Ernst Ruska
Ernst August Friedrich Ruska (born December 25, 1906 in Heidelberg , † May 27, 1988 in Berlin ) was a German electrical engineer and 1934 inventor of the electron microscope and professor at the Free University of Berlin . He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 .
Life
Ernst Ruska was the son of Julius Ruska (1867–1949), orientalist, and Elisabeth Ruska, b. Merx, (1874–1945) born. His brother was the doctor Helmut Ruska (1908–1973).
Ruska attended the Kurfürst-Friedrich-Gymnasium in Heidelberg, studied electrical engineering at the Technical University of Munich from 1925 , at the TH Berlin from 1927 and received his doctorate in August 1933 on a magnetic lens for the electron microscope . He then worked in the development department of Berliner Fernseh AG. From February 1937 he and Bodo von Borries led the industrial development of electron microscopy at Siemens & Halske AG in Berlin . In 1944 he completed his habilitation at the TH Berlin . After the war he rebuilt the laboratory for electron optics at Siemens and in 1949 took over the department for electron microscopy at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin-Dahlem, which in 1955 became its own institute (Institute for Electron Microscopy at the Fritz- Haber Institute), at the same time he became a Scientific Member of the Max Planck Society. In 1949 he was also appointed professor at the Free University of Berlin , from 1959 he also taught at the TU Berlin . The old building of the physical faculty of the TU Berlin is named after Ernst Ruska: Ernst-Ruska-Gebäude (ER).
Ernst Ruska was buried next to his brother Helmut Ruska in the forest cemetery (grave site Dept. XX-AW 51) in Berlin-Zehlendorf . His grave has been dedicated to the city of Berlin as an honorary grave since 2018 .
plant
Ruska is considered one of the pioneers of electron microscopy . On March 9, 1931, he and Max Knoll succeeded in using magnetic lenses to achieve the first two-stage electron-optical magnification and thus to implement the basic technical principle of the electron microscope. It was based on the fact that magnetic fields can deflect electrons because of their charge and that electron beams can be bundled and focused in the same way as light beams through lenses and was called "super microscope" at the time. Since the wavelengths of the electrons are considerably shorter than those of light, a much better resolution is possible with an electron microscope than with an optical microscope .
Ruska exceeded the resolution limit of light with another prototype in December 1933 at 12,000 times magnification. Together with his brother-in-law, the engineer Bodo von Borries , he further developed the device so that it could be mass-produced from 1938/39.
Awards
Ernst Ruska was elected as a member of the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina - National Academy of Sciences , and was awarded numerous prizes and honorary memberships in scientific societies.
- In 1960 he received the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research .
- In 1966 he was awarded the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- In 1970 he was awarded the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize .
- 1975 Cothenius Medal
- The German Society for Electron Microscopy has been awarding the Ernst Ruska Prize for Electron Microscopy since 1980 .
- 1983 Grand Cross of Merit with Star of the Federal Republic of Germany
- 1983 Albrecht von Graefe Medal from the Berlin Medical Society
- In 1986 Ernst Ruska was awarded the Robert Koch Medal .
- In 1986 Ernst Ruska received the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of the electron microscope ; he shared the award with Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer , who received it for the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope.
- In 1987 he received the Great Cross of Merit with Star and Shoulder Ribbon from the Federal Republic of Germany
- Since November 24, 2005, a building belonging to the physical institute at the Technical University of Berlin has been named after Ernst Ruska.
- On May 18, 2006, the Ernst Ruska Center in Jülich was inaugurated, a national user center for ultra-high-resolution electron microscopy.
Publications (selection)
- E. Ruska: About a calculation method of the cathode ray oscillograph on the basis of the experimentally found dependence of the writing spot diameter on the position of the concentrating coil . Student thesis at the Technical University of Berlin, Chair for High Voltage Technology, submitted on May 10, 1929
- E. Ruska: Investigation of electrostatic collecting devices as a replacement for the magnetic concentrating coils in the cathode ray oscillograph . Diploma thesis, Technical University of Berlin, Chair for High Voltage Technology, submitted on December 23, 1930
- E. Ruska and M. Knoll: The magnetic collecting coil for fast electron beams . In: Z. techn. Physics . Volume 12, 1931, pp. 389-400 and 448. Received on April 28, 1931
- M. Knoll and E. Ruska: The electron microscope . In: Journal of Physics . Volume 78, 1932 pp. 318-339, received on June 16, 1932
- E. Ruska: The Electron Microscope as Ultra-Microscope . In: Research and Progress . Volume 1, January 1935, pp. 18-19
- E. Ruska: About building an electron-optical bank for experiments and demonstrations . In: Z. wiss. Microscopy . Volume 60, 1952, pp. 317-328
- E. Ruska: Memories of the beginnings of electron microscopy . Festschrift Award of the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize 1970, Issue 66, pp. 19–34. Gustav Fischer publishing house, Stuttgart
- E. Ruska: The emergence of the electron microscope and electron microscopy . Nobel Lecture. In: Physical sheets . Volume 43, 1987, pp. 271-281 and Rev. Mod. Physics, respectively . Vol. 59, 1987, pp. 627-638
See also
literature
- Dieter Hoffmann : Ruska, Ernst August Friedrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-428-11203-2 , p. 297 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Elmar Zeitler : Ernst Ruska: December 25, 1906– May 27, 1988 in: Max Planck Society, Annual Report 1987, Obituaries, pages 101–103 (series of reports and communications, issue 4/1988 ).
Web links
- Literature by and about Ernst Ruska in the catalog of the German National Library
- Information from the Nobel Foundation on the awarding of the 1986 prize to Ernst Ruska (English)
- Biography in the commemorative publication 125 years of the Technical University of Berlin
- Ernst Ruska memorial page
- Bibliography by Ernst Ruska
- Hans Christian Förster: Via the branch to the Nobel Prize - Ernst Ruska laid the foundations for electron microscopy Technical University of Berlin (2006)
- The electron microscope - Ernst Ruska
Individual evidence
- ↑ Campus map of the TU Berlin (PDF; 2.1 MB)
- ^ Calendar sheet Deutsche Welle, March 9th, August 9th, 2006
- ↑ Ernst Ruska Prize of the German Society for Electron Microscopy (dge-homepage.de); Retrieved July 14, 2011
- ↑ Press release Forschungszentrum Jülich May 18, 2006
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Ruska, Ernst |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ruska, Ernst August Friedrich (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German electrical engineer and inventor of the electron microscope |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 25, 1906 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Heidelberg |
DATE OF DEATH | May 27, 1988 |
Place of death | Berlin |