Max Planck’s Biography

Max Planck was a German physicist who is known today for originating the quantum theory. He got the Nobel Prize in 1918 and he is considered as one of the legendary scientists who introduced modern physics to the world of science.

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, who is more commonly known today as Max Planck, was born on April 23, 1858 in Kiel, Germany. His father, Johann Julius Wilhelm Planck, was a Constitutional Law Professor at the University of Kiel and his mother, Emma Planck, was the second wife of his father.

Max Planck came from a line of an intellectual family. Both his great-grandfather and grandfather were theology professors in Göttingen, Germany. He studied elementary in Kiel but he spent his secondary at the Maximillian Gymnasium in Munich after his family moved in 1867 when his father got appointed as a professor in Munich. He excelled in music rather than in mathematics to the extent that he even considered becoming a musician. His interest in physics started when he got impressed by the law of conservation of energy through his mentor Hermann Müller. After choosing to study physics instead of pursuing music, he eventually studied at the University of Munich in October 21, 1874. In October 1877, he moved to study at the University of Berlin and on the course of his study he got impressed by the second law of thermodynamics. In July 1879, he got his doctorate degree at the University of Munich with a distinction award of summa cum laude and his thesis was entitled “On the Second Law of the Mechanical Theory of Heat” which was about the second law of thermodynamics.

In 1880, he became a lecturer at the University of Munich. In 1885, he became a theoretical physics professor at the University of Kiel. In 1889, he became a professor at the University of Berlin. It did not take him long to become the President of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society until he became a permanent secretary at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in 1912.

In 1900, he publicized his quantum theory of radiation or radiation law which is interchangeably known today as Planck Postulate, quantum theory, or Planck’s radiation formula thorough study on the second law of thermodynamics and black-body radiation. He formulated a mathematical solution to describe his law which states that electromagnetic energy can only be transmitted in quantized form and that it is absorbed in discreet packets having absolute sizes of what is known today as Planck’s constant. Though his work did not get accepted and appreciated immediately until Albert Einstein acknowledged and studied more of his important discovery.

In 1926, he became a foreign member of the Royal Society and he retired at the University of Berlin in this same year.

Max Planck was married twice. In March 1887, he was married to Marie Merck and he had four children with her. In March 1911, he got married again to Marga von Hoesslin and he had one son with her. One of his sons to Marie Merck was unfortunately executed in 1944 after having been associated to an unsuccessful plot against Adolf Hitler.

Max Planck died on October 4, 1947 in Göttingen, Germany leaving the world his influential quantum theory and being a significant scientist in developing modern physics.

Max Planck was a German physicist who is known today for originating the quantum theory. He got the Nobel Prize in 1918 and he is considered as one of the legendary scientists who introduced modern physics to the world of science.

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, who is more commonly known today as Max Planck, was born on April 23, 1858 in Kiel, Germany. His father, Johann Julius Wilhelm Planck, was a Constitutional Law Professor at the University of Kiel and his mother, Emma Planck, was the second wife of his father. 

Max Planck came from a line of an intellectual family. Both his great-grandfather and grandfather were theology professors in Göttingen, Germany. He studied elementary in Kiel but he spent his secondary at the Maximillian Gymnasium in Munich after his family moved in 1867 when his father got appointed as a professor in Munich. He excelled in music rather than in mathematics to the extent that he even considered becoming a musician.

His interest in physics started when he got impressed by the law of conservation of energy through his mentor Hermann Müller. After choosing to study physics instead of pursuing music, he eventually studied at the University of Munich in October 21, 1874. In October 1877, he moved to study at the University of Berlin and on the course of his study he got impressed by the second law of thermodynamics. In July 1879, he got his doctorate degree at the University of Munich with a distinction award of summa cum laude and his thesis was entitled “On the Second Law of the Mechanical Theory of Heat” which was about the second law of thermodynamics. 

In 1880, he became a lecturer at the University of Munich. In 1885, he became a theoretical physics professor at the University of Kiel. In 1889, he became a professor at the University of Berlin. It did not take him long to become the President of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society until he became a permanent secretary at the Prussian Academy of Sciences in 1912.

In 1900, he publicized his quantum theory of radiation or radiation law which is interchangeably known today as Planck Postulate, quantum theory, or Planck’s radiation formula thorough study on the second law of thermodynamics and black-body radiation. He formulated a mathematical solution to describe his law which states that electromagnetic energy can only be transmitted in quantized form and that it is absorbed in discreet packets having absolute sizes of what is known today as Planck’s constant. Though his work did not get accepted and appreciated immediately until Albert Einstein acknowledged and studied more of his important discovery.

In 1926, he became a foreign member of the Royal Society and he retired at the University of Berlin in this same year. 

Max Planck was married twice. In March 1887, he was married to Marie Merck and he had four children with her. In March 1911, he got married again to Marga von Hoesslin and he had one son with her. One of his sons to Marie Merck was unfortunately executed in 1944 after having been associated to an unsuccessful plot against Adolf Hitler.

Max Planck died on October 4, 1947 in Göttingen, Germany leaving the world his influential quantum theory and being a significant scientist in developing modern physics.