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Life in Times of Turbulent Transitions
The Autobiography of Arthur Robert von Hippel

hippel

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Arthur Robert von Hippel
(1898-2003)

This is the personal and professional autobiography of Arthur R. von Hippel, who was born in Rostock, Germany, in 1898 and died in Newton, Massachusetts, in 2003.
Copyright © 1988 Estate of Arthur R. von Hippel
All rights reserved

Our children create the Present, our grandchildren look toward the Future, and I — a relic of the Past — brought them into this adventure. Thus an honest accounting is due them of their origin and of our lives and times with our aspirations and actions, failures and possible accomplishments. Facts and wish-fulfillment tend to mingle; let's hope we can distinguish. And let the angel's song in Goethe's "Faust" be our consolation: "Whoever strives, we can redeem."
--AvH, 1982

Documents (PDF)

1. Ancestry and Early Years
Photographs

2. World War I
Photographs

3. Study at Last! But for What Profession?
Photographs

4. Physics Becomes My Profession
Photographs

5. A Rockefeller Fellow in the United States of America
Photographs

6. Return to Germany and Marianne
Photographs

7. Marriage to Daggie
Photographs

8. Our Life in Germany is Ending
Photographs

9. Adventures in Turkey
Photographs

10. Interlude in Denmark
Photographs

11. To America and M.I.T.
Photographs

12. At M.I.T. and Home During World War II

13. Transition from War to Peace
Photographs

14. Summer-Session Courses

15. Family Expeditions

16. Perspectives

17. Happy Growth and Stormy Events in the Next Generation

Notes and References

Appendix—A Man of Habit
A Remembrance by Paul T. von Hippel

Lightning Strokes in Other Worlds
The Wonders of Lichtenberg Figures by Arthur R. von Hippel

Illustrations—Lightning Strokes in Other Worlds
The Wonders of Lichtenberg Figures by Arthur R. von Hippel