The physical tourist. Vienna: A random walk in science (Q5954196)

The Learned Author provides a guided tour of sites of scientific interest in Vienna with particular reference to the history of Physics. The article is divided mainly into four sections. Viz. (i) Vienna, (ii) Physics in Vienna, (iii) A scientific walking tour in Vienna, (iv) Scientific Sites in other districts of Vienna. In section one -- the author describes the cultural tradition of Vienna, especially he mentions that it is a city of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, Mahler, Berg, Webern and Schönberg. In section two -- the author critically analyses the study and development of Physics in Vienna along with a brief history of the University of Vienna. Among the Vienna Physicists he mentions the names of the following persons: Andreas von Baumgartner (1793-1863), Christian Deppler (1803-1833), Josef Petzval (1807-1891), Viktor von Lang (1838-1921), Josef Stefan (1835-1893), Franz Exner (1802-1853), Anton Schrotter von Kristelli (1803-1875), Paul Traugott Meissner (1787-1864), Friedrich August Kekule (1829-1896), Anton Lampa (1868-1938), Hans Benndorf (1870-1953), Stefan Meyer (1872-1949), Marian Smoluchowski (1872-1971), Egon von Schweidler (1873-1948), Friedrich Hasenohrl (1874-1915), Karl Przibram (1878-1973), Felix Ehrenhaft (1879-1952), Viktor F. Hess (1883-1964), K. W. F. Kohlrausch (1884-1953), Ludwig Flamm (1885-1964), Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961), and Hans Thirring (1888-1976). In section three the author takes a scientific walking tour starting at Dr. Karl Lueger-Ring 6, just opposite the main building of the University of Vienna, where Stefan Meyer, a Pioneer in Radioactivity research and Director of the Institut für Radiumforschung lived until 1941 and ends this tour by taking a short walk on the Ring to the Rathauspark. Here he finds a bust of Ernst Mach that was unveiled in 1926 on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his death. In the fourth section the author describes the scientific sites in other districts of Vienna. Each section is well informative. The article is not only a popular scientific article but also an important research material for those who are going to study on Sociology of Science, History of Science etc.