SCHWARZSCHILD

GERMANY (see also List of Individuals)

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11.10.1873 Frankfurt-M/D - 11.5.1916 Potsdam/D

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Karl Schwarzschild made studies in astronomy at the Universities of Strasburg and Munich where he submitted in 1896 a PhD thesis on the equilibrium of a rotating fluid mass. In 1902 Schwarzschild was appointed professor of astronomy at the Göttingen University following his work on the Schwarzschild effect. He was also interested in aviation and may have influenced the work of the young Ludwig Prandtl (1875-1953) who joined in 1904 Göttingen University. In 1909 Schwarzschild moved to Potsdam as director of the Astrophysical Institute.

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Schwarzschild was neither a hydrodynamicist nor a mathematician, but he has significantly contributed to both branches. His mind was characterized by an extraordinary lightness and sharpness, because he would respond to questions after a short thought clearly and thoroughly. His name is today still known in relation to the effect according to which the Schwarzschild spacetime describes the gravitational field of the Sun, or of the Earth. The technique was used to verify some of Einstein's assumptions relative to the theory of gravitation. Schwarzschild was also a master in mechanics, both from the mathematical equipment and from the engineering approach. Following his PhD thesis he took interest in fluid mechanics. During a seminar at Göttingen University in which Felix Klein was present, Schwarzschild prepared together with Gustav Herglotz (1881-1953) and a colleague a paper on fluid flow in pipelines and open channels, in which the problem of turbulence was addressed. Once in Potsdam, Schwarzschild presented another work relating to the effect of wind and air density on projectile trajectories. Following a malicious skin disease, he passed away aged only 43.

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_{Anonymous (1996). Schwarzschild, Karl. Lexikon der Naturwissenschaftler: 370. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag: Heidelberg. P}

_{Blumenthal, O. (1917). Karl Schwarzschild. Jahresbericht Deutsche Mathematische Vereinigung 26: 56-75. P}

_{Hahn, H., Herglotz, H., Schwarzschild, K. (1904). Über das Strömen des Wassers in Röhren und Kanälen. Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik 51: 411-426.}

_{Maffei, P. (1975). Karl Schwarzschild. Scienziati e tecnologi 3: 96-97. Mondadori: Milano. Schwarzschild, K. (1915). Über den Einfluss von Wind und Luftdichte auf die Geschossbahn. Königl. Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften on Nov. 8, published after WWI. Sommerfeld, A. (1916). Karl Schwarzschild. Die Naturwissenschaften http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/ 4(31): 453-457. http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/ http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/∼history/Mathematicians/Schwarzschild.html}