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Birth
Born in Wurzburg, Germany on 5 December 1901. His father, August Heisenberg, who was a scholar of ancient Greek Philology and modern Greek literature, a lecturer at the University of Wurzburg, but was also a gymnasium teacher. His mother Nee Anna Wecklein was the daughter of the rector of the infamous Maximillian’s-Gymnasium in Munich. -
Highschool
In 1911, Werner entered the Maximillians-Gymnasium and impressed his teachers with his precocity in mathematics. His high school days were cut short due to WW 1. -
War
During the turbulent period following Germany’s defeat in World War One, he joined the Freikorps. Made up of a mixture of former soldiers, mercenaries, and political idealists, this was a paramilitary group closely aligned with the Weimar Republic. Heisenberg’s motivation for joining was to bring down The Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1918 -19. -
Back to Science!
From 1920 to 1923 he studied physics and mathematics at Munich and Gottingen, where he was joined by some well-known teachers such as Arnold Sommerfeld, Wilhelm Wein, James Frank, Max Born and David Hilbert. -
Bohr!
Sommerfeld who was intrigued with passion of Heisenberg interests in atomic physics, he introduced Werner to Niels Bohr’s work on quantum physics. After completing his education he lectured at the University of Gottingen and conducted research with Niels Bohr at the University of Copenhagen. -
Matrix Mechanics
during this time young Heisenberg developed the “Matrix Mechanics” formula of quantum mechanics. His formula was the first complete and correct definition of quantum mechanics -
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQKELOE9eY4
David Cassidy, Uncertainty: The Life and Science of Werner Heisenberg (New York: W.H. Freeman, 1992). https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200802/physicshistory.cfm -
Nobel Prize!
For his Matrix Mechanics, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1932. Werner Heisenberg – Biographical. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. Tue. 10 Mar 2020. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1932/heisenberg/biographical/ -
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. -
Copenhagen in September 1941
Both are renowned physicists and Nobel Laureates, and they have also been close friends for many years. But now they find themselves on opposing sides: Werner Heisenberg is a leading scientist of Germany’s Uranium project, and Niels Bohr, his fatherly friend and mentor, is facing many difficulties in a Denmark that is occupied by German forces. Fifteen years earlier, both had formulated the basics of quantum mechanics together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HJhKuM-jX4 -
SS investigation
Curiously, many leading members of the Nazi Party did not cherish Germany’s brilliant scientists like Heisenberg. In fact, they seemed to regard them as secret enemies of the Reich. This led to a personal attack on Heisenberg in the SS newspaper “Black Corps” which called him a “White Jew” who should “disappear”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5WOnYB2-o8 -
SS over
He survived this and a subsequent SS investigation because enough influential Nazis appreciated his value to the Reich. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Heisenberg was a member of the Uranverein, the German nuclear weapons program. It was during this time and before, that Werner Heisenberg and his colleagues including Robert Dopel developed the experimental nuclear reactor called L-IV -
1942 Reactor Bang
a leak of heavy water was discovered in the protective jacket of this Leipzig reactor. During the inspection, air leaked into the nuclear pile setting the uranium powder inside alight. This immediately caused a violent conflagration boiling the cooling water in the reactor and blowing it apart. Particles of the uranium heated to a temperature of 1000 degrees centigrade shot up six metres to the ceiling and showering across the laboratory building. -
End of war
At the end of the War, Heisenberg was captured by the Allies. He spent a lengthy period of interrogation by British Intelligence in Farm Hall a “safe house” in Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire. To find out what he and the other German scientists really knew, the British spooks had bugged the building. -
Welcome Back
Heisenberg was finally allowed back to Germany where he was reunited with his family. He resumed his career in scientific research and development which he pursued for the rest of his life. This included the establishment of Germany’s first nuclear reactor in 1957. -
the 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 died in Munich of kidney failure at the age of 74.