Hugo Stintzing (10 August 1888 in Munich, Germany – 11 December 1970 in Darmstadt, West Germany) was a German university lecturer in physics at the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt. He was involved in early research on the electron scanning microscope, studied radioactive elements and developed a model for the periodic table. He was the Director of the Institute of X-Ray Physics and Technology at Darmstadt from 1936 to 1945. He was removed from his position due to his involvement in the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP, Nazi Party, joined 1933), and was interned in 1946.

Hugo Stintzing
Born(1888-08-10)10 August 1888
Died11 December 1970(1970-12-11) (aged 82)
Alma materTechnical University of Berlin, University of Leipzig, University of Giessen
Scientific career
FieldsChemistry
InstitutionsTechnische Hochschule Darmstadt

Childhood edit

Hugo Stintzing was born in Munich, Germany on 10 August 1888 the son of Roderich Stintzing, an internist and later professor of internal medicine.[1][2]

Education edit

Hugo studied chemistry and metallurgy, graduating in May 1911 with the title Diplomingenieur (a degree in engineering) from the Technical University of Berlin.[1]

From 1913 he was assistant at the Photochemical Department of the Physikalisch-Chemisches Institut (the Institute of Physical Chemistry) at the University of Leipzig.[1] His dissertation on the subject of the influence of light on colloid systems was published in 1914. He received his Doctorate in Philosophy on 12 January 1915 from the University of Giessen.[1][3][4]

In 1916 he proposed a model for the periodic table, organized as a cone-like rotational body.[5] His paper, "Eine neue Anordnung des periodischen Systems der Elemente" (A new arrangement of the periodic system of the elements) was published in Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie.[6] His representation of the elements is one of several early helix-based displays.[7]

From 1918 he was an assistant at the Physikalisch-Chemisches Institut of the University of Giessen. He habilitated in 1923 with a thesis on the use of x-rays for chemical investigations: Röntgenographisch-chemische Untersuchungen.[1][2][8]

Career edit

Hugo Stintzing then became a lecturer in physical chemistry and technology at the University of Giessen. On 4 July 1928 he was appointed an extraordinary professor of physical chemistry at the University of Giessen, lecturing on X-ray spectroscopy.[1] During the early part of his career, he translated some of the works of Niels Bohr into German.[9]

In 1929, Stintzing filed a patent for a proposed electron scanning microscope, to be capable of automatic detection and measurement of particles using a light beam or beam of electrons. He suggested the use of crossed slits to obtain a small diameter probe. A light beam could be mechanically scanned, while an electron beam could be detected using electric or magnetic fields. Detectors would observe the beam transmitted after absorption or scattering. A chart recorder would represent the linear dimension of a particle by the width of a deflection, and its amplitude by thickness. No drawings accompany the specification, and Stintzing is presumed not to have attempted construction of such an instrument.[10][11] Almost forty years later, a computer-controlled scanning electron microscope based on his specifications was built and tested. The results were presented at the Fifth International Congress on X-Ray Optics and Microanalysis at Tübingen University in 1968.[12]

Stintzing worked on the chemical analysis of x-ray spectra, developing apparatus with x-ray tubes for the measurement of secondary fluorescent emission lines.[13] He published a textbook on Rontgenstrahlen und Chemische Bindung ("X-ray and chemical bonding") in 1931.[14]

In 1936, Stintzing was appointed to Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, to replace Paul Knipping, who had died unexpectedly. Knipping had founded an institute for X-ray physics and technology at Darmstadt in 1929/30.[15][16] Stintzing held a lectureship (Lehrauftrag) at Darmstadt as of 1 April 1936, and was appointed Director of the Institute of X-Ray Physics and Technology as of 1 October 1936. On 10 June 1943 he received promotion to the rank of extraordinary professor of X-ray physics and technology at Darmstadt.[1] As early as 1942, the Stintzing X-ray Institute was classified as important to the war and the state, which meant that the institute obtained funding and privileges during the Second World War.[17][18][19][8]

Military and political involvement edit

During the First World War Hugo Stintzing was in the artillery with the rank of lieutenant of the reserve. On 1 May 1933, Hugo Stintzing joined the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP, Nazi Party) as well as its paramilitary wing, the Sturmabteilung. From September 1938 to June 1940, he held the position of National Socialist lecturer at the University of Darmstadt. Like Karl Lieser, Friedrich List and Jakob Sprenger, he was a strong supporter of Nazism.[20][21][22][19]

 
Gravestone, Hugo & Friedel Stintzing, Darmstadt

On 8 October 1945 Hugo Stintzing was removed from his position at the university by the American military government. In 1946 he was interned. The Institute for X-Ray Physics and X-Ray Technology was merged into the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, under the direction of Richard Vieweg.[20][19]

