|
Romanian professor
"Progress is made on account of persistent ones", said in a speech in 1939, scientist Ştefan Procopiu. And among these "persistent" was Procopiu himself, to these features adding a profound original scientific thinking. Few scientists around the world can be proud that they have twice been nominated to receive Nobel Prize: among these rare is Romanian physicist Ştefan Procopiu, who, unfairly, was frustrated by receiving this award, even he was worth, for his important discoveries in physics.
Ştefan Procopiu was born in Bîrlad, attended high school in his native town, finishing first in the final classification. He studied physics in Iaşi (1909-1912). In 1924 became doctor in physics, with a thesis in optics. Assistant at the University of Iasi since obtaining his graduate in Physics (1912), Procopiu returned in the city after passing the Ph.D. and was appointed professor in 1925.
In Iaşi University of Science he taught courses on gravity, heat and electricity until 1962. His scientific area was vast; he studied magnetism, electricity, electrochemistry, acoustic, optics, spectroscopy, heat and thermodynamics, wireless telegraphy, in all these areas bringing significant contributions.
Besides the so-called "effect Procopiu', he has the great merit of being discovered firstly atomic magnetron (December 1912), calculating the magnetic moment of the electron – the magnetron was later and independently discovered, in 1915 by Niels Bohr, (rightly, world literature should adopt the name Procopiu-Bohr magnetron and not Bohr-Procopiu, as mentioned). His research on colloidal suspensions led him to discover in 1921, that when light passes through colloidal solution and crystalline suspension, depolarizes, constituting, what physicists A. Breton and J. Boutari have called in 1939 "Procopiu phenomenon", with multiple applications. We should mention that this is "Procopiu optical phenomenon", to distinguish it from another phenomenon, known as "Procopius effect", which refers to magnetic discontinuities produced in a ferromagnetic metal wire, when passing through it an alternating electric current.
Ştefan Procopiu drafted also important magnetic maps of the country during 1895 to 1954. He established that, beginning in 1932, the magnetic moment of the terrestrial globe began to grow after a period of more than 100 years continuously decreased, settling up a controversy that lasted for decades. He determined the period of this variation: about 500 years.
Besides strictly scientific work of great discoverer, scientist Procopiu was the author of numerous inventions and experimental devices. He was a tireless teacher, who has made generations of physicists, experimentalists, as he was the foremost disciple of Dragomir Hurmuzescu in Iaşi. For his merits, he was elected Academy member (1955), in scientific societies at home and abroad, was awarded the State Prize (1964), also Doctor Honoris Causa of the Polytechnic Institute of Iaşi.
No doubt, there are perfectly true the words of academician Christopher Simionescu, who wrote: "We say nothing new if we say that acad. Ştefan Procopiu is the largest physician has given our people so far”. Man of great culture, lover of fine arts, literature, philosophy, history, music, he has been an active member of the steering committee of the National Theatre Iaşi. When he closed his eyes forever, his bookmark was set in a page with a study dedicated to Goethe by Tudor Vianu.
|
| |
|
|
variant spelling:
Procopiu, Stefan
|
| |
|
|
|
Curriculum vitae
|
|
|
* 1890
|
Birlad Romania
|
born
|
|
1912
|
Iasi
|
Bachelor in Physics
|
|
1924
|
|
Ph.D.
|
|
1925
|
Iasi
|
Professor
|
|
1955
|
Bucuresti
|
Full member
|
|
† 1972
|
Iasi
|
died
|
|
|
Newsletter
DMG-Lib
Europeana
