Gallery
- Prof. Dr. Peter Maria Schuster (1939–2019)
- Victor Franz Hess Society
- Christian Andreas Doppler (1803–1853)
- Joseph Loschmidt (1821–1895)
- Josef Stefan (1835–1893)
- Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906)
- Optical Instruments and Light Technology
- Electricity and Information Technology
2010: Opening of the 1st European Center for the History of Physics
Entrance to the museum, with portraits of famous Austrian physicists and a replica of the portal of the Radium Institute of Vienna.
Panoramic view of the exhibition room 'Electricity, Magnetism - Electromagnetism'.
— © Photo: Markus Lang-Bichl, Pöllau
Prof. Dr. Peter Maria Schuster (1939–2019)
Prof. Dr. Peter Maria Schuster (1939–2019)
Prof. Schuster initiated and opened in 2010 in Pöllau, Styria, the first European Center for the History of Physics 'ECHOPHYSICS' as well as the 'Victor Franz Hess Society', which he founded in 2007. From 2007 to 2017, he chaired the 'History of Physics' group of the European Physical Society (EPS). He founded the 'History of Physics' section of the Austrian Physical Society (ÖPG) in 2006 and chaired it until 2015. On his initiative, the biennial conference series ‘International Conference on the History of Physics’ was established in 2014 (see 'Symposia').
Born in Vienna on October 26, 1939, Schuster studied history, Japanese studies, mathematics and physics at the University of Vienna and received his doctorate in physics in 1967. After a one-year fellowship in literature in 1968, he began his industrial career as head of marketing at Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen, Germany. In 1976 he built up his own trading company in Germany and in 1982 founded the industrial company 'AOL-Dr. Schuster - Analytik, Optik, Lasertechnik' in Vienna.
Schuster received the 'Golden Medal of Merit of the Province of Salzburg' in 2004, the 'Great Medal of Honor of the Province of Styria' in 2016, the 'Badge of Honor of the Market Town of Pöllau' in 2018 and the 'Medal of Honor in Silver of the Municipality of Pöllauberg' in 2012. In 2016, he was awarded the title Professor. Schuster was a member of the scientific advisory board of the Christian Doppler Fund in Salzburg (since 1999 and member of the board of trustees since 2014), a member of the Austrian P.E.N. Club (since 2000) and the Austrian Writers' Association (since 2014), a member of Academia Europaea (since 2009), and an honorary member of the ÖPG (since 2019).
Following his sudden death on December 26, 2019, he is survived by his wife, Dr. Lily Wilmes, and their three sons and two sons and a daughter from his first marriage.
Victor Franz Hess Society
On August 7, 1912, during his seventh balloon flight from Aussig a. d. Elbe to Pieskow near Berlin, Victor F. Hess proved that at an altitude of 5000 m a much stronger (ionizing) radiation is present than on earth - For this his discovery of cosmic radiation the Styrian scientist received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1936.
— © Victor-Franz-Hess-Society Permanent loan VFH. Breisky, Pöllau
Historical model of the balloon gondola from the beginning of the 20th century, of the type used by Hess for his balloon flights.
Attached is the Stockholm certificate of Victor Franz Hess Nobel Prize 1936 for Physics.
— © Gondola: loaned by the Museum of Military History Vienna, photo: Arthur G.P. Schuster; © Copy of the Nobel Prize certificate: William & Arthur Breisky; MA, USA
Victor F. Hess (right) accepts the Nobel Prize medal for his discovery of cosmic rays on December 10, 1936.
— © Victor-Franz-Hess-Society Permanent Loan Breisky, Pöllau
On the desk of Victor Franz Hess from the Vienna Institute for Radium Research (in display in
— © Photo: Mag. Arthur G. P. Schuster
Christian Andreas Doppler (1803–1853)
— © Archive ECHOPHYSICS – European Center for the History of Physics, Pöllau
Title page of the publication in which Doppler first formulated his principle
— © Photo editing: Wilfried Blaschnek
Joseph Loschmidt (1821–1895)
— © Archive ECHOPHYSICS - European Center for the History of Physics, Pöllau
From J. Loschmidt's self-published Chemical Studies I of the 'Constitutions-Formeln der organischen Chemie in graphischer Darstellung' (1861).
Loschmidt - and not Kekulé - was the first to publish the benzene ring diagram.
— © Photo editing: Wilfried Blaschnek
Josef Stefan (1835–1893)
— © Archive ECHOPHYSICS - European Center for the History of Physics e.V., Pöllau
Thermal radiation measuring apparatus for determining the T⁴ dependence of thermal radiation.
— © Photo editing: Wilfried Blaschnek
Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906)
— © Archive ECHOPHYSICS - European Center for the History of Physics, Pöllau
Boltzmann’s ‘Bizykel’ is used to illustrate the behavior of coupled electric oscillating circuits
— © Replica 1982 constructed for the German Museum Munich
Optical Instruments and Light Technology
First metal camera or 'daguerreotype for portraiture,' Voigtländer & Sohn, Vienna 1841.
In 1840, the Hungarian mathematician Jòzsef Petzval calculated in Vienna the best lens of the time, specially designed for portrait photography: f = 149 mm, 1:3.7
— © Photo: Walter Urbanek
10 kW incandescent lamp,
in the background: Josef Stefan
— © ECHOPHYSICS - European Center for the History of Physics e.V., Pöllau
Geissler tubes, gas discharge tubes, Crook's tubes, spark inductors
— © Loan from Prof. Gernot Pottlacher to ECHOPHYSICS - European Center for the History of Physics, Pöllau
Electricity and Information Technology
Recording telegraph, two channels
— © Photo: Wilfried Blaschnek, Loan from Prof. Franz Pichler, Emeritus Prof., Johannes Kepler University Linz
Transmitter for wireless telegraphy: spark gap by A. Righi
— © Photo: Wilfried Blaschnek, Loan from Prof. Franz Pichler, Emeritus Prof., Johannes Kepler University Linz
Receiver, Coherer, by G. Marconi
— © Photo: Wilfried Blaschnek, loan from Prof. Franz Pichler, Emeritus Prof., Johannes Kepler University Linz
