Paul, Wolfgang, 1913-93, German physicist, Ph.D. Technical Univ., Berlin, 1939. A professor at the Univ. of Bonn since 1952, Paul worked with Hans Dehmelt to develop an ion trap technique (known as the Paul trap), which made possible the detailed study of subatomic particles. For this invention, Dehmelt and Paul shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics with Norman F. Ramsey.

Pauli, Wolfgang, 1900-1958, Austro-American physicist, b. Vienna. He studied first with A. Sommerfeld at Munich and then with Niels Bohr at Copenhagen. After lecturing (1923-28) at the Univ. of Hamburg, Pauli was appointed professor at the Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, which became famous under his direction. In the United States he was a member (1935-36, 1940-46) of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. In 1946 he became a U.S. citizen. He divided his later years between Princeton and Zürich. He was awarded the 1945 Nobel Prize in Physics for his enunciation (1925) of the Pauli exclusion principle, fundamental to quantum mechanics, according to which no two electrons in an atom may be in the same quantum state. It was later found that certain other particles also are governed by the principle. Among his many other achievements was the postulation of the existence of the neutrino (1930), more than a quarter century before it was directly observed in 1956.

Kapp, Wolfgang, 1858-1922, German right-wing politician. In 1920 he led the uprising known as the Kapp putsch, an armed revolt in Berlin aimed at restoring the German monarchy. He seized the Berlin government, but a general strike broke his power. Kapp fled to Sweden, returned (1922) to Germany, and died while awaiting trial for treason.

Köhler, Wolfgang, 1887-1967, American psychologist, b. Estonia, Ph.D. Univ. of Berlin, 1909. From 1913 to 1920 he was director of a research station on Tenerife, Canary Islands. Later he served as both professor of psychology and director of the Psychology Institute, Berlin. He came to the United States in 1934, where he became professor of psychology at Swarthmore College. Köhler is best known for his experiments with problem-solving in apes at Tenerife and the influence of his writings in the founding of the school of Gestalt psychology. His writings include Gestalt Psychology (rev. ed. 1947) and The Mentality of Apes (rev. ed. 1948).

Ketterle, Wolfgang, 1957-, German physicist, Ph.D. Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching, Germany, 1986. He has been a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1990. Ketterle shared the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics with Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman for creating the first Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC; see condensate) in the laboratory and characterizing its properties. Shortly after Cornell and Wieman produced the condensate in 1995 in their lab in Boulder, Colo., Ketterle achieved condensation using a different approach, a gas of sodium atoms, and was able to investigate further the properties of a BEC. Predicted by Albert Einstein in 1924, the creation of BECs provided scientists with a new window into the world of quantum physics.

(born April 25, 1900, Vienna, Austria—died Dec. 15, 1958, Zürich, Switz.) Austrian-born U.S. physicist. At the age of 20, he wrote a 200-page encyclopaedia article on the theory of relativity. He taught physics in Zürich (1928–40) and later at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. In 1924 he proposed that a spin quantum number, +12 or −12, is necessary to specify electron energy states. In 1930 he proposed that the energy and momentum apparently lost when an electron is emitted from an atomic nucleus in beta decay is carried away by an almost massless, uncharged, and difficult-to-detect particle (the neutrino). He was awarded a 1945 Nobel Prize for his 1925 discovery of the Pauli exclusion principle.

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orig. Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart

(born Jan. 27, 1756, Salzburg, Archbishopric of Salzburg—died Dec. 5, 1791, Vienna) Austrian composer. Son of the violinist and composer Leopold Mozart (1719–87), he was born the year of the publication of Leopold's best-selling treatise on violin playing. He and his older sister, Maria Anna (1751–1829), were prodigies; at age five he began to compose and gave his first public performance. From 1762 Leopold toured throughout Europe with his children, showing off the “miracle that God allowed to be born in Salzburg.” The first round of touring (1762–69) took them as far as France and England, where Wolfgang met Johann Christian Bach and wrote his first symphonies (1764). Tours of Italy followed (1769–74); there he first saw the string quartets of Joseph Haydn and wrote his own first Italian opera. In 1775–77 he composed his violin concertos and his first piano sonatas. His mother died in 1779. He returned to Salzburg as cathedral organist and in 1781 wrote his opera seria Idomeneo. Chafing under the archbishop's rule, he was released from his position in 1781; he moved in with his friends the Weber family and began his independent career in Vienna. He married Constanze Weber, gave piano lessons, and wrote The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782) and many of his great piano concertos. The later 1780s were the height of his success, with the string quartets dedicated to Haydn (who called Mozart the greatest living composer), the three great operas on Lorenzo Da Ponte's librettos—The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790)—and his superb late symphonies. In his last year he composed the opera The Magic Flute and his great Requiem (left unfinished). Despite his success, he always lacked money (possibly because of gambling debts and a fondness for fine clothes) and had to borrow heavily from friends. His death at age 35 may have resulted from a kidney infection. No other composer left such an extraordinary legacy in so short a lifetime.

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(born April 25, 1900, Vienna, Austria—died Dec. 15, 1958, Zürich, Switz.) Austrian-born U.S. physicist. At the age of 20, he wrote a 200-page encyclopaedia article on the theory of relativity. He taught physics in Zürich (1928–40) and later at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. In 1924 he proposed that a spin quantum number, +12 or −12, is necessary to specify electron energy states. In 1930 he proposed that the energy and momentum apparently lost when an electron is emitted from an atomic nucleus in beta decay is carried away by an almost massless, uncharged, and difficult-to-detect particle (the neutrino). He was awarded a 1945 Nobel Prize for his 1925 discovery of the Pauli exclusion principle.

