Robert Karplus

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Robert Karplus (born February 23, 1927 in Vienna ; † March 22, 1990 ) was an American theoretical physicist and physics educator and brother of the chemistry professor and Nobel Prize winner Martin Karplus .

Life

For the family history, see grandfather Johann Paul Karplus and brother Martin Karplus .

Karplus' mother Lucie fled Vienna with her two sons Robert and Martin after the annexation of Austria in 1938 and went to the USA via Switzerland. Karplus' father Hans, imprisoned by the Nazi regime for a few months, also ended up in the United States.

From 1943 Robert studied at Harvard University , where he heard from Julian Schwinger and in 1948 received his doctorate from E. Bright Wilson with a theoretical as well as experimental thesis on microwave spectroscopy. He became known through his work with Norman Kroll as a post-doc at the Institute for Advanced Study (1948 to 1950), in which she carried out the first, at that time still very complicated, calculation of the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron in quantum electrodynamics (QED) on the basis of perturbation theory Performed two loops on the 2nd level, which took them over a year. The calculation explained the experimental results well and was a confirmation of the then newly developed QED. Later he continued the QED calculations of various atomic physical effects at Harvard with Julian Schwinger and also with Abraham Klein , who was also Schwinger's assistant. From 1950 he was an Assistant Professor at Harvard University and from 1954 Associate Professor and from 1958 Professor at the University of California, Berkeley . From 1978 to 1980 he was chairman of the Graduate Group in Science and Mathematics Education (Sesame) and in 1980 dean of the School of Education at Berkeley. After a heart attack while jogging in 1982, he had to give up teaching. Among other things, he was visiting professor at the University of Maryland and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1973/74).

In addition to theoretical work on QED, he also dealt with solid state physics ( Hall effect ), cosmic rays and radiation in the Van Allen Belt. He worked not only theoretically, but also experimentally - for example, he built apparatus for the production of pure germanium for transistors at his university.

From the end of the 1950s, when the Sputnik fever in the USA was believed to have left behind the USSR in the teaching of natural sciences, he was a leader in teaching natural sciences for children. To this end, he dealt intensively with learning psychology, especially by Jean Piaget , which he later expanded to include adult learning. With Herbert D. Thier, he led the Science Curriculum Improvement Study (SCIS) (as director 1961 to 1977), which developed a teaching curriculum, particularly in physics and biology, for schools. In 1977 he became President of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), whose Oersted Medal he received in 1981. In 1978 he received the Award for Distinguished Service from the National Science Teachers Association and in 1972 from the AAPT.

He had been married since 1948 and had seven children.

In 1960/61 and 1973/74 he was a Guggenheim Fellow . He was an honorary doctorate from the University of Gothenburg .

Fonts

  • with HD Thier: A New Look at Elementary School Science. Chicago: Rand McNally , 1967.
  • Introductory Physics: a model approach, Benjamin 1969, new edition Fernand Brunschwig 2003 (with biography)
  • as editor: Physics and Man, Benjamin 1970

literature

  • Robert G. Fuller (Editor): A Love of Discovery: Science Education — The Second Career of Robert Karplus, Springer, 2002.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The one-loop calculation already Schwinger explained
  2. ^ Robert Karplus, Kroll: Fourth order corrections in quantum electrodynamics and the magnetic moment of the electrons, Physical Review, Vol. 76, 1949, pp. 846-847, Vol. 77, 1950, pp. 536-549. Corrected by CM Sommerfield (Physical Review Vol. 107, 1957, S.328, Annals of Physics Vol. 5, 1958, S.26) and A. Petermann (Nuclear Physics Vol. 3, 1957, S.689) 1957.
  3. ↑ Karplus, Klein Electrodynamic displacement of atomic energy levels I: Hyperfine Structure , Physical Review, Vol. 85, 1952, pp. 972-984, Part II, Karplus, Klein, Schwinger, Lamb Shift , Physical Review, Vol. 86, 1952 , Pp. 288-301, Karplus, Klein, Part III: The Hyperfine Structure of Positronium , Physical Review, Vol. 87, 1952, pp. 848-858
personal data
SURNAME Karplus, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 22, 1990