Origins & Early Life

Karl Alexander Müller (20 April 1927 – 9 January 2023) was a Swiss physicist. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1987 with Georg Bednorz for their discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials. Karl Alexander Müller was born on 20 April 1927 in Basel, Switzerland, the son of Paul Rudolf Müller and Irma Feigenbaum. His mother was Jewish.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

His family immediately moved to Salzburg, Austria, where his father was studying music. Alex and his mother then moved to Dornach, the home of his maternal grandparents. Then they moved to Lugano, in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, where he learned to speak Italian fluently. His mother died when he was 11. Müller was sent to school at the Evangelical College in Schiers, in the eastern part of Switzerland.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Here he studied from 1938 to 1945, obtaining his baccalaureate (Matura). He then enrolled in the Physics and Mathematics Department of ETH Zurich. He took courses by Wolfgang Pauli, who made a deep impression on him. After receiving his Diplom in 1952, he worked for one year, then returned to ETH Zurich for a Ph.D., submitting his thesis at the end of 1957. After graduating in 1958,...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Al Martino — Contemporary (Born in 1927) (1927): Iconic Italian-American crooner, celebrated for standards and his role in The Godfather.
• Antônio Carlos Jobim — Contemporary (Born in 1927) (1927): Pioneering composer of Bossa Nova, merging samba with cool jazz.
• Barbara Cook — Contemporary (Born in 1927) (1927): Iconic American actress and singer, celebrated for Broadway and cabaret artistry.
• Alan Arkin — Contemporary (Died in 2023) (2023): Esteemed American actor, filmmaker, and musician with a seven-decade career.
• Ama Ata Aidoo — Contemporary (Died in 2023) (2023): Pioneering Ghanaian writer, poet, and academician celebrated for feminist themes.
• Barrett Strong — Contemporary (Died in 2023) (2023): Pioneering Motown artist and songwriter, famed for 'Money (That's What I Want)'
• 3rd Dalai Lama — Shared historical date (04-20 · Died) (1588): Founding figure of the Dalai Lama lineage, pivotal to Gelug school's rise in Tibet.
• Billy Magnussen — Shared historical date (04-20 · Born) (1985): American actor known for film roles in 'Aladdin' and 'Bridge of Spies'
• Adrien-Marie Legendre — Shared historical date (01-09 · Died) (1833): Pioneering French mathematician known for Legendre polynomials and least squares method.
• Caroline Herschel — Shared historical date (01-09 · Died) (1848): Pioneering astronomer, famed for comet discoveries and professional scientific career.
• 1927 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1927
• April 20 (04-20) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on April 20
• 2023 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 2023
• January 9 (01-09) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on January 9