Pieter Zeeman

Pieter Zeeman (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈzeːmɑn]) (25 May 1865 – 9 October 1943) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Hendrik Lorentz for his discovery of the Zeeman effect. Pieter Zeeman was born in Zonnemaire, a small town on the island of Schouwen-Duiveland, Netherlands to Catharinus Forandinus Zeeman, a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, and Willemina Worst. He was early on already interested in physics. In 1... more

Pieter Zeeman (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈzeːmɑn]) (25 May 1865 – 9 October 1943) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Hendrik Lorentz for his discovery of the Zeeman effect. Pieter Zeeman was born in Zonnemaire, a small town on the island of Schouwen-Duiveland, Netherlands to Catharinus Forandinus Zeeman, a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church, and Willemina Worst. He was early on already interested in physics. In 1883, the Aurora borealis happened to be visible in the Netherlands. Zeeman, then a student of the high school in Zierikzee, made a drawing and description of the phenomenon and submitted that to Nature, where it was published. The editor praised "the careful observations of Professor Zeeman from his observatory in Zonnemaire", which should have been pleasing to the high school student. After finishing high school in 1883 he went to Delft for supplementary education in classical languages, then a requirement for admission to University. He... less