Otto Stern (German:[ˈɔtoˈʃtɛʁn]ⓘ; 17 February 1888 – 17 August 1969) was a German-Americanphysicist. He is the second most nominated person for aNobel Prize, with 82 nominations during the years 1925–1945.[1] In 1943, he received theNobel Prize in Physics "for his contribution to the development of themolecular ray method and his discovery of themagnetic moment of theproton".
Plaque on the wall of what are now the physics institutes of Hamburg University, commemorating Stern's tenure
Stern was born into a Jewish family in Sohrau (nowŻory) in theProvince of Silesia, theGerman Empire'sKingdom of Prussia. His father was Oskar Stern (1850–1919), a mill owner, who had been living in Breslau (nowWrocław) since 1892. His mother Eugenia née Rosenthal (1863–1907) was from Rawitsch (nowRawicz) in the PrussianProvince of Posen. Otto Stern had a brother, Kurt, who became a noted botanist inFrankfurt, and three sisters. He studied inFreiburg im Breisgau,Munich and Breslau.[2]
He was awarded the 1943Nobel Prize in Physics, the first to be awarded since 1939. It was awarded to Stern alone, "for his contribution to the development of the molecular ray method and his discovery of the magnetic moment of the proton" (not for the Stern–Gerlach experiment). The 1943 prize was actually awarded in 1944.[9]
After Stern retired from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, he moved toBerkeley,California. He was a regular visitor to the physics colloquium atBerkeley. He died of aheart attack in Berkeley on 17 August 1969.[3]
Horst Schmidt-Böcking and Karin Reich:Otto Stern. Physiker Querdenker, Nobelpreisträger. Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2011,ISBN978-3-942921-23-7.