As of 4 November 1955, Stintzing applied for a patent for a Method and apparatus for improving the effectiveness of radioactive sources, which was granted on 27 March 1958.[23] A notice in Physick Journal in 1958 commemorated his 70th birthday.[8]

Personal life edit

Hugo Stintzing was married to Friedel (Frieda) Gertrud Keferstein (1899-1989) on 15 October 1929.[1]

Hugo Stintzing died at the age of 82 on 11 December 1970 and was buried in the Old Cemetery in Darmstadt, Germany.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Stintzing, Hugo [ID = 8502]". Hessische Biografie. Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b Wer ist Wer?: Das deutsche Who's Who. 16. 1970. p. 1286. ISBN 9783760520070.
  3. ^ Stintzing, Hugo (1914). Der Einfluss des Lichtes auf Kolloide Systeme. Dissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde.der Großherzoglich Hessischen Ludwigs-Universität zu Gießen. Mit 12 Abb. und 6 Tabellen. (Influence of light on colloidal systems). Dresden and Leipzig: Steinkopff.
  4. ^ Ross, F. E. (January 1923). "Film Distortion and Accuracy of Photographic Registration of Position". The Astrophysical Journal. 57: 45. Bibcode:1923ApJ....57...33R. doi:10.1086/142725. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  5. ^ Mazurs, Edward G. (1974). Graphic Representations of the Periodic System during One Hundred Years. University of Alabama Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-8173-3200-6.
  6. ^ Stintzing, Hugo (1 January 1916). "Eine neue Anordnung des periodischen Systems der Elemente". Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie. 91 (1): 500–. doi:10.1515/zpch-1916-9124. S2CID 202161970. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  7. ^ Weinhold, Frank; Landis, Clark R. (2005). Valency and bonding : a natural bond and orbital donor-acceptor perspective. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 722. ISBN 978-0521831284. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  8. ^ a b c Hanle, W.; Brüche, E.; Eggert, J. (August 1958). "PAUL CERMAK 75 Jahre/HUGO STINTZING 70 Jahre/WALTER NODDACK 65 Jahre". Physik Journal. 14 (8): 369–371. doi:10.1002/phbl.19580140806.
  9. ^ Beebe, Nelson H. F. "A Selected Bibliography of Publications by, and about, Niels Bohr" (PDF). University of Utah. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  10. ^ Schatten, Heide; Pawley, James (2007). Biological low voltage field emission scanning electron microscopy (PDF). New York: Springer. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-387-72970-1. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  11. ^ McMullan, D. (September 1989). "SEM-past, present and future". Journal of Microscopy. 155 (3): 373–392. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2818.1989.tb02897.x. S2CID 119725770.
  12. ^ Ogilvie, R.E.; Yankovich, D.; Warren, R.E.; Laning, J.H. (1968). "computer-controlled scanning electron microscope". In Möllenstedt, Gottfried; Gaukler, K.H. (eds.). Vth International Congress on X-Ray Optics and Microanalysis / V. Internationaler Kongreß für Röntgenoptik und Mikroanalyse / Ve Congrès International sur l'Optique des Rayons X et la Microanalyse Tübingen, 9–14 September 1968. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. pp. 337–340. ISBN 9783662121108.
  13. ^ Clark, George L. (1932). Applied X Rays (Second (c.1927) ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 82–83.
  14. ^ Stintzing, Hugo (1931). Rontgenstrahlen und Chemische Bindung ("X-ray and chemical bonding"). Leipzig.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ "Knipping, Paul Karl Moritz [ID = 7466]". Hessische Biografie. Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  16. ^ Zeitschrift für technische Physik: 1938. Vol. 19. J.A. Barth. 1938. p. 89.
  17. ^ "Projekt: Technische Hochschule Darmstadt und Nationalsozialismus". TU Darmstadt. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  18. ^ Hanel, Melanie (2014). Normalität unter Ausnahmebedingungen : die TH Darmstadt im Nationalsozialismus. Darmstadt: WBG, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. ISBN 9783534266401.
  19. ^ a b c Schmidt, Isabel (July 1, 2015). Nach dem Nationalsozialismus: Die TH Darmstadt zwischen Vergangenheitspolitik und Zukunftsmanagement (1945-1960). WBG (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. ISBN 978-3534267484.
  20. ^ a b Wolf, Christa; Viefhaus, Marianne (1977). Verzeichnis der Hochschullehrer der TH Darmstadt (List of university lecturers of the TH Darmstadt). Darmstadt: Verl. des Historischen Vereins für Hessen. p. 202.
  21. ^ "Alliance with the Nazi regime". TU Darmstadt. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  22. ^ Grüttner, Michael (2004). Biographical Lexicon on National Socialist Science Policy. Heidelberg. p. 169. Retrieved 19 July 2017.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  23. ^ "Verfahren und Anordnung zur Steigerung der Wirksamkeit von radioaktiven Strahlenquellen DE 1026889 B". Google Patents. Retrieved 20 July 2017.