Carl Hermann
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Carl Heinrich Hermann (17 June 1898 – 12 September 1961), or Carl Hermann , was a German physicist and crystallographer known for his research in crystallographic symmetry, nomenclature, and mathematical crystallography in N-dimensional spaces. Hermann was a pioneer in
crystallographic databases A crystallographic database is a database specifically designed to store information about the structure of molecules and crystals. Crystals are solids having, in all three dimensions of space, a regularly repeating arrangement of atoms, ions, or ...
and, along with Paul Peter Ewald, published the first volume of the influential '' Strukturbericht'' (Structure Report) in 1931.


Life


Early life and education

Hermann was born in the north
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
port town of Wesermünde to parents both of long-time ministerial families. He studied mathematics and physics at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
, where he received his doctorate in 1923, as a pupil of
Max Born Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German-British theoretical physicist who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics, and supervised the work of a ...
and a fellow student with
Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg (; ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II. He pub ...
. Upon graduation, he moved to Berlin-Dahlem to work under
Herman Francis Mark Herman Francis Mark (born Hermann Franz Mark; May 3, 1895, Vienna – April 6, 1992, Austin, Texas) was an Austrian-American chemist regarded for his contributions to the development of polymer science. Mark's X-ray diffraction work on the mole ...
at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Fiber Chemistry (now Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society). Later in 1925, he joined Paul P. Ewald at the
University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart () is a research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with programs in civil, mechanical, ind ...
, where he achieved his
habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
in 1931 with the thesis title ''Die Symmetriegruppen der amorphen und mesomorphen Phasen''.


Early career

Along with Ewald in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, he nurtured the growing field of
crystallography Crystallography is the branch of science devoted to the study of molecular and crystalline structure and properties. The word ''crystallography'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word (; "clear ice, rock-crystal"), and (; "to write"). In J ...
, especially the study of
space group In mathematics, physics and chemistry, a space group is the symmetry group of a repeating pattern in space, usually in three dimensions. The elements of a space group (its symmetry operations) are the rigid transformations of the pattern that ...
s, and began what was later to become ''Structure Reports'' ( Strukturbericht), a reference series giving every known
crystal structure In crystallography, crystal structure is a description of ordered arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystalline material. Ordered structures occur from intrinsic nature of constituent particles to form symmetric patterns that repeat ...
determination. During his Stuttgart years, Hermann also developed the first description of anisotropic properties of materials from a crystallographic perspective. When the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
rose to power, he objected to its political restrictions on academic positions, leaving to take a position as a physicist with the industrial
dye Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...
firm I.G. Farben at
Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig's Port upon the Rhine"; Palatine German dialects, Palatine German: ''Ludwichshafe''), is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the German state of Rh ...
, where he continued his crystallographic research and studied
symmetry Symmetry () in everyday life refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, the term has a more precise definition and is usually used to refer to an object that is Invariant (mathematics), invariant und ...
in higher-dimensional spaces.


World War II

During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he and his wife (1900 – 1997), who were both
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...
and
pacifists Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...
, helped provide deported
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
s with food, clothing and other resources. After the city of
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
was declared ''
Judenfrei ''Judenfrei'' (, "free of Jews") and ''judenrein'' (, "clean of Jews") are terms of Nazi origin to designate an area that has been " cleansed" of Jews during the Holocaust. While ''judenfrei'' refers merely to "freeing" an area of all of i ...
'' (free of Jews), they hid Jews in their home from Nazi authorities. In 1943 he and his wife were arrested and brought before a special tribunal. As his scientific work was deemed too essential to the war effort, Hermann was given a "mild" sentence of eight years of imprisonment, while Eva was sentenced to three years. He was allowed to continue his research while imprisoned, being brought to his laboratory in the mornings and taken back to his cell at night. After two years of imprisonment, he and Eva were both released at the end of the war.


Later activities

After the war, he lectured briefly at Darmstadt Polytechnic (now
Darmstadt university of technology Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
) between 1946 and 1947. Then, in 1947, he accepted a newly formed chair in crystallography at the
University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg () is a public research university located in Marburg, Germany. It was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Prote ...
, where he became director of the Crystallographic Institute and remained until his death. During his Marburg years, Hermann's research laid the foundation for N-dimensional crystallography.


Legacy

The symmetry notation introduced by Hermann and Charles-Victor Mauguin, which later became an international standard notation for
crystallographic group In mathematics, physics and chemistry, a space group is the symmetry group of a repeating pattern in space, usually in three dimensions. The elements of a space group (its symmetry operations) are the rigid transformations of the pattern that ...
s known as the
Hermann–Mauguin notation In geometry, Hermann–Mauguin notation is used to represent the symmetry elements in point groups, plane groups and space groups. It is named after the German crystallographer Carl Hermann (who introduced it in 1928) and the French mineralogist ...
or International notation. In 1976, for their work in saving Jews from
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
, Hermann and his wife Eva were honored as
Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...
by
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...
. Eva Hermann wrote about the honor: "I am fully conscious of the fact that my late husband and I did nothing special; we simply tried to remain human in the midst of inhumanity." In August 1994, the German Crystallographic Society (DGK) established the Carl Hermann Medal, its highest distinction, for outstanding contributions to the science of crystallography.


Bibliography


Books

* * *


Selected articles

* * * * * * * * * * * *


See also

*
Hermann–Mauguin notation In geometry, Hermann–Mauguin notation is used to represent the symmetry elements in point groups, plane groups and space groups. It is named after the German crystallographer Carl Hermann (who introduced it in 1928) and the French mineralogist ...
* Strukturbericht designation * Werner Fischer


External links


IUCr ''Structure Reports'' Online
– his activity to save Jews' lives at the
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
, at
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...
website.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermann, Carl 1898 births 1961 deaths People from Bremerhaven German Quakers 20th-century German physicists Christian Peace Conference members German Righteous Among the Nations German crystallographers Academic staff of the University of Stuttgart University of Göttingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Marburg Academic staff of Technische Universität Darmstadt German Christian pacifists