Wilhelm Wien
Scientists

Wilhelm Wien Net Worth

Wilhelm Wien was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking work in thermal radiation. Despite having a difficult start in education, he went on to become a professor of physics at prestigious universities and conducted pioneering research in the field of thermal radiation. He proposed laws defining the wavelength-temperature relation of a body and formulated an expression for the blackbody radiation. His discoveries were instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his displacement law concerning the radiation emitted by the perfectly efficient blackbody.
Wilhelm Wien is a member of Scientists

Age, Biography and Wiki

Who is it? Nobel Laureate in Physics
Birth Day January 13, 1864
Birth Place Gaffken near Fischhausen, Province of Prussia, German
Age 155 YEARS OLD
Died On 30 August 1928(1928-08-30) (aged 64)\nMunich, Germany
Birth Sign Aquarius
Alma mater University of Göttingen University of Berlin
Known for Blackbody radiation Wien's displacement law
Spouse(s) Luise Mehler (1898)
Awards Nobel Prize for Physics (1911)
Fields Physics
Institutions University of Giessen University of Würzburg University of Munich RWTH Aachen
Doctoral advisor Hermann von Helmholtz
Doctoral students Karl Hartmann Gabriel Holtsmark Eduard Rüchardt

💰 Net worth

Wilhelm Wien, a renowned physicist and Nobel Laureate in Physics from Germany, is expected to have a net worth ranging from $100,000 to $1 million in the year 2024. Throughout his illustrious career, Wien made significant contributions to the field of physics, particularly in the study of radiation. His work on thermal radiation and the laws governing it earned him the Nobel Prize in 1911. With such achievements, it is no surprise that Wien's net worth reflects both his esteemed reputation and the financial success he garnered from his pioneering research.

Biography/Timeline

1864

Wilhelm Carl Werner Otto Fritz Franz Wien (German: [ˈviːn]; 13 January 1864 – 30 August 1928) was a German Physicist who, in 1893, used theories about heat and electromagnetism to deduce Wien's displacement law, which calculates the emission of a blackbody at any temperature from the emission at any one reference temperature.

1866

Wien was born at Gaffken near Fischhausen, Province of Prussia (now Primorsk, Russia) as the son of landowner Carl Wien. In 1866, his family moved to Drachstein near Rastenburg (now Kętrzyn, Poland).

1879

In 1879, Wien went to school in Rastenburg and from 1880-1882 he attended the city school of Heidelberg. In 1882 he attended the University of Göttingen and the University of Berlin. From 1883-85, he worked in the laboratory of Hermann von Helmholtz and, in 1886, he received his Ph.D. with a thesis on the diffraction of light upon metals and on the influence of various materials upon the color of refracted light. From 1896 to 1899, Wien lectured at RWTH Aachen University. He became twice successor of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, in 1900 at the University of Würzburg and in 1919 at the University of Munich. Wien was very active in science politics representing conservative and nationalistic positions though being not as extreme as sharing the attitude of those going to develop the "Deutsche Physik". He appreciated both Albert Einstein and relativity.

1896

In 1896 Wien empirically determined a distribution law of blackbody radiation, later named after him: Wien's law. Max Planck, who was a colleague of Wien's, did not believe in empirical laws, so using electromagnetism and thermodynamics, he proposed a theoretical basis for Wien's law, which became the Wien-Planck law. However, Wien's law was only valid at high frequencies, and underestimated the radiancy at low frequencies. Planck corrected the theory and proposed what is now called Planck's law, which led to the development of quantum theory. However, Wien's other empirical formulation , called Wien's displacement law, is still very useful, as it relates the peak wavelength emitted by a body (λmax), to the temperature of the body (T). In 1900 (following the work of George Frederick Charles Searle), he assumed that the entire mass of matter is of electromagnetic origin and proposed the formula for the relation between electromagnetic mass and electromagnetic Energy.

1898

While studying streams of ionized gas, Wien, in 1898, identified a positive particle equal in mass to the hydrogen atom. Wien, with this work, laid the foundation of mass spectrometry. J. J. Thomson refined Wien's apparatus and conducted further experiments in 1913 then, after work by Ernest Rutherford in 1919, Wien's particle was accepted and named the proton.

1911

In 1911, Wien was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his discoveries regarding the laws governing the radiation of heat."

Some Wilhelm Wien images

About the author

Lisa Scholfield

As a Senior Writer at Famous Net Worth, I spearhead an exceptional team dedicated to uncovering and sharing the stories of pioneering individuals. My passion for unearthing untold narratives drives me to delve deep into the essence of each subject, bringing forth a unique blend of factual accuracy and narrative allure. In orchestrating the editorial workflow, I am deeply involved in every step—from initial research to the final touches of publishing, ensuring each biography not only informs but also engages and inspires our readership.