Christian Andreas Doppler (; ; 29 November 1803 – 17 March 1853) was an Austrian

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. He formulated the principle – now known as the

Doppler effect The Doppler effect (also Doppler shift) is the change in the frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the source of the wave. The ''Doppler effect'' is named after the physicist Christian Doppler, who described ...

– that the observed frequency of a wave depends on the relative speed of the source and the observer.

Biography

Early life and education

Doppler was born in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

(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. As a young boy, Doppler showed promise for his family's trade. 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. After completion, he moved on to secondary education at a school in Linz. 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. Doppler returned to Salzburg in 1825 to finish his secondary education. After completing high school, Doppler studied philosophy in Salzburg and mathematics and physics at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

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. In 1835, he decided to immigrate to the United States to pursue a position in academia. 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. 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.

Family

In 1836, Doppler married Mathilde Sturm, the daughter of goldsmith Franz Sturm. 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.

Development of the Doppler effect

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"). In this work, Doppler postulated his principle (later named the

) 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 A binary star or binary star system is a system of two stars that are gravitationally bound to and in orbit around each other. Binary stars in the night sky that are seen as a single object to the naked eye are often resolved as separate stars us ...

(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.

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 The University of Miskolc (before 1990: ''Technical University of Heavy Industry'') is the largest university of Northern Hungary. Location Most of the buildings can be found in Egyetemváros ("University Town"), a part of the city of Miskolc. ...

) in Selmecbánya (then

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, now Banská Štiavnica

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

). Doppler's research was interrupted by the

Hungarian Revolution of 1848 The Hungarian Revolution of 1848, also known in Hungary as Hungarian Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many Revolutions of 1848, European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in ...

. In 1849, he fled to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and in 1850 was appointed head of the Institute for Experimental Physics at the

. While there, Doppler, along with Franz Unger, influenced the development of young

Gregor Mendel Gregor Johann Mendel Order of Saint Augustine, OSA (; ; ; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinians, Augustinian friar and abbot of St Thomas's Abbey, Brno, St. Thom ...

, the founding father of

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

, who was a student at the University of Vienna from 1851 to 1853.

Death

Doppler died on 17 March 1853 at age 49 from a pulmonary disease in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

(at that time part of the Austrian Empire). His tomb is in the San Michele cemetery on the Venetian island of San Michele.

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. Forty years after Doppler's death the misnomer ''Johann'' Christian Doppler was introduced by the astronomer

Julius Scheiner Julius Scheiner (25 November 1858 – 20 December 1913) was a German astronomer, born in Cologne and educated at Bonn. He became assistant at the astrophysical observatory in Potsdam in 1887 and its observer in chief in 1898, three years after ...

. Scheiner's mistake has since been copied by many.

Works

* ''Christian Doppler (1803–1853)''. Wien: Böhlau, 1992. ** Bd. 1: *** 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: *** 3. Teil: Peter Schuster: ''Das Werk''.

References

External links

*
Christian Doppler Platform & Christian-Doppler-Fonds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doppler, Christian 1803 births 1853 deaths 19th-century Austrian physicists Austrian Roman Catholics Scientists from Salzburg Burials at Isola di San Michele Czech Technical University in Prague alumni Academic staff of Czech Technical University in Prague Doppler effects Mathematicians from the Austrian Empire People from the Duchy of Salzburg