Johannes Geiss
Johannes Geiss (4 September 1926 – 30 January
2020) was a German physicist.[1] Johannes Geiss
Biography
Geiss was born in 1926 in modern-day Poland, the son
of farmers Hans Geiss and Irene Wilk. In 1955, he
married Carmen Bach.
Geiss studied physics in Göttingen from 1947 to 1950.
He published his doctoral thesis in 1953, titled
Isotopenanalysen an „gewöhnlichem Blei“. He then
conducted research on geochronology at the University
of Bern and University of Chicago. From 1958 to
1959, Geiss was an associate professor at the
University of Miami before returning to Bern, working
Geiss in 2002
there until 1991. At Bern he devised the Solar Wind
Born 4 September 1926
Composition Experiment for the Apollo program to
measure the isotopic and elemental composition of Słupsk, Poland
noble gases in the solar wind.[2][3] From 1995 to 2002, Died 30 January 2020 (aged 93)
he was co-director of the International Space Science Nationality German
Institute. In 2019, a bronze statue of Geiss was erected Occupation Physicist
on the University of Bern campus by Horst Bohnet.[4]
Johannes Geiss died on 30 January 2020 at the age of 93.[5]
Awards and honors
Honorary Member of the French Academy of Sciences (1978)[6]
Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1978)
Allan D. Emil Memorial Award (1989)
Honorary Member of the Academia Europaea (1989)[7]
Albert Einstein Medal (2001)[8][9]
William Bowie Medal (2005)[10]
References
1. "Espace: Le créateur de l'expérience suisse d'Apollo 11 est décédé" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20200204154104/https://www.lematin.ch/sante/sciences/createur-experience-suisse-
dapollo-11-decede/story/13001763). lematin.ch (in French). 5 February 2020. Archived from
the original (https://www.lematin.ch/sante/sciences/createur-experience-suisse-dapollo-11-d
ecede/story/13001763) on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
2. "First 'flag' on the Moon?" (https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESA_history/First_flag_on_the_Mo
on). www.esa.int. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
3. "Solar Wind Composition Experiment" (https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.
action?id=1971-008C-03). nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov.
4. "The beautiful lunar toy from Bern" (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/first-moon-landing_the-be
autiful-lunar-toy-from-bern--/45103206). swissinfo.ch. 19 July 2019.
5. Feusi, Alois (4 February 2020). "Der Mann mit dem Sonnenwindsegel auf dem Mond:
Johannes Geiss, Pionier der Weltraumforschung, ist tot" (https://www.nzz.ch/wissenschaft/jo
hannes-geiss-der-physiker-mit-dem-sonnenwindsegel-ist-tot-ld.1538396). Neue Zürcher
Zeitung (in German).
6. "Johannes Geiss" (https://web.archive.org/web/20170808233127/http://www.nasonline.org/
member-directory/members/46651.html). National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the
original (http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/46651.html) on 8 August
2017.
7. "Johannes Geiss" (https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Geiss_Johannes). Academia
Europaea.
8. "Verleihung der Albert Einstein Medaille 2001" (http://www.einstein-bern.ch/index.php?lang=
de&show=laudatio&subs=geiss). Einsteinhaus Bern (in German). 13 August 2003.
9. "Astrophysicist receives Albert Einstein medal" (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/astrophysicist-
receives-albert-einstein-medal/2074846). swissinfo.ch. 11 June 2001.
10. "Johannes Geiss - Honors Program" (https://honors.agu.org/winners/johannes-geiss/).
American Geophysical Union.
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