Editing Christian Doppler

{{Short description|Austrian mathematician and physicist (1803–1853)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Christian Doppler
| image             = Christian Doppler.jpg
| birth_name        = Christian Andreas Doppler
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1803|11|29|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[Salzburg]], [[Electorate of Salzburg]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1853|03|17|1803|11|29|df=yes}}
| death_place       = [[Venice]], [[Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia]], [[Austrian Empire]]
| alma_mater        = {{Plain list|
* [[University of Vienna]]
* [[Imperial–Royal Polytechnic Institute]]
}}
| known_for         = [[Doppler effect]] (1842)
| spouse            = {{Marriage|Mathilde Sturm|1836}}
| children          = 5
| fields            = {{Flat list|
* [[Mathematics]]
* [[physics]]
}}
| work_institution  = {{Plain list|
* {{No wrap|[[Prague Polytechnic]] (1837–1847)}}
* [[University of Miskolc|Academy of Mines and Forests]] (1847–1849)
* University of Vienna (1850–1853)
}}
| notable_students  = [[Gregor Mendel]]
}}

'''Christian Andreas Doppler''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɒ|p|l|ər}}; {{IPA|de|ˈkʁɪstiaːn anˈdʁeːas ˈdɔplɐ|lang}}; 29 November 1803 – 17 March 1853)<ref name=whonamedit/> was an Austrian [[mathematician]] and [[physicist]]. He formulated the principle – now known as the [[Doppler effect]] – that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer.

==Biography==
[[File:Doppler-1.png|left|thumb|Portrait of Doppler in a 1907 copy of "Abhandlungen," no.161]]

=== Early life and education ===
Doppler was born in [[Salzburg]] (today Austria) in 1803. Doppler was the second son of Johann Evangelist Doppler and Theresia Seeleuthner (Doppler). Doppler's father, Johann Doppler, was a third-generation stone mason in Salzburg.<ref name="AlecEden" /> As a young boy, Doppler showed promise for his family's trade.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Eden |first=Alec |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21739119 |title=Christian Doppler : thinker and benefactor |date=1988 |publisher=Christian Doppler Institute for Medical Science & Technology |others=Christian Doppler |isbn=3-900905-00-2 |location=Salzburg, Austria |pages=34 |oclc=21739119}}</ref> However, due to his weak health, Doppler's father encouraged him instead to pursue a career in business. Doppler started elementary education at the age of 13.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal | doi=10.1016/j.euje.2004.06.004 | title=Christian Andreas Doppler ? The man and his legacy | year=2005 | last1=Coman | first1=I. | journal=European Journal of Echocardiography | volume=6 | issue=1 | pages=7–10 | pmid=15744940 | doi-access=free }}</ref> After completion, he moved on to secondary education at a school in Linz.<ref name=":2" /> Doppler's proficiency in mathematics was discovered by Simon Stampfer, a mathematician in Salzburg. Upon his recommendation, Doppler took a break from high school to attend the Polytechnic Institute in Vienna in 1822.<ref name=":1" /> Doppler returned to Salzburg in 1825 to finish his secondary education.<ref name="AlecEden" /> After completing high school, Doppler studied philosophy in Salzburg and mathematics and physics at the [[University of Vienna]] and Imperial–Royal Polytechnic Institute (now [[TU Wien]]). In 1829, he was chosen for an assistant position to Professor Adam Von Burg at the Polytechnic Institute of Vienna, where he continued his studies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Christian Doppler - Biography |url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Doppler/ |access-date=14 February 2023 |website=Maths History |language=en}}</ref>

In 1835, he decided to immigrate to the United States to pursue a position in academia.<ref name=":0" /> Before departing for the United States, Doppler was offered a teaching position at a state-operated high school in Prague, which convinced him to stay in Europe.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Publishing |first=Helicon |title=Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography |publisher=Helicon Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=1-280-73192-3 |pages=2899}}</ref> Shortly after, in 1837 he was appointed as an associate professor of math and geometry at the Prague Polytechnic Institute (now [[Czech Technical University in Prague]]). He received a full professorship position in 1841.<ref name="AlecEden" />

=== Family ===
In 1836, Doppler married Mathilde Sturm, the daughter of goldsmith Franz Sturm.<ref name=":1" /> Doppler and Mathilde had five children together. Their first child was Mathilde Doppler who was born in 1837. Doppler's second child, Ludwig Doppler was born in 1838. Two years later, in 1840 Adolf Doppler was born. Doppler's fourth child, Bertha Doppler was born in 1843. Their last child Hermann was born in 1845.<ref name="AlecEden" />

=== Development of the Doppler effect ===
[[File:Doppler's Birth House.jpg|thumb|right|Doppler's birth house in the Makart square in [[Salzburg]], just next door to where [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart's]] family had lived. A Doppler research and memorial society is now housed there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visit-salzburg.net/sights/christiandoppler.htm|title=Visit Salzburg – Christian Doppler birthplace|website=www.visit-salzburg.net}}</ref>]]
[[File:Christian Doppler österreichischer Physiker.jpg|thumb|right|Plaque on the house in [[Prague]] in which Doppler lived from 1843 to 1847]]

In 1842, at the age of 38, Doppler gave a lecture to the Royal Bohemian Society of Sciences and subsequently published ''[[Über das farbige Licht der Doppelsterne und einiger anderer Gestirne des Himmels]]'' ("On the coloured light of the binary stars and some other stars of the heavens").<ref name="AlecEden">{{Cite book
| last = Eden
| first = Alec
| title=The search for Christian Doppler
| publisher=[[Springer-Verlag]]
| location=Wien
| year=1992
| isbn=978-0-387-82367-6 }}</ref> In this work, Doppler postulated his principle (later named the [[Doppler effect]]) that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer, and he later tried to use this concept to explain the visible colours of [[binary stars]] (this hypothesis was later proven wrong). Doppler also incorrectly believed that if a star were to exceed 136,000 kilometers per second in radial velocity, then it would not be visible to the human eye.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lequeux |first=James |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1164698750 |title=Hippolyte Fizeau : physicist of the light |date=2020 |isbn=978-2-7598-2188-4 |location=Les Ulis |pages=32 |oclc=1164698750}}</ref>

