Arthur Korn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 20 May 1870 |
| Died | 22 December 1945(1945-12-22) (aged 75) |
| Occupations | Physicist, mathematician, Inventor |
Arthur Korn (20 May 1870 – 21 December/22 December 1945) was a Germanphysicist,mathematician andinventor. He was involved in the development of thefax machine, specifically the transmission ofphotographs ortelephotography, known as the Bildtelegraph, related to early attempts at developing a practicalmechanical television system.[1]
Born in Breslau, Korn was the son of aJewish couple, Moritz and Malwine Schottlaender. He attendedgymnasia inBreslau andBerlin.[2] He then studied physics and mathematics inLeipzig at the age of 15, from where he graduated in 1890. Afterwards, he studied in Berlin,Paris,London andWürzburg. In 1895, he became a lecturer in law at theUniversity of Munich, and was appointed professor in 1903. In 1914, he accepted the chair of physics atTechnische Universität Berlin.[citation needed]
Dr. Korn, being of Jewish descent, was dismissed from his post in 1935 with the rise of theNazi Party. In 1939 he left Germany with his family and moved to the United States, entering via Mexico. There, he took the chair in physics and mathematics atStevens Institute of Technology inHoboken, New Jersey. He died inJersey City, New Jersey, in 1945.[citation needed]
Korn experimented and wrote on long-distance photography, the phototelautograph.[2]He pioneered the use of light sensitiveselenium cells which supplanted the function of the stylus,[3] and used aNernst lamp as a light source. On 17 October 1906, he transmitted a photograph ofCrown Prince William over a distance of 1800 km.[3][4]
At a 1913 conference inVienna, Korn demonstrated the first successful visual telegraphic transmission of a cinematic recording. Under heavy media attention in 1923, he successfully transmitted an image of PopePius XI across theAtlantic Ocean, fromRome toBar Harbor, Maine, the picture being hailed as a "miracle of modern science". From 1928 onwards, the German police used Korn's system to send photographs and fingerprints,[3] though the use of the "phototelegraph" in apprehending a thief from aStuttgart bank in London was recorded in 1907, as well as the use of the technology by the media, with the French paperl'Illustration contracting for a French monopoly that lasted until 1909.[5]
He also worked on potential theory and the mathematics of physics.[2] He was an Invited Speaker for theICM in 1908 in Rome and in 1932 inZürich.
He also contributed numerous articles to such journals asBerichte der Bayrischen Akademie der Wissenschaft,Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, andNaturwissenschaftliches Wochenschrift.