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orig. Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart

(born Jan. 27, 1756, Salzburg, Archbishopric of Salzburg—died Dec. 5, 1791, Vienna) Austrian composer. Son of the violinist and composer Leopold Mozart (1719–87), he was born the year of the publication of Leopold's best-selling treatise on violin playing. He and his older sister, Maria Anna (1751–1829), were prodigies; at age five he began to compose and gave his first public performance. From 1762 Leopold toured throughout Europe with his children, showing off the “miracle that God allowed to be born in Salzburg.” The first round of touring (1762–69) took them as far as France and England, where Wolfgang met Johann Christian Bach and wrote his first symphonies (1764). Tours of Italy followed (1769–74); there he first saw the string quartets of Joseph Haydn and wrote his own first Italian opera. In 1775–77 he composed his violin concertos and his first piano sonatas. His mother died in 1779. He returned to Salzburg as cathedral organist and in 1781 wrote his opera seria Idomeneo. Chafing under the archbishop's rule, he was released from his position in 1781; he moved in with his friends the Weber family and began his independent career in Vienna. He married Constanze Weber, gave piano lessons, and wrote The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782) and many of his great piano concertos. The later 1780s were the height of his success, with the string quartets dedicated to Haydn (who called Mozart the greatest living composer), the three great operas on Lorenzo Da Ponte's librettos—The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Così fan tutte (1790)—and his superb late symphonies. In his last year he composed the opera The Magic Flute and his great Requiem (left unfinished). Despite his success, he always lacked money (possibly because of gambling debts and a fondness for fine clothes) and had to borrow heavily from friends. His death at age 35 may have resulted from a kidney infection. No other composer left such an extraordinary legacy in so short a lifetime.

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(born Aug. 28, 1749, Frankfurt am Main—died March 22, 1832, Weimar, Saxe-Weimar) German poet, novelist, playwright, statesman, and scientist. In 1773 Goethe provided the Sturm und Drang movement with its first major drama, Götz von Berlichingen, and in 1774 with its first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, an extraordinarily popular work in its time, in which he created the prototype of the Romantic hero. In 1775 he arrived at Weimar, where he accepted an appointment to the ducal court; he would remain there for the rest of his life, and his presence helped to establish Weimar as a literary and intellectual centre. His poetry includes lyrics in praise of natural beauty and ballads that echo folk themes. His contact with ancient Classical culture during an Italian sojourn (1786–88) deeply influenced his later work. From 1794 Friedrich Schiller became his most important and influential friend. Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795–96) is often called the first bildungsroman; it was followed many years later by The Wanderings of Wilhelm Meister (1821; 2nd ed. 1829). Many works were inspired by a series of passionate loves for women. His chief masterpiece, the drama Faust (Part One, 1808; Part Two, 1832), represents Faust tragically, as a singularly modern figure who is condemned to remain unsatisfied by life. Goethe also wrote extensively on botany, colour theory, and other scientific topics. In his late years he was celebrated as a sage and visited by world luminaries. The greatest figure of German Romanticism, he is regarded as a giant of world literature.

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(born Aug. 28, 1749, Frankfurt am Main—died March 22, 1832, Weimar, Saxe-Weimar) German poet, novelist, playwright, statesman, and scientist. In 1773 Goethe provided the Sturm und Drang movement with its first major drama, Götz von Berlichingen, and in 1774 with its first novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, an extraordinarily popular work in its time, in which he created the prototype of the Romantic hero. In 1775 he arrived at Weimar, where he accepted an appointment to the ducal court; he would remain there for the rest of his life, and his presence helped to establish Weimar as a literary and intellectual centre. His poetry includes lyrics in praise of natural beauty and ballads that echo folk themes. His contact with ancient Classical culture during an Italian sojourn (1786–88) deeply influenced his later work. From 1794 Friedrich Schiller became his most important and influential friend. Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795–96) is often called the first bildungsroman; it was followed many years later by The Wanderings of Wilhelm Meister (1821; 2nd ed. 1829). Many works were inspired by a series of passionate loves for women. His chief masterpiece, the drama Faust (Part One, 1808; Part Two, 1832), represents Faust tragically, as a singularly modern figure who is condemned to remain unsatisfied by life. Goethe also wrote extensively on botany, colour theory, and other scientific topics. In his late years he was celebrated as a sage and visited by world luminaries. The greatest figure of German Romanticism, he is regarded as a giant of world literature.

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Wolfgang may refer to:

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Wolfgang Pauli
• Wolfgang Borchert
• Wolfgang Ketterle
• Wolfgang Kuck, German volleyball player
• Wolfgang Langewiesche
• Wolfgang of Regensburg
• Dr. Wolfgang Klietmann
• Wolfgang Petersen
• Wolfgang Puck
• Wolfgang Priklopil
• Wolfgang Reitherman
• Wolfgang Flür
• Wolfgang, a Filipino rock band.
• Wolfgang, a hard rock band from the Faroe Islands.
• Wolfgang Van Halen
• Wolfgang von Leyden
• Wolfgang Bauer
• Wolfgang von Kempelen
• Wolfgang J. Hebert

See also:

• Johann Wolfgang Goethe
• Wolfang