharmonic oscillator's stationary discrete energy states, a solution that launched the development of quantum mechanics. However, in 1926 he was appointed Lecturer in Theoretical Physics at the University of Copenhagen under Niels Bohr. -
Uncertainty Principle
At 26 years old, in 1927, Heisenberg was appointed Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Leipzig. That same year he published his famous uncertainty principle and contributed to the theories of the hydrodynamics of turbulence, the atomic nucleus, ferromagnetism, cosmic rays, and subatomic particles. -
Heisenberg Conclusion
Heisenberg drew a philosophically profound conclusion: absolute casual determination was impossible since it required exact knowledge of both position and momentum as initial conditions. His viewpoint was central to the so-called "Copenhagen interpretation" of quantum theory. (Beyler, 2022) -
Nobel Prize Winner
Heisenberg worked on the theory of the atomic nucleus following the discovery of the neutron in 1932. Decades later, the developing model of proton and neutron interaction became known as the vital force. In 1932, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for his subsequent research and application of his uncertainty principle. (ATOMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION, n.d) -
Heisenberg and the Nazi Party
In 1933, gained the greater power of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party) for the Nazi policies excluded non-Aryans from the civil services, which dismissed many professors and academics such as Born, Einstein, Schrödinger, and several of Heisenberg’s students and colleagues in Leipzig. Ideological attacks also targeted Heisenberg despite his disagreement with the Nazi policies, and he remained in his post regardless of the conditions. -
Main Contributor of the German Atomic Program
After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Heisenberg was drafted to work for the Army Weapons Bureau on the issue of nuclear energy. (Beyler, 2022) He was also the main contributor to the German atomic program during World War II. However, the United States had taken a handful of German nuclear scientists into custody from 1944-1945. In 1946, Heisenberg and the rest of the physicists were immediately interned at Farm Hall in England. (ATOMIC HERITAGE FOUNDATION, n.d) -
First President of the German Research Council 1949
Heisenberg was the first president of the German Research Council, a consortium of the Max Planck Society and the various West German science academies. -
Life Continued
After being released by British authorities, Heisenberg resumed his directorship of the reconstituted Kaiser Wilhelm. In 1948 it was later renamed the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Göttingen. (NoblePrize.org, 2022) -
CERN Participation
In 1952, Heisenberg was instrumental in Germany’s participation in the creation of the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN). (Beyler, 2022) -
Proposed a Unified Field Theory
In 1958, Heisenberg proposed a unified field theory that attempts to describe all fundamental forces and the relationships between elementary particles in a single theoretical framework. (Sutton, 2020) He had also achieved the goal of an academic position in Munich to be the Max Planck Institute for Physics. In 1970, he retired from his institute directorship. (Beyler, 2022) -
Eventful Lifetime
Heisenberg was awarded numerous medals and prizes. He received his doctorate at the University of Bruxelles, recipient of the Order of Merit of Bavaria and the Grand Cross for Federal Services with Star (Germany). Furthermore, he was a married man to Elisabeth Schumacher whom he had seven children. After an eventful lifetime, he lost the battle with kidney and gallbladder cancer—a brilliant man who will forever be remembered.