Wilhelm Gottlieb Hankel (17 May 1814 – 18 February 1899) was a German physicist who was among the first to identify

pyroelectric Pyroelectricity (from the two Greek words ''pyr'' meaning fire, and electricity) is a property of certain crystals which are naturally electrically polarized and as a result contain large electric fields. Pyroelectricity can be described as the a ...

effects and the rotation of the plane of optical polarization in fluorspar upon application of electricity. Hankel was born in Ermsleben at the base of the

Harz mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

where his father was a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

and teacher at a school. He enjoyed working with tools at a young age and became interested in mathematics at the

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...

high school. He then went to the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

to study theology but he moved to science and became an assistant to

Johann Schweigger Johann Salomo Christoph Schweigger (8 April 1779 – 6 September 1857) was a German chemist, physicist, and professor of mathematics born in Erlangen. J.S.C.Schweigger was the son of Friedrich Christian Lorenz Schweigger, professor of theologie ...

. He taught at the Francke Foundations in Halle after 1836, earning to support younger siblings after the death of both parents. He completed his doctorate in Halle on thermoelectricity in crystals and habilitated in 1840. He became an associated professor in Halle in 1847 and joined as a full professor at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

in 1849. Poor eyesight forced him to give up teaching but he continued to publish. Hankel's major findings were that the phenomenon of pyroelectricity was not limited to crystals with asymmetries (hemimorphism). He published 30 papers on the topic of pyroelectricity. He also studied thermal effects on galvanic cells and took an interest in atmospheric electricity. Hankel married the daughter of a farmer in 1838 and they had a son who became a noted mathematician

Hermann Hankel Hermann Hankel (14 February 1839 – 29 August 1873) was a German mathematician. Having worked on mathematical analysis during his career, he is best known for introducing the Hankel transform and the Hankel matrix. Biography Hankel was born on ...

(1839–1873). His wife died on the day of their 60th wedding anniversary and he died a year later.

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Elektrische Untersuchungen
(1856) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hankel, Wilhelm Gottlieb 1814 births 1899 deaths German physicists