Albert Defant

Albert Joseph Maria Defant (July 12, 1884, Trient – December 24, 1974, Innsbruck) was an Austrian meteorologist and oceanographer. He published fundamental works on the physics of the atmosphere and ocean and is regarded as one of the founders of physical oceanography.

Early life and academic work

Albert Defant was born in Trient when this was still part of the Austrian Empire. Since 1919 this city is Trento in Italy. Albert Defant went to schools in Trient and Innsbruck and then studied mathematics, physics, and geophysics at the University of Innsbruck in Austria from 1902.[1][2] He received his PhD at Innsbruck University in 1906 with a thesis on raindrop sizes. He started working at the Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics) in Vienna, Austria in 1907. He obtained his Habilitation (degree permitting to teach at the university) at Vienna University in 1909 [3] with a thesis on water level changes of Lake Garda.

Defant stayed at the Zentralanstalt until 1918, working mostly on problems of atmospheric physics, in particular in mountain ranges. He also gained experience in applied weather forecasting. During the later years of that period, he mainly focused on large-scale atmospheric circulation and on water level changes in lakes and adjacent seas, in particular tides and seiches.

Defant was Professor of Cosmic Physics (corresponding to meteorology and geophysics) at Innsbruck University from 1919 to 1926.[4] During that time he was able to show that large-scale structures in the atmosphere can provide meridional heat transport from tropical to high latitudes.[5][6][7]

By that time he was also rated as an expert on tides, and he was invited to participate in two cruises of the German survey vessel "Panther" in the North Sea in 1925 and 1926.[4] Defant was Professor of Oceanography at the "Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität" (later Humboldt University) and also Director of the "Institut and Museum für Meereskunde" (Institute and Museum of Marine Science) in Berlin from 1926 to 1945.[1] This institute was the leading institution of marine research in Germany at that time.

The famous German Meteor expedition (1925-1926) had been started in 1925. The chief scientist Alfred Merz unfortunately died in Buenos Aires in 1925, and Albert Defant took over the task of Merz from 1926 to 1927.[8]

His later work in Berlin focused on the physics of the ocean, in particular on the upper ocean and its boundary to the atmosphere.[9] International relations were important for him, particularly to Scandinavian scientists. These contacts were interrupted by World War II. Defant stayed in Berlin until the bomb strikes stopped the scientific work. The institute’s library had been evacuated to Wunsiedel in central Germany, and Defant did some teaching in Vienna and scientific work in Wunsiedel until the end of the war.[1]

The University of Innsbruck (now an Austrian city again) offered him the Chair of Meteorology and Geophysics in 1945, and he was Professor and Director of the Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics at Innsbruck University until 1955. He accepted a visiting appointment at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California in San Diego in 1949-1950. He was Rektor (president) of Innsbruck University in 1950-1951.[3]

After his retirement in 1955 he repeatedly worked as visiting professor, during 1952-1956 at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and during 1956-1958 at the Free University of Berlin. Between these stays he was also hosted by the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1957-1958.[1]

Family

Albert Defant was married to Maria Krepper in 1909, and the couple had three children. The meteorologist Friedrich Defant is his son. His wife died in 1949, and he married Maria Theresia Schletterer in 1952.[2]

Awards

Honorary memberships

Memberships in professional societies

Bibliography

Albert Defant published 222 papers and 12 books. A selection is given in the following.

Translated by Emery, W.J., 1981. Stratification and Circulation of the Atlantic Ocean - The Troposphere. Scientific Results of the German Atlantic Expedition of the Research Vessel "Meteor" 1925 – 27, Vol.VI, Part 1, Al-Ahram Center for Scientific Translations, Cairo.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 G. Böhnecke,1976. In memoriam Albert Defant 1884-1974. "Meteor Forschungsergebnisse." Reihe A., Allgemeines, Physik und Chemie des Meeres, no. 18:1-8.
  2. 1 2 Gerold Siedler, 2007. Defant, Albert Josef Maria. In: Koertge, N. (ed.), New Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, vol.2, 263-267.
  3. 1 2 A. Pichler, 1978. Albert Defant zum Gedenken, Innsbrucker Universitätsnachrichten VIII (In memory of Albert Defant).
  4. 1 2 H. Oberkofler, P. Goller, 1991. Albert Defant (1919-1926 und 1945-1953), Forschungen zur Innsbrucker Universitätsgeschichte, 16, Universität Innsbruck..
  5. ↑ Albert Defant,1921. Die Zirkulation der Atmosphäre in den gemäßigten Breiten der Erde (Grundzüge einer Theorie der Klimaschwankungen.) Geografiska Ann. 3, 209-266 (The circulation at mid-latitude zones of the earth).
  6. ↑ Albert Defant,1922. Die meridionale Temperaturverteilung auf der Erde und der Massenaustausch zwischen Äquator und Pol. Meteor. Z.(The meridional distribution of temperature on the earth and the mass exchange between equator and pole).
  7. ↑ S. Brönnimann, F. Frei, 2008. Defant’s work on North Atlantic climate variability revisited. Meteor. Z., 17, 1, 93-102.
  8. ↑ F. Spiess, 1928. Die Meteor-Fahrt. Forschungen und Erlebnisse der Deutschen Atlantischen Expedition 1925-1927. Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin. Translated by Emery, W.J., 1985. The Meteor Expedition – Scientific Results of the German Atlantic Expedition, 1925-1927. Amerind Publishing, New Delhi.
  9. ↑ H. Thorade, 1944. A. Defant sechzig Jahre alt. Die Naturwissenschaften, 32, 27/39, 165-166 (A.Defant sixty years old).
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 F. Steinhauser, 1975. Zum Gedenken an Albert Defant. Almanach der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 125. Archiv für Meteorologie, Geophysik und Bioklimatologie, Serie A, 24(4), p. 385-388 (In memory of Albert Defant).
  11. 1 2 3 A. Pichler, 1985. Albert-Defant-Gedächtniskolloquium. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Meteorologischen Gesellschaft, Heft 1/85, 59-62 (Albert Defant memorial colloquium).

Sources

Translated by Emery, W.J., 1985. The Meteor Expedition – Scientific Results of the German Atlantic Expedition, 1925-1927. Amerind Publishing, New Delhi.

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