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Born
Werner Heisenberg was born on December 5th, 1901 in Würzburg, Germany. His exposure to sophisticated education and science since birth. His older brother, Erwin, was a chemist. August Heisenberg, their father, was a secondary school teacher, a lecturer at the University of Würzburg, and later went on to become a professor at the University of Munich. Their mother, Anna Wecklein, was the daughter of Nikolaus Wecklein who was a philologist, teacher, and headmaster. -
First Meeting with Niels Bohr
In 1922, Arnold Sommerfield impressed by the gifted nature of his pupil Werner Heisenberg, made him co-author of two papers on the Atomic Theory of X-Ray Spectra and Anomalous Zeeman Effect. -
Bohr's Research Associate
01 September 1924 Werner Heisenberg begins research and study under Niels Bohr, the head of the University of Copenhagen’s Institute for Theoretical Physics. -
Attack of Hay Fever and The Birth of Quantum Mechanics (Matrices)
In the summer of 1925, Werner Heisenberg developed a severe case of hay fever. During his recovery, Heisenberg realized that “Electrons in atoms, do not move in sharp orbits with definite radii and periods of rotation. As a consequence, their motion should not be described by a coordinate that depends on time, but by an array of transition amplitudes.” In the same year, Heisenberg collaborated with Max Born and Pascual Jordan to create Matrix Mechanics leading to Quantum Mechanics. -
Principle of Uncertainty
Heisenberg creates the Principle of Uncertainty. If one knows the position of a particle at any given moment, the future position of said particle is impossible to know and vice versa. Trabesinger, A. The path to agreement. Nature Phys 4, 349 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys950 -
Nobel Peace Prize (1932)
Noble Peace Prize Winners of 1932 were not announced until 1933. Werner Hiesenberg won the Noble Peace Prize of 1932 for creating Quantum Mechanics. Friday, et al. “The Unpredictable Life of Werner Heisenberg.” Neatorama, www.neatorama.com/2007/06/08/the-unpredictable-life-of-werner heisenberg/#:~:text=In%20May%20of%201925%2C%20Heisenberg. Accessed 28 Sept. 2020. -
Marriage
On April 29th, 1937, Heisenberg married Elisabeth Schumacher. They went on to have seven children, some of which found professions in the field of science. -
Uranverein (Uranium Club)
The American and Allies, during WWII, had the Manhattan Project while Germany the Uranium Club. Heisenberg was one of many German scientist of the project in the race to the Atomic bomb. There is much controversy surrounding Heisenberg and the failure of the Nazi Germany to create an Atomic Bomb. Some say he stalled to avoid Germany from having such as strong weapon. Others argue he made a miscalculation resulting in failure to create an atomic bomb. -
Controversial Visit with Bohr
Heisenberg visits an long time colleague in Copenhagen, Niels Bohr. No dialogue of what transpired during the visit was ever released. After the visit Bohr was upset. He wrote a few letters of the meeting which were never published. -
Period: to
Operation ALSOS
Capture by American and British Intelligence organizations, Heisenberg was held captive in London for his involvement in the Uranium Club in collaboration with Nazi Germany. -
Superconductivity
Formulated a theory focused on the topic of Superconductivity. -
Non-linear spinor theory
In what was believed to have been Heisenberg's final theory for the future of science, the Non-linear spinor theory can to be. Although colleagues did not take interest due to holes within the theory, Heisenberg continued on. His theory stated that "starting from just one fundamental constituent of matter and just one central equation, the manifold of observed microscopic particles and interactions and, ultimately, everything that could be constructed from them." -
Retirement
Werner Heisenberg retires after 12 years of being the head of the Max Planck Institute for Physics. -
Death- "He lies somewhere here"
Werner Heisenberg died on February 1st, 1976 after battling kidney and gall bladder cancer. He was first diagnosed in 1973. His cancer went into remission and in 1975 came back.
