Frederik "Frits" Zernike (Dutch: [frɪt ˈsɛrnikə]; 16 July 1888 – 10 March 1966) was a Dutch physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1953 for his invention of the phase-contrast microscope.[2]
Frits Zernike | |
|---|---|
 Zernike in 1953 | |
| Born | Frederick Zernike 16 July 1888 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | 10 March 1966 (aged 77) Amersfoort, Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Alma mater | University of Amsterdam |
| Known for |
|
| Spouses | |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Groningen (from 1913) |
Early life and education
editFrederik Zernike[3] was born on 16 July 1888 in Amsterdam, the second son of Carl Frederik August Zernike and Antje Dieperink. Both parents were teachers of mathematics, and he especially shared his father's passion for physics. In 1905, he enrolled at the University of Amsterdam, studying chemistry (his major), mathematics, and physics.[4] He received his B.Sc. in Chemistry in 1912 and his Ph.D. in Physics in 1915.[5]
Academic career
editIn 1912, Zernike was awarded a prize for his doctoral work on opalescence in gases.[6] In 1913, he became assistant to Jacobus Kapteyn in the astronomical laboratory at the University of Groningen. In 1914, Zernike and Leonard Ornstein were jointly responsible for the derivation of the Ornstein–Zernike equation in critical-point theory. In 1915, he became lector in theoretical mechanics and mathematical physics at the same university and in 1920 he was promoted to Professor of Mathematical Physics.[7]
In 1930, Zernike was conducting research into spectral lines when he discovered that the so-called ghost lines that occur to the left and right of each primary line in spectra created by means of a diffraction grating, have their phase shifted from that of the primary line by 90 degrees.[citation needed][8] It was at a Physical and Medical Congress in Wageningen in 1933, that Zernike first described his phase contrast technique in microscopy. He extended his method to test the figure of concave mirrors. His discovery lay at the base of the first phase contrast microscope, built during World War II.[citation needed]
He also made another contribution in the field of optics, relating to the efficient description of the imaging defects or aberrations of optical imaging systems like microscopes and telescopes. The representation of aberrations was originally based on the theory developed by Ludwig Seidel in the middle of the nineteenth century. Seidel's representation was based on power series expansions and did not allow a clear separation between various types and orders of aberrations. Zernike's orthogonal circle polynomials provided a solution to the long-standing problem of the optimum 'balancing' of the various aberrations of an optical instrument. Since the 1960s, Zernike's circle polynomials are widely used in optical design, optical metrology and image analysis.
Zernike's work helped awaken interest in coherence theory, the study of partially coherent light sources. In 1938 he published a simpler derivation of Van Cittert's 1934 theorem on the coherence of radiation from distant sources, now known as the Van Cittert–Zernike theorem.[9][10]
Personal life and death
editZernike was married to Dora van Bommel van Vloten, with whom he had one son. Dora died in 1945. He married his second wife Lena Koperberg-Baanders in 1954. After his retirement, they moved to Naarden.[4]
Zernike died in hospital in Amersfoort on 10 March 1966 after suffering illness the last years of his life.[11]
His granddaughter is the journalist Kate Zernike.[12] His great-nephew Gerard 't Hooft won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1999.[13]
Recognition
editMemberships
edit| Year | Organization | Type | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 |  Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences |
Member | [14] |
| 1954 |  Optical Society of America |
Honorary Member | [15] |
| 1956 |  Royal Society |
Foreign Member | [16] |
Awards
edit| Year | Organization | Award | Citation | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | Royal Society |
Rumford Medal | "In recognition of his outstanding work in the development of phase contrast microscopy." | [17] |
| 1953 |  Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences |
Nobel Prize in Physics | "For his demonstration of the phase contrast method, especially for his invention of the phase contrast microscope." | [18] |
Commemoration
editThe university complex (Zernike Campus) to the north of the city of Groningen is named after him, as is the crater Zernike on the Moon and the minor planet 11779 Zernike.
The Oz Enterprise, a Linux distribution, was named after Leonard Ornstein and Frits Zernike.
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1953".
- 1 2 Tolansky, S. (1967). "Frits Zernike 1888-1966". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 13: 392–402. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1967.0021. S2CID 123209453.
- ↑ Dörfel, G. (15 August 2012). "The early history of thermal noise: The long way to paradigm change". Annalen der Physik. 524 (8): 117–121. Bibcode:2012AnP...524..117D. doi:10.1002/andp.201200736. ISSN 0003-3804.
- 1 2 "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1953".
- ↑ "Frits Zernike". American Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on 11 September 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
- ↑ Zernike, Frits (1915). L'opalescence critique, théorie et expériments (PhD thesis) (in French). OCLC 65616594.
- ↑ Frits Zernike 1888-1966
- ↑ Zernicke, Frits (1935). "Das Phasenkontrastverfahren bei der mikroskopischen Beobachtung". Zeitschrift für technische Physik. 16: 454–457.
- ↑ Van Cittert, P. H. (1934). "Die Wahrscheinliche Schwingungsverteilung in Einer von Einer Lichtquelle Direkt Oder Mittels Einer Linse Beleuchteten Ebene". Physica. 1 (1–6): 201–210. Bibcode:1934Phy.....1..201V. doi:10.1016/S0031-8914(34)90026-4.
- ↑ Zernike, F. (1938). "The concept of degree of coherence and its application to optical problems". Physica. 5 (8): 785–795. Bibcode:1938Phy.....5..785Z. doi:10.1016/S0031-8914(38)80203-2.
- ↑ Van Berkel, Klaas; Van Helden, A.; Palm, L. (1999). "Frits Zernike 1888–1966". A History of Science in The Netherlands. Survey, Themes and Reference. Leiden: Brill. pp. 609–611. ISBN 90-04-10006-7.
- ↑ New York Times Weddings: Kate Zernike and Jonathan Schwartz" September 25, 2005
- ↑ Robert Goldwyn. "Gerardus 't Hooft Science Video Interview".
- ↑ "F. Zernike (1888 - 1966)". dwc.knaw.nl. Archived from the original on 23 February 2025. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- ↑ "OSA Honorary Members".
- ↑ "Search Results". catalogues.royalsociety.org. Archived from the original on 9 July 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2026.
- ↑ "Rumford Medal". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
- ↑ "Nobel Prize in Physics 1953". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2008.
External links
edit
Media related to Frits Zernike at Wikimedia Commons
- Frits Zernike Photo
- Frits Zernike on Nobelprize.org including his Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1953 How I discovered phase contrast
- Extended Nijboer–Zernike theory
- Museum Boerhaave Negen Nederlandse Nobelprijswinnaars
- H. Brinkman, Zernike, Frits (1888–1966), in Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland.
- Prominente Groningse hoogleraren Frits Zernike (1888–1966)
- Frits Zernike (1888–1966) biography at the National library of the Netherlands.
- The Ornstein-Zernike equation and integral equations
- Multilevel wavelet solver for the Ornstein-Zernike equation Abstract
- Analytical solution of the Ornstein-Zernike equation for a multicomponent fluid
- The Ornstein-Zernike equation in the canonical ensemble
