Physicist, born in Zonnemaire, The Netherlands. He studied at Leyden under Lorentz, became a lecturer there (1890), and was appointed professor at Amsterdam (1900), and director of the Physical Institute (1908). While at Leyden he discovered the Zeeman effect - when light from a source placed in a magnetic field is examined spectroscopically, a spectral line splits into several components. This discovery suppported the idea of electron spin, and has helped physicists investigate atoms, and astronomers to measure the magnetic field of stars. In 1902 he shared with Lorentz the Nobel Prize for Physics.
| Pieter Zeeman | |
|---|---|
| Pieter Zeeman | |
| Born |
May 25, 1865 Zonnemaire, Netherlands |
| Died |
October 9, 1943 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Pieter Zeeman (Zonnemaire, May 25, 1865 – Amsterdam, October 9, 1943) (IPA [ze:mɑn]) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Hendrik Lorentz for his discovery of the Zeeman effect.
Childhood and youth
Pieter Zeeman was born in Zonnemaire, a small town on the island of Schouwen-Duiveland, Netherlands to Catharinus Forandinus Zeeman, a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, and Willemina
Worst.
He was early on already interested in physics. The editor praised "the careful observations of Professor Zeeman from his observatory in Zonnemaire", which should have been pleasing to
the highschool student.
After finishing highschool in 1883 he went to Delft for supplementary education in classical languages, then a requirement for admission to University.
Education and early career
After Zeeman passed the qualification exams in 1885, he studied physics at the University of Leiden under Kamerlingh Onnes and Hendrik Lorentz. In 1895, after returning from Strasbourg, Zeeman became Privatdozent in mathematics and physics in Leiden.
In 1896, three years after submitting his thesis on the Kerr effect, he made the discovery of what is now known as the Zeeman effect. Lorentz first heard about Zeeman's observations on
Saturday, October 31, 1896 at the meeting of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam, where these results were communicated by Kamerlingh Onnes. The next Monday, Lorentz
called Zeeman in his office and presented him with an explation of his observations, based on Lorentz' theory of electromagnetic radiation.
The importance of Zeeman's discovery became soon apparent. Because of Zeeman's work, it appeared that the oscillating particles that according to Lorentz were the source of light emission were
negatively charged, and were a thousand-fold lighter than the hydrogen atom. The Zeeman effect thus became an important tool for elucidating the structure of the atom.
Professor in Amsterdam
Because of his discovery, Zeeman was offered a position as lecturer in Amsterdam in 1897, and in 1900 followed his promotion to professor of physics at the University of Amsterdam. In 1902, he
received the Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of the the Zeeman effect, together with his former mentor Lorentz. Five years later, in 1908, he succeeded Van der Waals as full professor
and Director of the Physics Institute in Amsterdam.
In 1923, a new laboratory was built in Amsterdam, which in 1940 was renamed Zeeman Laboratory. This new facility allowed him to pursue refined investigation of the Zeeman effect.
Later years
In 1898, Zeeman was elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam, and he served as its secretary from 1912 to 1920. He became Emeritus professor in
1935.
Zeeman passed away on October 9, 1943 in Amsterdam, and was interred in Haarlem.
Zeeman crater on the moon is named in his honor.
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