Werner Jacobi (31 March 1904 – probably 3 May 1985) was a German physicist and inventor.
Life and work
Jacobi studied
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
at the
Technical University of Munich
The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences.
Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...
and then
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
at the
University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
. In his
dissertation, initially supervised by
Wilhelm Wien
Wilhelm Carl Werner Otto Fritz Franz Wien (; 13 January 1864 – 30 August 1928) was a German physicist who used theories about heat and electromagnetism to deduce Wien's displacement law, which calculates the emission of a blackbody at any te ...
and after Wien's death by
Eduard Rüchardt, he dealt with the charges of the mercury atoms in the canal jet (German: ''Ladungen der Quecksilberatome im Kanalstrahl''). With this work he was awarded a
Doctorate of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
.
On November 4, 1929, Jacobi joined
Siemens & Halske AG. He worked at the Siemens tube factory in Berlin, where he became head of the laboratory in 1934 and quickly rose further, becoming chief engineer in 1937 and authorized representative in 1938. Shortly after his appointment to the authorized signatory in 1941, he was transferred to the ''Wernerwerk für Funktechnik'' in
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. ...
, where he became department director in 1944. In 1949, he briefly worked in the ''Wernerwerk für Radiotechnik'', then went to the Wernerwerk in
Erlangen
Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...
. One of the most important of his more than 100 inventions, the "semiconductor amplifier", which he registered for a
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
on April 15, 1949, was invented during this period. This circuit, consisting of five
transistor
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch electrical signals and electric power, power. It is one of the basic building blocks of modern electronics. It is composed of semicondu ...
s on a
semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...
serving as a carrier material, may be the first
integrated circuit
An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...
designated. However, it remained largely unknown and was not used commercially.
From 1946 to 1956 Jacobi played a key role in setting up the Siemens tube factories and then became the overall manager of the tube works. After he was appointed general representative in 1962, he retired in 1969. Up until his 68th birthday, he was available to the management of the building elements division for questions, then he left the company entirely.
The
Technical University of Vienna awarded him the title of
honorary doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
[.] of the technical sciences “in recognition of his special achievements as a scientist and inventor in the field of electronic components and of electronic circuit technology."
The British electronics engineer
Geoffrey Dummer
Geoffrey William Arnold Dummer (25 February 1909 – 9 September 2002) was an English electronics engineer and consultant, who is credited as being the first person to popularise the concepts that ultimately led to the development of the inte ...
is also often referred to as the inventor of the IC, although he only published his work three years after the Siemens patent application was filed.
Sources
*Werner Jacobis personnel index card in the Siemens archive
*Beitrag zur Verleihung der Ehrendoktorwürde. In: ''Informationen der Technischen Hochschule Wien''. Jahrgang 3, 1972, Heft 2, S. 27 (mit Porträtfoto).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobi, Werner
1904 births
1985 deaths
German physicists
20th-century German inventors
People from Fulda
Technical University of Munich alumni