Harry Pfeifer

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Harry Pfeifer (1979)

Harry Pfeifer (born February 25, 1929 in Penig ; † September 28, 2008 in Leipzig ) was a German physicist .

Life

First nuclear magnetic resonance device

After attending primary school in Penig (1935 to 1939) and the state high school in Waldenburg (1939 to 1947, Abitur 1947), Harry Pfeifer studied physics at the University of Leipzig from 1947 to 1951 . His academic teachers included a. Waldemar Ilberg , Bernhard Kockel , Ernst Hölder , Herbert Staude and Leopold Wolf. In his diploma thesis "About the pendulum feedback receiver and the observation of nuclear magnetic resonance" (1951), see illustration of nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, he dealt with the observation and measurement of the first nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals in Germany. Together with Artur Lösche , Harry Pfeifer at the Physics Institute of the University of Leipzig laid the foundations for an intensive development and broad application of high-frequency spectroscopy in various areas of physics, and later chemistry, medicine and biology.

In 1953 Pfeifer received his doctorate with the thesis "Zum Rukopschen Problem" (with Waldemar Ilberg). rer. nat., with the basics of generating undamped electrical oscillations in parallel and series resonant circuits. In 1956 he completed his habilitation with the thesis "For the observation of nuclear magnetic resonances". His early work on magnetic resonance is summarized in the monograph “Kerninduktion” by Lösche (1957). After the venia legendi was granted in 1956, he was appointed lecturer for experimental physics in 1957, professor with teaching assignment in 1960, professor with full teaching assignment in 1964 and finally in 1969 professor with chair for experimental physics at the University of Leipzig.

Harry Pfeifer recognized the great advantages of pulsed methods of nuclear magnetic resonance very early on, carried out fundamental work on multi-pulse methods and diffusion measurements with field gradient methods, and carried out extensive device developments in these areas. He initially dealt with investigations of the hydration behavior in solutions of diamagnetic and paramagnetic ions , later with the structure and dynamic behavior of molecules in porous solids, especially zeolites and other interface systems, and made important contributions to the investigation of basic physical issues of adsorption and catalysis . Over 300 publications attest to his extensive research work. He was also interested in the application of NMR to biological interface systems. More than 250 graduated physicists, 70 doctors and 20 university lecturers have emerged from his school. Harry Pfeifer was visiting professor at the University of Hanoi in 1975 , at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris in 1981 and at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas in 1983 and worked on numerous editorial boards for scientific journals.

Memberships and functions

  • 1969–1991 Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig
  • 1963–1994 head of the electronics department, the NMR laboratory, the experimental physics department and the interface physics department
  • 1973–1990 member of the GDR Academy of Sciences
  • 1990–1994 Council of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance (ISMAR)
  • 1991–1998 AA Zeolites from DECHEMA
  • 1990–2008 Committee Groupements AMPERE (Atomes et Molécules Par Études Radio-Électriques)

Awards

  • 1969 National Prize of the GDR
  • 1973 Leibniz Medal from the Academy of Sciences of the GDR
  • 1978 Gustav Hertz Prize of the Physical Society of the GDR (with Jörg Kärger )
  • 1986 DW Breck Award from the International Zeolite Association (IZA), Tokyo (with Dieter Freude, Jörg Kärger and Martin Bülow)
  • 1989 Dr. rer. nat. hc, Humboldt University Berlin

Fonts (selection)

  • Electronic noise, Volume 1 (1959), Electronic noise, Volume 2 (Ed., 1968),
  • Electronics for the physicist (7 volumes, 1970–1977),
  • Electronics internship (Ed., 3rd edition 1990, Spanish translation: Caracas 1988),
  • Textbook Basic Knowledge of Experimental Physics (with H. Schmiedel, 1997),
  • Textbook compact course in physics. With virtual experiments and exercises (with H. Schmiedel and R. Stannarius, 2004).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ After the discovery of this method in the USA in 1946 by Felix Bloch (1905–1983) with Hansen and Packard and Edward Mills Purcell (1912–1997) with Bloembergen and Pound , earlier work on NMR in Europe was initially carried out in Great Britain (Bernard V. Rollin; J. Hatton) see Bernard V. Rollin, Nature (London) 158 (1946) 669; BV Rollin, J. Hatton, Nature (London) 159 (1947) 201; J. Hatton, BV Rollin, Proc. Royal Society (London) A 199 (1949) 222.
  2. ^ H. Pfeifer, The Early Years of NMR Spectroscopy in Germany, in Encyclopedia of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Vol. 1, Historical Perspectives, John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, New York 1996.
  3. ^ H. Pfeifer: A short history of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and of its early years in Germany, Magn. Reson. Chem. 37 (1999) 154.
  4. ^ A. Lösche: Kerninduktion , Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin, 1957.
  5. ↑ Jörg Kärger, Dieter Michel: Harry Pfeifer for his 70th birthday , communications and reports from the University of Leipzig, April 1999, issue 2-99, pp. 31–32, ISSN  0947-1049 .
  6. ↑ Douglas M. Ruthven, Dieter Michel, Dieter Freude, Jörg Kärger: Still active for physics, Harry Pfeifer on his 75th birthday , journal Universität Leipzig, April 2004, issue 2-2004, p. 35, ISSN  0947-1049
  7. ↑ Jürgen Haase: Formative personality in Leipzig physics, on the death of Harry Pfeifer on September 28 , journal Universität Leipzig, December 2008, issue 6-2008, p. 32, ISSN  1860-6709 .
  8. ↑ History of the University of Leipzig 1409-2009 , Volume 4, the second half-band, ISBN 978-3-86583-304-4 f., S. 1252, S. 1256, S. 1271, S. 1,272th
personal data
SURNAME Piper, Harry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physicist
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Penig , Saxony
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 2008
Place of death Leipzig