Karl Schwarzschild

Born on 9 October 1873 in Frankfurt, Germany, Karl Schwarzschild was a physicist and astronomer best known for providing the first exact solution to the Einstein field equations of general relativity. Schwarzschild studied astronomy at the University of Strasbourg and the University of Munich, where he received his doctorate in 1896. After working at the Kuffner Observatory in Vienna and the University of Munich, he became professor and director of the observatory at the University of Göttingen in 1901. In 1909 Schwarzschild accepted the prestigious position of director of the Astrophysical Observatory in Potsdam. When World War I broke out in 1914, Schwarzschild, who was more than 40 years old, joined the German army, serving on both the western and eastern fronts. Nevertheless, he continued with his research, writing two papers on relativity theory and one on quantum theory. While serving in Russia in 1915, he developed a rare skin disease called pemphigus, which may have led to his death at age 42 in May 1916. Despite his relatively short career, Schwarzschild made fundamental contributions in not only general relativity and quantum mechanics but also a number of other fields, including celestial mechanics, spectroscopy, and stellar structure, dynamics, and photometry. His work generated several original concepts, including the Schwarzschild metric, Schwarzschild coordinates, the Schwarzschild radius, and Schwarzschild black holes . He pioneered the use of photography to measure variable stars and improved various optical systems. In 1959, more than four decades after his death, the German Astronomical Society established the Karl Schwarzschild Medal to honor eminent astronomers and astrophysicists. The first recipient was his son Martin, an astronomy professor at Princeton University. (Photo credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, courtesy of Martin Schwarzschild)

Date in History: 9 October 1873