How about a story of a scientist, overshadowed yet pivotal. That’s the tale etched in the bronze of this Walter Friedrich Bust.
The Walter Friedrich Bust commemorates a man whose work unlocked the secrets of crystals using X-rays. Though Max von Laue received the Nobel Prize for the discovery of X-ray diffraction, it was Walter Friedrich who built the device and first observed the diffraction pattern.
Walter Friedrich. A name perhaps less known than Laue, but crucial to the breakthrough. Friedrich’s early life hinted at a different path. He even considered becoming a musician. His father nudged him back towards his old love of physics. He studied with Rontgen.
Imagine young Walter Friedrich as a high school student in 1902. He was already experimenting with X-rays. He had a bill for 8 X-rays marked: W. Friedrich, high-school student.
Friedrich’s journey took him to Munich. There, he worked with Arnold Sommerfeld and met Max von Laue. Laue conceived the idea. If X-rays had short wavelengths, they would create interference patterns passing through crystals.
But the scientific community was skeptical. Heavyweights like Rontgen and Sommerfeld doubted it would work. Thermal vibrations they said would prevent X-ray interference. It was almost forbidden to experiment.
Friedrich, however, was undeterred. He proposed doing it in the back of the lab in the evening. Since Friedrich was busy with his work with Sommerfeld, they brought in another student, Paul Knipping. They built a simple apparatus. It had a diaphragm, a lead box, and a crystal holder.
Initially, they aimed the photographic plates at the sides rather than behind the crystal. They thought they were generating the characteristic radiation of copper. The first crystal they examined was copper sulfate.
After a ten-hour exposure, Friedrich developed the plate. A black blob appeared from the unscattered X-rays. Irregular ring-shaped patterns surrounded it. There was also the shadow of a beer mug on the plate.
Friedrich and Knipping showed the results to Laue and Sommerfeld. Everyone was surprised. They then used sphalerite, a regular crystal. They cut it perpendicular to the fourfold symmetry axis. The resulting image displayed a beautiful fourfold symmetry.
Laue then developed the theory. He developed equations that contributed to the interpretation of this interference phenomenon. Friedrich later emphasized that the experiments came first. The theory followed.
Friedrich continued to experiment with different crystals. One day, X-rays passed through adhesive wax instead of the crystal. The photograph revealed rings. Friedrich concluded that the wax was a liquid crystal.
Walter Friedrich’s work extended beyond this initial discovery. He later pioneered biological radiography. He accepted a position in East Berlin. This limited his interactions with Western scientists.
Despite his crucial role, Friedrich remained modest. He often downplayed his contributions relative to Laue’s. In 1963, he gave an interview in East Berlin about the discovery.
Look closely at this Walter Friedrich Bust. It is 32 cm wide and 43 cm high. It stands 60 cm tall. The base of the bust measures 65 cm. It serves as a reminder. Sometimes the greatest contributions come from those working behind the scenes.