=== Later life ===
Doppler continued working as a professor at the Prague Polytechnic, publishing over 50 articles on mathematics, physics and astronomy, but in 1847 he left Prague for the professorship of mathematics, physics, and mechanics at the Academy of Mines and Forests (its successor is the [[University of Miskolc]]<ref name="miskolc">{{cite web
| url=http://www.uni-miskolc.hu/public/index.php?page_id%3D640
| title=Miskolci Egyetem - University of Miskolc
| access-date=18 February 2013
| url-status=dead
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004225128/http://www.uni-miskolc.hu/public/index.php?page_id=640
| archive-date=4 October 2013
| df=dmy }}</ref>) in [[Selmecbánya]] (then [[Kingdom of Hungary]], now Banská Štiavnica [[Slovakia]]).

Doppler's research was interrupted by the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1848]]. In 1849, he fled to [[Vienna]]<ref name="whonamedit">{{cite web|url=http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/3039.html|title=Whonamedit – dictionary of medical eponyms|website=www.whonamedit.com}}</ref> and in 1850 was appointed head of the Institute for Experimental Physics at the [[University of Vienna]]. While there, Doppler, along with [[Franz Unger]], influenced the development of young [[Gregor Mendel]], the founding father of [[genetics]], who was a student at the University of Vienna from 1851 to 1853.<ref name="Mathofinheritance">{{cite web
| url=http://www.mendel-museum.com/eng/1online/room2.htm
| title=The Mathematics of Inheritance
| publisher=The Masaryk University Mendel Museum
| work=Online museum exhibition
| access-date=20 January 2010
| archive-date=15 March 2011
| url-status=dead
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315200956/http://www.mendel-museum.com/eng/1online/room2.htm
| df=dmy-all
}}</ref>

=== Death ===
Doppler died on 17 March 1853 at age 49 from a [[pulmonary disease]] in [[Venice]] (at that time part of the Austrian Empire). His tomb is in [[San Michele Cemetery, Venice|the San Michele cemetery]] on the Venetian island of [[Isola di San Michele|San Michele]].<ref>Schuster, Peter M. (2005). ''Moving the Stars – Christian Doppler: His Life, His Works and Principle, and the World After''.  Pöllauberg, Austria: Living Edition.  {{ISBN|3-901585-05-2}} (translated by Lily Wilmes)</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Štoll | first = Ivan | title = Christian Doppler – Man, Work and Message | encyclopedia = The Phenomenon of Doppler | pages = 28 | publisher = The Czech National University | location = Prague | year = 1992 }}</ref>

==Full name==
Some confusion exists about Doppler's full name. Doppler referred to himself as Christian Doppler. The records of his birth and baptism stated Christian ''Andreas'' Doppler. Doppler's middle name is shared by his great-great-grandfather Andreas Doppler.<ref name=":1" /> Forty years after Doppler's death the misnomer ''Johann'' Christian Doppler was introduced by the astronomer [[Julius Scheiner]]. Scheiner's mistake has since been copied by many.<ref name="AlecEden" />

==Works==
* ''Christian Doppler (1803–1853)''. Wien: Böhlau, 1992.
** Bd. 1: {{ISBN|3-205-05483-0}}
*** 1. Teil: Helmuth Grössing (unter Mitarbeit von B. Reischl): ''Wissenschaft, Leben, Umwelt, Gesellschaft'';
*** 2. Teil: Karl Kadletz (unter Mitarbeit von Peter Schuster und Ildikó Cazan-Simányi) ''Quellenanhang''.
** Bd. 2: {{ISBN|3-205-05508-X}}
*** 3. Teil: Peter Schuster: ''Das Werk''.

==See also==
* [[List of Austrian scientists]]
* [[List of Austrians]]
* [[List of minor planets named after people]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Alec Eden: ''Christian Doppler: Leben und Werk.'' Salzburg: Landespressebureau, 1988. {{ISBN|3-85015-069-0}}
* Hoffmann, Robert (2007). ''The Life of an (almost) Unknown Person''. Christian Doppler's Youth in Salzburg and Vienna. In: Ewald Hiebl, Maurizio Musso (Eds.), ''Christian Doppler – Life and Work. Principle an Applications''. Proceedings of the Commemorative Symposia in Salzburg, Salzburg, Prague, Vienna, Venice. Pöllauberg/Austria, Hainault/UK, Atascadero/US, pages 33 – 46.
* David Nolte (2020). ''The fall and rise of the Doppler effect.'' Physics Today, v. 73, pgs. 31 – 35. [https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.4429 DOI: 10.1063/PT.3.4429]

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{MacTutor Biography|id=Doppler}}
* [https://www.christian-doppler.net/en/ Christian Doppler Platform & Christian-Doppler-Fonds]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doppler, Christian}}
[[Category:1803 births]]
[[Category:1853 deaths]]

[[Category:19th-century Austrian physicists]]
[[Category:Austrian Roman Catholics]]

[[Category:Scientists from Salzburg]]
[[Category:Burials at Isola di San Michele]]
[[Category:Czech Technical University in Prague alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Czech Technical University in Prague]]
[[Category:Doppler effects]]
[[Category:Mathematicians from the Austrian Empire]]
[[Category:People from the Duchy of Salzburg]]