Josef Lense
Who was Josef Lense?
Austrian physicist (1890-1985)
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Josef Lense (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Josef Lense was born on October 28, 1890, in Vienna, Austria, and became an important figure in mathematical physics and applied mathematics. He studied at the University of Vienna, where he built his skills in mathematics and theoretical physics. In 1914, he completed his doctorate under Samuel Oppenheim, a well-known astronomer and mathematician, which positioned Lense to explore celestial mechanics and theoretical physics during a key time in the field.
Lense is best known for his work with Hans Thirring, leading to a major theoretical prediction in 20th-century gravitational physics. In 1918, they published work on what is now called the Lense-Thirring effect, derived from Einstein's general theory of relativity. This effect explains how a massive rotating body influences the surrounding spacetime, leading to a shift in the orbital plane of a nearby object over time. Though subtle and tricky to measure, this phenomenon was eventually confirmed through experiments in the decades that followed.
In his academic career, Lense worked at the Technical University of Munich, where he spent much of his professional life. From 1927 to 1928, he was Professor ordinarius for applied mathematics and then served as Professor extraordinarius from 1928 to 1946. Despite the change in title seniority, his continued role at the university showed his ongoing commitment during a complex period in European history, including the rise of National Socialism and World War II.
After the war, Lense continued to support mathematical education and research. From 1946 to 1961, he directed the mathematical institute at the Technical University of Munich, guiding it through a time of rebuilding and gradual recovery in German academics. His long service helped to stabilize and grow the university's mathematical research efforts postwar.
Lense lived to 95, passing away on December 28, 1985, in Munich. His life spanned the shift from classical mechanics to space exploration, during which the effects he helped identify became experimentally accessible. He is still best known for the Lense-Thirring effect, which is frequently discussed in gravitational physics and relativistic mechanics.
Before Fame
Josef Lense grew up in Vienna during the last years of the Habsburg Empire. By the early 1900s, Vienna was a hub of scientific and intellectual activity. The University of Vienna, where he studied, had a faculty deeply involved in the latest developments in physics and mathematics, including the new ideas around Einstein's relativity. This setting allowed Lense to be directly involved with cutting-edge theoretical work as he was developing as a scholar.
He completed his doctorate in 1914 under Samuel Oppenheim, which placed him in a tradition of detailed research in celestial mechanics and mathematical astronomy. He finished his doctorate just as World War I started, a time that disrupted scientific institutions across Europe. In the years right after the war, in 1918, Lense worked with Thirring to create the theoretical work that would secure his lasting reputation in physics.
Key Achievements
- Co-prediction of the Lense-Thirring effect with Hans Thirring in 1918, describing frame-dragging in general relativity
- Doctoral degree obtained under Samuel Oppenheim at the University of Vienna in 1914
- Professorship in applied mathematics at the Technical University of Munich, held from 1927 to 1946
- Directorship of the mathematical institute at the Technical University of Munich from 1946 to 1961
- Contribution to the theoretical framework of gravitomagnetism, later confirmed by satellite-based experiments
Did You Know?
- 01.Lense completed his doctorate in 1914 under Samuel Oppenheim, an astronomer particularly known for his work on the gravitational n-body problem and astronomical tables.
- 02.The Lense-Thirring effect, co-predicted in 1918, was not experimentally confirmed to high precision until the early twenty-first century, nearly a century after its theoretical formulation.
- 03.Lense held the title of Professor ordinarius before later holding Professor extraordinarius at the Technical University of Munich, an unusual reversal in the conventional academic hierarchy of German-speaking universities.
- 04.He served as director of the mathematical institute at the Technical University of Munich for fifteen years, from 1946 to 1961, guiding it through the postwar reconstruction of German academia.
- 05.Lense lived to age 95, long enough to witness space-based experiments designed to test the very gravitomagnetic effect that he had helped predict decades earlier.