Max Planck (23 April 1858)
The life cycle 124875
Important years of life
1885 4
1889 8
1897 7
1904 5
1909 1
1910 2
1912 4
1916 8
1924 7
1931 5
1936 1
1937 2
1939 4
1943 8
4 October 1947 = 1961 = 17 = 8
In April 1885 the University of Kiel appointed Planck as associate professor of theoretical physics.
In 1889 he was named the successor to Kirchhoff’s position at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Berlin
In March 1887 Planck married Marie Merck (1861–1909), sister of a school fellow, and moved with her into a sublet apartment in Kiel. They had four children: Karl (1888–1916), the twins Emma (1889–1919) and Grete (1889–1917), and Erwin (1893–1945).
He published his Treatise on Thermodynamics in 1897
…the number of his graduate students was only about 20, among them:
1897 Max Abraham (1875–1922)
1904 Moritz Schlick (1882–1936)
1912 Walter Schottky (1886–1976)
During 1909, as a University of Berlin professor, he was invited to become the Ernest Kempton Adams Lecturer in Theoretical Physics at Columbia University in New York City. A series of his lectures were translated and co-published by Columbia University professor A. P. Wills
…Thanks to his initiative, the various local Physical Societies of Germany merged in 1898 to form the German Physical Society (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, DPG); from 1905 to 1909 Planck was the president.
In 1910, Einstein pointed out the anomalous behavior of specific heat at low temperatures as another example of a phenomenon which defies explanation by classical physics. Planck and Nernst, seeking to clarify the increasing number of contradictions, organized the First Solvay Conference (Brussels 1911). At this meeting Einstein was able to convince Planck. Meanwhile, Planck had been appointed dean of Berlin University, whereby it was possible for him to call Einstein to Berlin and establish a new professorship for him (1914). Soon the two scientists became close friends and met frequently to play music together.
Planck also signed the infamous “Manifesto of the 93 intellectuals”, a pamphlet of polemic war propaganda (while Einstein retained a strictly pacifistic attitude which almost led to his imprisonment, being spared by his Swiss citizenship). But in 1915 Planck, after several meetings with Dutch physicist Lorentz, revoked parts of the Manifesto. Then in 1916 he signed a declaration against German annexationism
One year later, Planck, having been the president of the KWG since 1930, organized in a somewhat provocative style an official commemorative meeting for Haber. He also succeeded in secretly enabling a number of Jewish scientists to continue working in institutes of the KWG for several years. In 1936, his term as president of the KWG ended, and the Nazi government pressured him to refrain from seeking another term.
Planck was a member of the Lutheran Church in Germany. However, Planck was very tolerant towards alternative views and religions. In a lecture in 1937 entitled “Religion und Naturwissenschaft” he suggested the importance of these symbols and rituals related directly with a believer’s ability to worship God, but that one must be mindful that the symbols provide an imperfect illustration of divinity. He criticized atheism for being focused on the derision of such symbols, while at the same time warned of the over-estimation of the importance of such symbols by believers