Victor Frederick Weisskopf, 1908-2002 - Theoretical Physics at LBNL

VICTOR FREDERICK WEISSKOPFby Albert Einstein, and a participant in the early Pugwashmeetings.Weisskopf served as president of the American PhysicalSociety in 1960. He was elected to numerous learned societiesin addition to the National Academy of Sciences andreceived many honorary degrees. He received several prizesand medals, including the Max Planck Medal in 1956, theNational Medal of Science in 1980, and the already notedWolf Prize in 1981 and the Public Welfare Medal in 1991.EARLY YEARSViki (the nickname by which he was universally known)Weisskopf was the second of three children born into acomfortably middle-class Jewish family. His father, Emil, originallyfrom Czechoslovakia, was a successful lawyer; his mother,Martha, was from an upper-middle-class nonobservant JewishViennese family. The family saw to it that young Victorand his siblings were exposed to the rich cultural offeringsof Vienna—concerts, the opera, theater—with summers atAltaussee. He studied the piano and developed a lifelonglove of music. In his late teens he even considered seriouslybecoming a professional musician. He attended a progressiveelementary school and then a gymnasium. There hisinterest in science, especially astronomy and physics, flourished.While at their summer home in Altaussee southeast ofSalzburg in August 1923, Viki and friend George Winterspent several hours on top of an 1,800-m peak, where theyobserved a total of 98 shooting stars of the annual Perseidshower, which they classified as to color and appearance.The results of their investigation were published inAstronomische Nachrichten (1924). It is not many of uswho can claim a first research publication at age 15 and ahalf!7