Birth of Philipp Lenard

Philipp Lenard was born on 7 June 1862 in Bratislava. A German physicist, Lenard did important work on cathode rays and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1905 for it. His experiments, including the Lenard window that allowed cathode rays to pass out of the tube, and his studies of the photoelectric effect, paved the way for later discoveries by others. He became embittered by disputes of priority with Rontgen, Thomson and Einstein, and turned to nationalism and antisemitism. He was a supporter of Hitler from early on and promoted Deutsche Physik, an effort to reject so-called Jewish physics such as relativity. He was dismissed from his post after the war.

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