Pieter Zeeman
Pieter Zeeman (Dutch: [ˈzeːmɑn]; 25 May 1865 – 9 October 1943) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Hendrik Lorentz for his discovery of the Zeeman effect.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Pieter Zeeman
25 May 1865
9 October 1943 (aged 78)
- Nobel Prize for Physics (1902)
- Matteucci Medal (1912)
- Henry Draper Medal (1921)
- ForMemRS (1921)[1]
- Rumford Medal (1922)
- Franklin Medal (1925)
Childhood and youth[edit]
Pieter Zeeman was born in Zonnemaire, a small town on the island of Schouwen-Duiveland, Netherlands, the son of Rev Catharinus Forandinus Zeeman, a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, and his wife, Willemina Worst.
Pieter became interested in physics at an early age. In 1883, the aurora borealis happened to be visible in the Netherlands. Zeeman, then a student at the high school in Zierikzee, made a drawing and description of the phenomenon and submitted it to Nature, where it was published. The editor praised "the careful observations of Professor Zeeman from his observatory in Zonnemaire".
After finishing high school in 1883, Zeeman went to Delft for supplementary education in classical languages, then a requirement for admission to University. He stayed at the home of Dr J.W. Lely, co-principal of the gymnasium and brother of Cornelis Lely, who was responsible for the concept and realization of the Zuiderzee Works. While in Delft, he first met Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, who was to become his thesis adviser.
Later years[edit]
In 1898 Zeeman was elected to membership of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences[16] in Amsterdam, and he served as its secretary from 1912 to 1920. He won the Henry Draper Medal in 1921, and several other awards and Honorary degrees. Zeeman was elected a Foreign member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1921.[2] He retired as a professor in 1935.
Zeeman died on 9 October 1943 in Amsterdam, and was buried in Haarlem.
