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Birth, 1901
Born into the then German empire in Würzburg, Werner Heisenberg at young age showed a great interest in philosophy and science. This was further galvanized by his father who was a university teacher and practitioner of Greek philosophy. Heisenberg showed a great interest in philosophy and mainly the philosopher Plato. This later would be brought to light by Heisenberg in his autobiography, to which he gives credit to the formation of his train of thought. -
Start of Education, 1920-1923
Werner Heisenberg attended the University of Munich to study Physics and Mathematics. While there he worked under the tutelage of Arnold Sommerfeld and Wilhelm Wein. In 1923 he received his doctorate. -
Objection to the Atomic Model, and creation of Matrix Mechanics, 1925
Heisenberg saw that the currently proposed model for the Atom was based on the unobservable and sought to mathematically devise a more comprehensive way to measure phenomena. This led Heisenberg to the development of Matrix Mechanics. Following this, was Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. -
The Uncertainty Principle, 1927
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKELOE9eY4 1927 is when his most notable contributions to quantum mechanics began. Heisenberg proposed his "Uncertainty Principle". The idea that observation of two factors of a particle make it that much more hard to observe in those factors. The onset of this proposed idea brought about a plethora of uproar between many physicists and namely Albert Einstein himself. -
Einstein's Criticism of the Uncertainty Principle, 1927-1933
Although the Uncertainty Principle gathered the support of many physicists including heavyweight Niels Bohr, that did not stop the oncoming scrutiny from another well renown scientist. Albert Einstein had arrived on the intellectual stage to debate the principle of Uncertainty. Einstein stepped forward and proposed multiple thought experiments to discredit Heisenberg's idea of Uncertainty. However, with the help of Niels Bohr, each thought experiment was able to be discredited. -
The German Nuclear Program
The idea of the German Nuclear Program during the second world war was a massive driving force for the Allies to continuously push for progress in the terrifying possibility that Nazi Germany could eventually possess a maxim weapon. It is still widely debated what Heisenberg's intentions were during the war, but many have come to the consensus that organization played a role in the German's failure to make an Atomic Bomb. -
Post War Actions, and Quantum Mechanics Continued
Heisenberg was captured by the Allies just two days before Germany's surrender. He later continued to support scientific progress in West Germany and furthered his ideas on Quantum Mechanics with his publishing of the idea of Unified Field Theory. Later, Heisenberg helped to formulate and manifest what is today known as CERN for all of Europe in the fields of Nuclear research. -
Later life, and death, 1976
Werner Heisenberg later took up more of an interest in philosophy and religion. He later stepped down from his directorship in 1970, and later succumbed to kidney cancer.
