List of German Inventors and Discoverers - P

P

• Wolfgang Paul: Physicist. Co-developed the non-magnetic quadrupole mass filter which laid the foundation for what we now call an ion trap. Shared the Nobel Prize in 1989.
• Hans von Pechmann: Chemist, renowned for his discovery of diazomethane in 1894. Pechmann condensation and Pechmann pyrazole synthesis.
• Julius Richard Petri: Bacteriologist who is generally credited with inventing the Petri dish while working as assistant to Robert Koch.
• Fritz Pfleumer: Inventor of magnetic tape for recording sound. He builts the world's first practical tape recorder, called Magnetophon K1.
• Max Planck: Physicist, Scientist. He is considered to be the founder of the quantum theory, and one of the most important physicists of the twentieth century.
• Robert Wichard Pohl: In 1938, together with Rudolf Hilsch, built first functioning solid-state amplifier using salt as the semiconductor.
• Ludwig Prandtl: First to explain the boundary layer and its importance for drag and streamlining in aircraft in 1904. He established and headed the Aerodynamische Versuchsanstalt in Göttingen, now Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization. During his tenure the first wind tunnel in Germany was built here, thereby establishing a specific design for wind tunnels (Göttingen type).