Topic
Deutsche Physik
About: Deutsche Physik is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6 publications have been published within this topic receiving 26 citations. The topic is also known as: German Physics & Arische Physik.
Papers
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of ideology and especially of political ideology on science is discussed, and a recent example often comes to mind: the deutsche Physik (literally 'German Physics') movement during the National Socialist period in Germany.
Abstract: Whenever the influence of ideology and especially of political ideology on science is discussed, a recent example often comes to mind: the deutsche Physik (literally 'German Physics') movement during the National Socialist period in Germany. Traditionally, this movement has been regarded as the only example of the perversion of physics to the support of the National Socialist regime. This article will take a different approach with respect to the notorious case of German physics and physicists during the Third Reich. The strident and often incoherent calls for a more Aryan and less Jewish science were not the only examples of the penetration of National Socialist ideology into the practice of physics. On the contrary, the interaction between the physics community in Germany and the National Socialist movement cannot be equated with, or limited to, deutsche Physik. Rather the relationships between deutsche Physik, National Socialism, and the German physics community provide a fascinating example of the impact that an ideology can have on science as well as of how science and scientists, in turn, can influence this ideology. During the early years of the Third Reich, Werner Heisenberg and other supporters of 'modern physics' roughly speaking, quantum physics and the theory of relativity were attacked politically by the adherents of deutsche Physik. Much has been made of the fact that the deutsche Physik movement was able to discredit Heisenberg sufficiently to block an attempt to call him to Munich as the successor to his teacher, Arnold Sommerfeld. But far from proving the strength of the movement, this coup was a good example of winning a battle, but losing the war. The highly-publicized attacks on Heisenberg's honour and the subsequent retaliation by the established German physics community set in motion a careful and thorough reappraisal by the German government of the value of modern theoretical
13 citations
TL;DR: The history of the German Physical Society (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft,DPG) can be divided into two periods, from the transfer of power in Germany to the Nazis in 1933 to 1940, and from 1941 to 1945 as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: I first sketch the history of the German Physical Society (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft,DPG) from its founding by six young Berlin scientists as the Physical Society of Berlin (Physikalische Gesellschaft zu Berlin) in 1845, through its renaming as the DPG in 1899 and its rise to prominence by the beginning of the 1930s. I then turn to the history of the DPG during the Third Reich, which can be divided into two periods, from the transfer of power in Germany to the Nazis in 1933 to 1940, and from 1941 to 1945. During the first period, Johannes Stark (1874–1957), one of the leaders of the “German Physics” (Deutsche Physik) movement, attempted to gain election as the Chairman of the DPG in September 1933 but was repulsed. A period of relative autonomy of the DPG from Nazi ideology and policies ensued, which gradually was transformed into one of accommodation, until at the end of the 1938, Peter Debye (1884–1966), then Chairman of the DPG, bowed to governmental demands and Nazi activists in the DPG, introduced Nazi principles, and strongly advised the Jewish members of the DPG to withdraw from it. Debye left Germany in early 1940, and after a transitional period in which Jonathan Zenneck (1871–1959) served as Acting Chairman, Carl Ramsauer (1879–1955) was elected Chairman of the DPG in December 1940, thus opening the second period, the Ramsauer era, which lasted from 1941 until the end of the war in 1945. Ramsauer oversaw the self-coordination (Selbstgleichschaltung) of the DPG to the Nazi regime, and as an industrial physicist he led the DPG to establish ever more alliances with powerful figures in the military-industrial complex of Nazi Germany, which worked to the advantage both of Ramsauer and the DPG and to that of the Nazi regime during the course of the war. Finally, as the military defeat of Germany loomed, Ramsauer took steps aimed at insuring the survival of German physics in the postwar period. After the war, he masked the wartime activities of himself and the DPG, thereby contributing to the postwar conspiracy of silence or minimization of the Nazi past in Germany.
11 citations
1 Jan 1989
6 citations
1 Jan 2020
TL;DR: Aryan Physiology is considered a prime example of ideologically influenced science (Beyerchen in Wissenschaftler unter Hitler: Physiker im Dritten Reich as discussed by the authors ).
Abstract: “Aryan Physics” or “Deutsche Physik” is considered a prime example of ideologically influenced science (Beyerchen in Wissenschaftler unter Hitler: Physiker im Dritten Reich. Ullstein, Frankfurt, pp. 113–114, 1982; Eckert in Die Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft und die “Deutsche Physik”. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, p. 139, 2007; Richter in Die “Deutsche Physik”. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt, pp. 116–117, 1980).
1 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: A brief review of Heisenberg's life and work can be found in this article, where he participated in the youth movement in the aftermath of World War I, creating quantum mechanics, conflict with "deutsche Physik", involvement in "Hitler's Uranium Project", last illusions Problems and dilemmas for scientists under a dictatorship - East and West
Abstract: A brief review of Heisenberg's life and work: participating in the youth movement in the aftermath of World War I, creating quantum mechanics, conflict with "deutsche Physik", involvement in "Hitler's Uranium Project", last illusions Problems and dilemmas for scientists under a dictatorship - East and West
1 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2005 | 3 |
| 1989 | 2 |