Jan Czochralski – the history of an extraordinary man
Journal Title: Studia Historiae Scientiarum - Year 2014, Vol 13, Issue
Abstract
The presented paper is a report from a presentation delivered in December 2013, at the end of the “Year of Jan Czochralski” celebrated in Poland. For that reason the life and achievements of Prof. Jan Czochralski (1885–1953) were presented in a very short way. Jan Czochralski was a well known Polish chemist and metallurgist of the first half of the 20th century working in Germany and Poland. His achievements were numerous and only three were presented in a more detailed way. The first was a “radiomicroscope” for examination of the surface of metallic samples, which may be regarded as a prototype of modern scanning probe microscope (SPM) awarded with the Nobel Prize in 1986. The second achievement made Czochralski a famous scientist and a rich man prior to WWII – this was a special alloy for railway sliding bearing shells called “B -metal”. The third discovery gave the world recognition to Jan Czochralski after the war – this was the so -called “Czochralski method” for pulling a single crystal from the melt. Without this method used to obtain single silicon crystals necessary to modern electronics, our contemporary civilization would not have been possible. Among his other achievements it is worth mentioning a development of a type of hair perm lotion and a powder against nasal infections, as well as his activities as a patron of culture, poet and novelist. Despite these achievements, the name of Jan Czochralski was a subject of infamy in Poland, for his alleged collaboration with the Germans during World War II. After he finally had given proof to his patriotic cooperation with the Home Army (Armia Krajowa), he regained his good name in the spring of 2011.Therefore, the year 2013 was rightly declared by the Parliament of the Republic of Poland as the “Year of Jan Czochralski”
Authors and Affiliations
Paweł TOMASZEWSKI
Keywords
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