Max Jakob (July 20, 1879 – January 4, 1955) was a German physicist known for his work in the field of

thermal science ''Thermal Science'' is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal orientated to the basic research results in the fields of physics and chemistry. The journal was founded in 1997 year by the former Yugoslav Society of Heat Transfer Engineers ...

. Born in

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it f ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, Jakob studied

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Technical University Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

, from which he graduated in 1903. From 1903 to 1906, he was an assistant to O. Knoblauch at the Laboratory for Technical Physics. In 1910, Jakob embarked on a 25-year career at the Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the la ...

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. During this time he founded and directed applied

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed by the four laws o ...

heat transfer Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the generation, use, conversion, and exchange of thermal energy (heat) between physical systems. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as thermal conduction ...

, and

fluid flow In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids—liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including '' aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) ...

laboratories. Fleeing Nazi persecution, Jakob left Germany in 1936 and immigrated to the United States, where he became a professor at Armour Institute of Technology (now

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has pro ...

) and a consultant in heat transfer for Armour Research Foundation. There he conducted research, covering areas such as steam and air at high pressure, devices for measuring

thermal conductivity The thermal conductivity of a material is a measure of its ability to conduct heat. It is commonly denoted by k, \lambda, or \kappa. Heat transfer occurs at a lower rate in materials of low thermal conductivity than in materials of high thermal ...

, the mechanisms of boiling and condensation, and flow in pipes and nozzles."Hall of Pioneers – Max Jakob (1879-1955)"
His many years of teaching, consulting, and writing resulted in contributions to the literature of the profession; nearly 500 books, articles, reviews and discussions have been published based on his research. He has published a number of books in thermal sciences including ''Elements of Heat Transfer and Insulation'' (1942) and ''Heat Transfer'' (1956). He is credited with devising the Jakob dimensionless number, aka Jakob number, which is used in phase change heat transfer calculations:

Ja=\frac

The

Max Jakob Memorial Award The Max Jakob Memorial Award recognizes an 'eminent scholarly achievement and distinguished leadership' in the field of heat transfer. Awarded annually to a scholar by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the American Institute ...

, the highest honor in the field of

, was established in 1961 by the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

(ASME) Heat Transfer Division in honor of Jakob."Max Jakob Memorial Award - Heat Transfer Division (HTD)"
.

References

External links

"Max Jakob Memorial Award - ASME Heat Transfer Division""American Society of Mechanical Engineers""American Institute of Chemical Engineers"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakob, Max 1879 births 1955 deaths Technical University of Munich alumni 20th-century German physicists 20th-century American physicists Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States