August Kundt
August Adolf Eduard Eberhard Kundt (German:
[ˈaʊɡʊst ˈkʊnt];[1][2] 18 November 1839 – 21 May August Kundt
1894) was a German physicist.
Early life
Kundt was born at Schwerin in Mecklenburg. He
began his scientific studies at Leipzig, but afterwards
went to Berlin University. At first he devoted himself
to astronomy, but coming under the influence of H. G.
Magnus, he turned his attention to physics, and
graduated in 1864 with a thesis on the depolarization
of light.[3]
In 1867 he became privatdozent in Berlin University,
and in the following year was chosen professor of
physics at the Federal Polytechnic Institute in Zürich,
where he was the teacher of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen;
Kundt in 1885
then, after a year or two at Würzburg, he was called in
1872 to Strasbourg, where he took a great part in the Born August Adolf Eduard
organization of the new university, and was largely Eberhard Kundt
concerned in the erection of the Physical Institute. 18 November 1839
Schwerin, Grand Duchy of
Finally in 1888 he went to Berlin as successor to Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
Hermann von Helmholtz in the chair of experimental German Confederation
physics and directorship of the Berlin Physical Died 21 May 1894 (aged 54)
Institute. He died after a protracted illness at Israelsdorf, Free City of
Israelsdorf, near Lübeck, on 21 May 1894.[3] Lübeck, German Empire
Alma mater University of Berlin
Known for Kundt's tube
Career Oppel–Kundt illusion
As an original worker, Kundt was especially successful Awards Pour le Mérite (1893)
in the domains of sound and light. In 1866, he Scientific career
developed a valuable method for the investigation of Fields Physics
aerial waves within pipes, based on the fact that a
Institutions University of Berlin (1867–
finely divided powder, lycopodium for example, when
1868, 1888–1894)
dusted over the interior of a tube in which is
established a vibrating column of air, tends to collect in Federal Polytechnic Institute
heaps at the nodes, the distance between which can (1868–1872)
thus be ascertained. An extension of the method University of Straßburg
renders possible the determination of the velocity of (1872–1888)
sound in different gases.[3] This experimental Doctoral Heinrich Gustav Magnus
apparatus is called a Kundt's Tube. advisor
In 1876, at Strasbourg in collaboration with Emil Doctoral Karl Ferdinand Braun
Warburg, Kundt proved that mercury vapour is a students Pyotr Lebedev
monatomic gas.[4] In light, Kundt's name is widely Ivan Puluj
known for his inquiries in anomalous dispersion, not
Wilhelm Röntgen
only in liquids and vapours, but even in metals, which
Heinrich Rubens
he obtained in very thin films by means of a laborious
process of electrolytic deposition upon platinized glass. Hermann Theodor Simon
Otto Wiener
He also carried out many experiments in magneto-
Other notable Franz S. Exner
optics, and succeeded in showing what Faraday had
students Max Wien
failed to detect, the rotation under the influence of
magnetic force of the plane of polarization in certain
gases and vapours.[3]
Work was performed by Kundt on plant physiology and chlorophyll light frequencies absorption (Kundt's
rule), centred on wavelengths of 6800 Å. This work may or may not have been complementary to E.
Warburg work and theories. It was subsequently refined and expanded by R. Houston and O. Biermacher
and others.
References
1. Dudenredaktion; Kleiner, Stefan; Knöbl, Ralf (2015) [First published 1962]. Das
Aussprachewörterbuch ([Link] [The
Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German) (7th ed.). Berlin: Dudenverlag. pp. 208, 535.
ISBN 978-3-411-04067-4.
2. Krech, Eva-Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz Christian (2009).
Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch ([Link]
eutsches+ausspracheworterbuch) [German Pronunciation Dictionary] (in German). Berlin:
Walter de Gruyter. pp. 340, 681. ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6.
3. Chisholm 1911.
4. *Andreas Kleinert (1982), "Kundt, August" ([Link]
0016330/images/[Link]?seite=307), Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 13,
Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 291–291
Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh,
ed. (1911). "Kundt, August Adolph Eduard Eberhard". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15
(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 946.
Further reading
D. Appleton (1894). The Popular Science Monthly. New York: D. Appleton. Page 270 (https://
[Link]/books?id=9ptJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA720).
Hortvet, J. (1902). A manual of elementary practical physics. Minneapolis: H.W. Wilson.
Page 119+ ([Link]
Stefan L. Wolff, August Kundt (1839–1894): Die Karriere eines Experimentalphysikers,
Physis 29.2 (1992), S. 403–446.
Retrieved from "[Link]
