Felix Ehrenhaft

Felix Ehrenhaft in 1927

Felix Ehrenhaft (April 24, 1879 – March 4, 1952) was an Austrian physicist who contributed to atomic physics, to the measurement of electrical charges and to the optical properties of metal colloids. He was known for his maverick and controversial style. His fearless iconoclasm was greatly admired by philosopher Paul Feyerabend.

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• Wie steht es bei dem Kreisen der sogenannten Elektronen um ihren zentralen Kern? Was ist hier wirklich unmittelbar wahrgenommen worden? Nichts von den bewegten Teilchen; was vielmehr beobachtet wurde, sind Erscheinungen, welche auf den ersten Blick mit der Bewegung von Körpern gar nichts zu tun haben. Alles übrige, was zum Atommodell geführt, ist eine lange Kette von Schlüssen.
  • What about the orbiting of the so-called electrons around their central nucleus? What has really been observed unequivocally? Nothing of the moving particle; what has rather been observed are phenomena which at first glance have nothing to do at all with the motion of bodies. Everything else that leads to the atomic model, is a long chain of inferences.
  • In an address to the Viennese Chemisch-Physikalische Gesellschaft, April 26, 1932, as quoted by Joseph Braunbeck (2003). Der andere Physiker: das Leben von Felix Ehrenhaft. Leykam Buchverlagsgesellschaft. p. 51. ISBN 3701174709. 

• In principio it is impossible to prove from experiments that something is non-existent.
  • The Magnetic Current, Science, Volume 94, Issue 2436, pp. 232-233 (September, 1941)