Hugo Fricke

Hugo Fricke, 1923

Danish-American physicist

Hugo Fricke

Born| (1892-08-15)August 15, 1892

Aarhus, Denmark

Died| April 5, 1972(1972-04-05) (aged 79)

Huntington, New York, US

Education| University of Copenhagen
Scientific career
Institutions| Lund University
Columbia University
Harvard University
Cleveland Clinic
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory

Hugo Fricke (August 15, 1892, in Aarhus, Denmark – April 5, 1972, in Huntington, New York, US) was a Danish-American physicist who studied the chemical (radiolysis) and biological (radiation biology) effects of X-ray and electron beams[1] and who also invented the Fricke dosimeter named after him.[2] He also made important contributions to the theory of impedance measurements.

## Early life, education and career

[edit]

Hugo Fricke was born on August 15, 1892, in Aarhus, Denmark, to Hedevig (née Kämpfner) and Gunnar Fricke, the oldest of four siblings. Fricke relocated to Copenhagen in 1910, where he studied at the University of Copenhagen from 1910 to 1916, where he also worked as an assistant to Niels Bohr.[3] In 1918, he moved to Lund University where he worked with Manne Siegbahn on X-ray spectroscopy. In 1919 he emigrated to the US, working at Columbia University and at Harvard University with Theodore Lyman until 1921. He moved to Cleveland Clinic by invitation of George Crile to head a biophysics laboratory between 1921 and 1928. Afterwards, Fricke was hired by Charles Davenport to work at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor from 1928 to 1955. He worked at Argonne National Laboratory from 1955 and at the Danish Atomic Energy Laboratory, now Risø DTU, from 1966 onwards. In 1949 he married Dorothy Newman.

During his stay at Cleveland Clinic, Fricke and colleagues discovered the radiation response of ferrous sulphate that eventually resulted in the widely used dosimeter named after him. His research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory laid the foundation for the understanding of the radiation chemistry of water.[4]

## Honors and awards

[edit]

In 1972 he was awarded the Weiss Medal of the Association for Radiation Research.[5] He was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1928.

## See also

[edit]

* Gel dosimetry
* Joseph Joshua Weiss
* Milton Burton

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Sehested, Knud; Rasmussen, Ole L.; Fricke, Hugo (1968). "Rate constants of OH with HO2,O2-, and H2O2+ from hydrogen peroxide formation in pulse-irradiated oxygenated water". The Journal of Physical Chemistry. 72 (2): 626–631\. doi:10.1021/j100848a040. ISSN 0022-3654.
2. ^ Jayson, G. G.; Parsons, B. J.; Swallow, A. J. (1975-04-01). "The mechanism of the fricke dosimeter". International Journal for Radiation Physics and Chemistry. 7 (2): 363–370\. Bibcode:1975IJRPC...7..363J. doi:10.1016/0020-7055(75)90075-3. ISSN 0020-7055.
3. ^ Adams, G.E. (1972). "Hugo Fricke, 1892–1972". International Journal of Radiation Biology and Related Studies in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine. 22 (4): 309–310\. doi:10.1080/09553007214551151. ISSN 0020-7616. PMID 4578862.
4. ^ Allen, A. O. (1962). "Hugo Fricke and the Development of Radiation Chemistry: A Perspective View". Radiation Research. 17 (3): 255–261\. Bibcode:1962RadR...17..254A. doi:10.2307/3571090. JSTOR 3571090. OSTI 12490813.
5. ^ "Association for Radiation Research - Weiss Medal". www.le.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 2022-07-07. Retrieved 2022-05-07.

## External links

[edit]

* "Hugo Fricke". Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Retrieved 2022-05-07.

Authority control databases |

* IdRef

|