Adolf Bestelmeyer
Adolf (Christoph Wilhelm) Bestelmeyer (December 21, 1875 in Nuremberg, † November 21, 1957 in Heidelberg) was a German experimental physicist.
Life and work
Bestelmeyer studied mathematics and physics at the Technical University of Berlin, the Technical University of Munich and the University of Munich. After his promotion, he worked in 1904 as an assistant at the University of Göttingen. In World War I he was active in torpedo research, and afterwards he was professor of physics at the University of Greifswald from 1917 to 1921. He then served until the end of World War II as a laboratory manager in various companies (like Askania), especially in the area of torpedo construction. [1] [2]
In 1906 Bestelmeyer was the first to question the accuracy of the measurements by Walter Kaufmann regarding the speed dependence of the electromagnetic mass. Thereby, Bestelmeyer was the first to use a velocity filter for his own experiments on cathode rays, and this method was later also used by Alfred Bucherer. While Bucherer saw the results of his experiments as a confirmation of special relativity, his methods were criticized by Bestelmeyer, thus a polemical dispute between these two researchers arose. It took years until those problems could be resolved, and the results of further experiments confirmed the predictions of special relativity. [3]
Bestelmeyer is also known for developing a magnetic detonator for torpedoes in 1917, for which he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class (although there was no time for testing this device in WWI anymore). [4] [2]
See also
References
- ^ Lerp, Karl: Zum Gedenken an Prof. Dr. Adolf Bestelmeyer. In: Marine-Rundschau. 6, 1959
- ^ a b Meyer, Helmut: Geschichte der Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft im Nationalsozialismus. 16, Wallstein, pp. 122-123, 2007, ISBN 3835301098
- ^ Miller, Arthur I. (1981). Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity. Emergence (1905) and early interpretation (1905–1911). Reading: Addison–Wesley. ISBN 0-201-04679-2.
- ^ Schubert, P.; Sohst, H.: Die Deutschen Marinen im Minenkrieg. Books on Demand, Rostock 2006, pp. 411f, ISBN 3833443308
External links
- Literature about Adolf Bestelmeyer in the State Bibliography (Landesbibliographie) of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern