Peter Adolf Thiessen | |
|---|---|
 Peter Adolf Thiessen (1899–1990) ca.1960. | |
| Born | (1899-04-06)6 April 1899 |
| Died | 5 March 1990(1990-03-05) (aged 90) |
| Nationality | German |
| Citizenship |  Germany East Germany |
| Alma mater | University of Freiburg University of Greifswald University of Göttingen |
| Known for | Tribology Soviet program of nuclear weapons |
| Awards |  Stalin Prize (1953) National Prize (1958) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physical chemistry |
| Institutions | German Academy of Sciences at Berlin German Research Foundation Institute A in Russia Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft University of Göttingen University of Münster University of Berlin Reichsforschungsrat |
| Thesis | Kritische Untersuchungen am kolloidalen Gold (1924) |
| Doctoral advisor | Richard Adolf Zsigmondy |
Peter Adolf Thiessen (6 April 1899 – 5 March 1990) was a Germanphysical chemist and atribologist– he is credited as the founder of the tribochemistry.[1]
At the close of theWorld War II, he voluntarily went to theSoviet Union and played a crucial role in advancing theSoviet program of nuclear weapons, and was a recipient of national honors of the Soviet Union. Upon his return toEast Germany in 1956, Thiessen engaged his life in the advancement of applied applications of the physical chemistry.[2][3]
Thiessen was born in Schweidnitz,Silesia,Prussia, which now is known asŚwidnica,Lower Silesian inPoland, on 6 April 1899.: 6 [4] Thiessen hailed from a wealthy German family, which owned a land in Schweidnitz.[5]
From 1919 to 1923, he attended and studiedchemistry at theUniversity of Breslau,University of Freiburg,University of Greifswald, and theUniversity of Göttingen.[5] He received his doctorate in chemistry in 1923 underRichard Adolf Zsigmondy at Göttingen.[6]
In 1923, Thiessen was asupernumeraryassistant professor of chemistry at the University of Göttingen and from 1924 to 1930 was a regularprofessor. He joined theNazi Party in 1925; and became aPrivatdozent at Göttingen in 1926.: 110 In 1930, he became head of the department ofinorganic chemistry there, and in 1932 he also became an untenured extraordinarius professor.[6][7]
In 1933, Thiessen became a department chair of chemistry at theKaiser-Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrical Chemistry (KWIPC) of theKaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft (KWG). For a short time in 1935, he became an ordinarius professor of chemistry at theUniversity of Münster. Later, that year and until 1945, he became an ordinarius professor at theUniversity of Berlin and director of the KWIPC inBerlin-Dahlem. As director of the KWIPC, he transformed it into ascientific model based on theNazi Party's guidelines.[6][8]
Thiessen was the main advisor and confidant toRudolf Mentzel, who was head of the chemistry and organic materials section of theReichsforschungsrat (RFR, Reich Research Council). Thiessen, as director of the KWIPC, had aflat on Faradayweg in Dahlem that the former directorFritz Haber used for business purposes; Thiessen shared this flat with Mentzel.[6]
Before the end ofWorld War II, Thiessen hadCommunist contacts.[6] He,Manfred von Ardenne, director of his private laboratory (Research Laboratory for Electron Physics),[9]Gustav Hertz, Nobel Laureate and director of the second research laboratory atSiemens, andMax Volmer,ordinarius professor and director of the Physical Chemistry Institute atTechnische Universität Berlin, had made a pact. The pact was a pledge that whoever first made contact with the Soviet authorities would speak for the rest. The objectives of their pact were threefold: (1) prevent plunder of their institutes, (2) continue their work with minimal interruption, and (3) protect themselves from prosecution for any political acts of the past.[10] On 27 April 1945, Thiessen arrived at von Ardenne’s institute in an armored vehicle with a major of the Soviet Army, who was also a leading Soviet chemist.[11] All four were taken into theSoviet custody and were held in Russia where Von Ardenne was made head of Institute A,[12][13] in Sinop,[14][15] a suburb ofSukhumi. Hertz was made head of Institute G,[16] in Agudseri (Agudzery),[14][15] about 10 km southeast ofSukhumi and a suburb of Gul’rips (Gulrip’shi). Volmer went to the Nauchno-Issledovatel’skij Institut-9 (NII-9, Scientific Research Institute No. 9),[17] in Moscow; he was given a design bureau to work on the production ofheavy water.[18] In Institute A, Thiessen became leader for developing engineering design techniques for manufacturing porous barriers for isotope separation using the gaseous and centrifugal technologies.[19]
In 1949, six German scientists, including Hertz, Thiessen, and Barwich, were called in for consultation atSverdlovsk-44, which was responsible for uranium enrichment using thegaseous diffusion. The plant, which was smaller than the AmericanOak Ridge Laboratory'sK-25 gaseous diffusion plant, was getting only a little over half of the expected 90pc or higher enrichment.[20] Awards for uranium enrichment technologies were made in 1951 after testing of a bomb with uranium; the first test was with plutonium. Thiessen received aStalin Prize, first class in 1953.[21]
He is credited with founding the field of tribochemistry, which he formulated when encountering problems to make the gaseous diffusion method feasible for the Soviet nuclear weapons.[22]
In 1953, Thiessen was notified by the Soviet administration in Russia that he would allowed to return to Germany but had to quarantined for at least two years, which was a standard practice for the German experts in Soviet program of nuclear weapons.[2] He performed unclassified research in the Soviet Union and returned toEast Germany in 1955 where he was elected as a Fellow of theGerman Academy of Sciences in East Berlin, and from 1956 was director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry inEast Berlin. From 1957 to 1965, he was also chairman of the Research Council of the German Democratic Republic..[23][24][25]
From 1965 till 1990, Thiessen served on different research capacities to advance the field ofTribology, for which he is credited as one of the founders, and died in East Berlin on 5 March 1990, aged 90.[2]
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