Christian Andreas Doppler (pronounced "dop-ler") was an Austrian mathematician and physicist born on November 29, 1803, and died on March 17, 1853. He discovered the principle now called the Doppler effect, which explains that the observed frequency of a wave changes based on how fast the source and observer are moving relative to each other.
Biography
Christian Doppler was born in Salzburg, which is now part of Austria, in 1803. He was the second son of Johann Evangelist Doppler and Theresia Seeleuthner (Doppler). His father, Johann Doppler, was a stone mason who had worked in the trade for three generations. As a young boy, Doppler showed talent for his family's work. However, because of his poor health, his father encouraged him to study business instead. Doppler began his education at the age of 13. After completing elementary school, he moved to Linz for secondary education. Simon Stampfer, a mathematician in Salzburg, noticed Doppler's skill in math. Stampfer recommended that Doppler take a break from high school to attend the Polytechnic Institute in Vienna in 1822. Doppler returned to Salzburg in 1825 to finish his secondary education. After high school, he studied philosophy in Salzburg and mathematics and physics at the University of Vienna and the Imperial–Royal Polytechnic Institute (now TU Wien). In 1829, he was chosen as an assistant to Professor Adam von Burg at the Polytechnic Institute of Vienna, where he continued his studies.
In 1835, Doppler decided to move to the United States for an academic job. Before leaving, he was offered a teaching position at a government-run high school in Prague, which made him stay in Europe. In 1837, he became an associate professor of math and geometry at the Prague Polytechnic Institute (now Czech Technical University in Prague). He was promoted to full professor in 1841.
In 1836, Doppler married Mathilde Sturm, the daughter of goldsmith Franz Sturm. Doppler and Mathilde had five children. Their first child, Mathilde Doppler, was born in 1837. Their second child, Ludwig Doppler, was born in 1838. Adolf Doppler was born in 1840. Bertha Doppler was born in 1843. Their last child, Hermann, was born in 1845.
In 1842, at the age of 38, Doppler gave a lecture to the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences and later published a paper titled Über das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels ("On the coloured light of the binary stars and some other stars of the heavens"). In this work, Doppler introduced his idea (later called the Doppler effect) that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer. He also tried to use this idea to explain the visible colors of binary stars, though this was later proven incorrect. Doppler also believed incorrectly that a star moving faster than 136,000 kilometers per second would not be visible to the human eye.
Doppler continued teaching at the Prague Polytechnic, publishing over 50 articles on mathematics, physics, and astronomy. In 1847, he left Prague for a professorship in mathematics, physics, and mechanics at the Academy of Mines and Forests (now the University of Miskolc) in Selmecbánya (then part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia).
Doppler’s research was interrupted by the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. In 1849, he fled to Vienna and was appointed head of the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Vienna in 1850. While there, Doppler and Franz Unger helped shape the education of young Gregor Mendel, the founder of genetics, who studied at the University of Vienna from 1851 to 1853.
Doppler died on 17 March 1853 at the age of 49 from a pulmonary disease in Venice, which was then part of the Austrian Empire. His tomb is located in the San Michele cemetery on the Venetian island of San Michele.
Full name
There is some confusion about the full name of Christian Doppler. He referred to himself as Christian Doppler. However, official records from his birth and baptism listed his name as Christianus Andreas Dopler. His middle name, Andreas, came from his great-great-grandfather, Andreas Doppler. Forty years after Doppler's death, the incorrect name Johann Christian Doppler was introduced by astronomer Julius Scheiner. This mistake has been repeated by many people since then.
Works
Christian Doppler (1803–1853). Published in Vienna, Austria by Böhlau Verlag in 1992. Volume 1: ISBN 3-205-05483-0. Part 1: Helmuth Grössing (with the collaboration of B. Reischl): Science, Life, Environment, Society; Part 2: Karl Kadletz (with the collaboration of Peter Schuster and Ildikó Cazan-Simányi): Appendix of sources. Volume 2: ISBN 3-205-05508-X. Part 3: Peter Schuster: The Work.