Hans Geiger

Early Life

● Hans was born on September 30th, 1882 in Neustadt an-der-Haardt, Germany.

● He studied, after his military service, at University of Munich and at the University of Erlangen, and received a doctorate degree in

physics.

Beginning His Career

Soon after graduating college, Hans moved to Manchester, England. Where he met Ernest Rutherford. The two men joined in friendship,

and worked together for a long time.The two began experiments based off

Rutherford's discovery of Alpha Particles that were given off of radioactive materials.

Invention of the Geiger Counter

The two men knew that Alpha Particles could go through thin walls, so they decided to try

shooting the alpha particles through gold foil onto a screen, which appeared as thousands of

tine flashing lights.In order to count all these flashes, Hans created an early version of the Geiger Counter, making

things easier than counting every flash by yourself.

Interrupted Research

Hans returned to Germany in 1912 at the director of the new Laboratory of Radioactivity, where he continued his research, and updated his Alpha counter to be able to count several

other types of radiation.Hans' research was put on hold, however, at

the start of World War 1.

Post-War

After the war, Hans returned to Germany, where he met Elisabeth Heffter.

He married her in 1920, and had three sons with her.

In 1925, Hans became the professor of physics at the University of Kiel, where he developed, along with Walther Mueller, the Geiger-Mueller

counter, usually referred to as the Geiger counter.

Later Life

Hans was offered the seat at the Technische Hochschule in 1936. He became involved with

Adolf Hitler's politics shortly after this, by helping to compose and sign a letter with about

75 other German physicians, urging Hitler's administration to stay out of science, and that their previous meddling had caused enough

trouble for the realm of science already.

Passage on

Hans continued his work at the Technische Hochschule, though he was confined to bed much of the time, as a result of rheumatism

caused by crouching in trenches during WW.He was just starting to show signs of better

health, when his home city was occupied by a hostile force in 1945. He and his family was

forced to move away, and he died soon after, on September 24th, 1945

Recognitions and Contributions

Hans was given the seat of Physics professor at four different colleges.

He held a doctorate degree in Physics and Mathematics.

He contributed to the field of science the Geiger Counter, and knowledge of the atomic-nucleus.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Geiger●http://www.notablebiographies.com/Fi-Gi/Geiger-Hans.html

●Bing.com (images)