Nationality American Name Wilhelm Altar | ||
Known for significant contributions to Ionospheric Physics Institution | ||
Wilhelm Altar (August 27, 1900 - 1995) was an Austrian-born theoretical physicist whose significant contributions led to the development of the magneto ionic theory. Altar was not credited with his contribution to Appleton's research until decades after Edward received his Nobel Prize.
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Biography
Altar was born in Vienna in 1900. In 1923 he obtained a doctorate in theoretical physics from the University of Vienna. Due to the poor job market post World War I, Altar, in 1925, move to his uncle's home in London. In London Professor A. O. Ranking at Imperial College introduced him to Edward Appleton in King's College London.
In the 1930s he moved to the United States where he joined the physics department of Pennsylvania State University. From 1935 to 1937 he served as a researcher at the Frick Chemical Laboratory at Princeton University, working on a study of optical rotatory power in organic molecules.
Appleton-Altar approach
During his time in King's College, Altar and Appleton made slow progress every day. The Appleton-Altar approach was an exercise in Lorentzian magneto-optics.