Walther Gerlach
Walther Gerlach | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 August 1889 |
| Died | 10 August 1979 (aged 90) |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen |
| Known for | Stern–Gerlach experiment |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Experimental Physics |
| Institutions | Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen |
| Academic advisors | Friedrich Paschen |
| Doctoral students | Gertrude Scharff Goldhaber Heinz Billing |
Walther Gerlach (1 August 1889 – 10 August 1979) was a German physicist who co-discovered, through laboratory experiment, spin quantization in a magnetic field, the Stern–Gerlach effect. The experiment was conceived by Otto Stern in 1921 and successfully conducted first by Gerlach in early 1922. He was Nazi Germany's plenipotentiary of nuclear physics from December 1943 until his capture by US Army in May 1945.