Friedrich ernst dorn biography of william

German physicist and first to discover radioactive substance emitted from radon

Friedrich Ernst Dorn (27 July &#; 16 December ) was a Germanphysicist who was the first to discover that a radioactive substance, later named radon, is emitted from radium.

Life and work

Dorn was born in Guttstadt (Dobre Miasto), Province of Prussia (nowadays Warmia in Poland), and died in Halle, Province of Saxony. He was educated at Königsberg and went on to teach at the university level.

Friedrich ernst dorn biography of william

In , at Halle University, Dorn took over the position of personal ordinariusprofessor for theoretical physics from Anton Oberbeck. Since Dorn was already an ordinarius professor,^[1] he was allowed to assume the title so as to not appear as having been demoted.^[2] In , Dorn succeeded Hermann Knoblauch at Halle as the ordinarius professor for experimental physics^[3] and director of the physics institute.

Dorn's previous duties were assumed by Carl Schmi