Johannes Stark was born on April
15, 1874 in Schickenhof, Bavaria; his father was a landed
proprietor. He was educated at the Gymnasium (grammar school) in
Bayreuth and later in Regensburg and proceeded to Munich
University in 1894 to read physics, mathematics, chemistry
and crystallography. Stark graduated in 1897 on the basis of his
doctoral dissertation on Newton's electrochronic rings in a
certain type of dim media. He worked as assistant to von Lommel
at the Physics Institute at Munich University from 1897 until
1900 and then became unsalaried university lecturer of physics at
the University of Göttingen. In 1906 he was
appointed extraordinary professor at the Technische Hochschule in
Hannover and in 1909 he followed the invitation of the Technische
Hochschule in Aachen to become Professor there. A similar
appointment at the University of Greifswald followed in 1917.
Three years later he moved to the Physics Institute of the
University
of Würzburg, where he stayed until 1922.
Stark's scientific works cover three large fields: the electric
currents in gases, spectroscopic analysis, and chemical valency.
His spectroscopic work deals with the connection between the
alteration in the structure and in the spectrum of chemical
atoms. In 1919 Stark was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for
his "discovery of the Doppler effect in canal rays and the
splitting of spectral lines in electric fields". The prize
enabled him to set up his own private laboratory.
In 1933 Stark was elected President of the
Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (Physico-Technical
Institute) as successor to von Paschen, where he remained until
his retirement in 1939. At the same time he held the post of
President of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research
Association).
Stark was a prolific writer and published more than 300
scientific papers. His book Die Elektrizität in Gasen
(Electricity in gases) was published in 1902. This was followed
by works on elementary radiation and electrical spectroscopic
analysis of chemical atoms. In connection with his work on
chemical valency he wrote a book Die Elektrizität im
chemischen Atom (Electricity in the chemical atom). Stark
founded the Jahrbuch der Radioaktivität und
Elektronik (The Year Book of Radioactivity and Electronics)
and edited this publication from 1904 until 1913.
Johannes Stark was a corresponding member of the Academies in
Göttingen, Rome, Leyden, Vienna and Calcutta, and was
awarded the Baumgartner Prize of the Vienna Academy of Sciences
in 1910 and the Vahlbruch Prize of the Göttingen Academy of
Sciences in 1914, and also the Matteucci Medal of the Rome
Academy.
During the last years of his life Stark, in his private
laboratory on his country estate Eppenstatt near Traunstein in
Upper Bavaria, investigated the effect of light deflection in an
unhomogeneous electric field.
He was married to Luise Uepler. They had five children. His
recreations were forestry and cultivation of fruit trees.
Stark died on June 21, 1957.
From Nobel Lectures, Physics 1901-1921, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1967
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1919
Johannes Stark
