Max Karl Werner Wien was a German scientist who studied physics. He was born on December 25, 1866, and died on February 22, 1938.

Education and career

Max Karl Werner Wien was born on December 25, 1866, in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), which was then part of the Kingdom of Prussia. He was the son of Otto Wien, a co-owner of the famous Castell grain company. He was a cousin of physicist and Nobel Prize winner Wilhelm Wien.

After studying in Königsberg and Freiburg, Wien went to the University of Berlin. There, he studied under scientists Hermann von Helmholtz and August Kundt. In 1888, he earned his Ph.D. under Helmholtz. In 1892, he worked with Wilhelm Röntgen at the University of Würzburg. In 1893, he received his habilitation, which allowed him to become a professor.

In 1898, Wien moved to Technische Hochschule Aachen, where he became an extraordinary professor the next year. In 1904, he became a full professor at Technische Hochschule Danzig (now Gdańsk University of Technology). In 1911, he was named Director of the Institute of Physics at the University of Jena. He held this position until his death in 1938.

Research

Wien's scientific research focused on high frequency electronics, acoustics, and how liquids conduct electricity. He is known for inventing the Wien bridge in 1891, a type of electrical circuit used to measure the resistance of capacitors and inductors. Between 1906 and 1909, he studied the efficiency of early radio transmitters, called spark gap transmitters, which used electric sparks to create radio waves. In these transmitters, the spark interrupted the electrical waves in the circuit, spreading the radio energy over a wide range of frequencies and limiting how far the signal could travel.

In 1906, Wien created a new type of spark gap called a "quenched gap," which stopped the spark quickly after transferring energy to the circuit. This improved transmitter, developed by Telefunken, produced signals with less interference, narrower frequency ranges, and greater transmission distance. It also created a clear musical tone that could be heard through receiver headphones. Wien's "singing spark" or quenched-spark transmitters were widely used until the end of the spark era around 1920. He also studied how liquids conduct electricity under high energy conditions and high frequencies, leading to the discovery now known as the Wien effect.

The Wien bridge oscillator is named after the Wien bridge circuit, but it was not invented by Wien. William Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, first used a Wien bridge as part of an electrical circuit to create an oscillator in 1939.