Klaus Geiger (physicist)

Klaus Wilhelm Geiger (born April 26, 1921 in Berlin ; † January 23, 2013 in Ottawa ) was a German-Canadian atomic physicist .

Life

Geiger was born as the son of the well-known physicist Hans Geiger ( Geigerzähler ) and also studied physics from 1940 at the Technical University in Berlin and after the war at the University of Tübingen , where he graduated in 1947 with a degree in physics . From 1949 he worked as a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz and in 1951 was awarded a doctorate by the University of Mainz for his work on the investigation of artificially radioactive isotopes of rubidium and lead. rer. nat. PhD.

In 1952 Geiger emigrated to Canada and was a laborer in the space radiation laboratory of the National Research Council in Ottawa. From 1954 he was permanently employed in the local X-ray and atomic radiation laboratory. In 1958 he became an Associate Research Officer, 1963 Senior Research Officer and 1972 Principal Research Officer. He retired in March 1985, but continued to work as a visiting scientist.

Scientific field of activity

Geiger was mainly active in the field of X-rays and atomic beams with numerous, very specific publications and also researched on:

• Cosmic rays
• Neutron Flux - Neutron Standardization - Neutron Spectrum
• High energy particles
• Dosimetry (electrons, neutrons, photons)
• nuclear spectroscopy

He was also involved in the creation and translation of standard works on quantum mechanics

Geiger was a member of the Canadian Association of Physics.

literature

• Kalte, Pamela M .: American men and women of science , 2003.
• German-Canadian yearbook , Volume 13, Historical Society of Mecklenburg Upper Canada, 1994.
• Who's who in atoms: an internat. Reference book , Harrap Research Publ., 5th Edition, London, 1969.