Origins & Early Life

Karl Schwarzschild (German: [kaʁl ˈʃvaʁtsʃɪlt] ; 9 October 1873 – 11 May 1916) was a German physicist and astronomer. Schwarzschild provided the first exact solution to the Einstein field equations of general relativity, for the limited case of a single spherical non-rotating mass, which he accomplished in 1915, the same year that Einstein first introduced general relativity. The Schwarzschild solution, which makes use of Schwarzschild coordinates and the Schwarzschild metric, leads to a derivation of the Schwarzschild radius, which is the size of the event horizon of a non-rotating black hole. Schwarzschild accomplished this while serving in the German army during World War I.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He died the following year, possibly from the autoimmune disease pemphigus, which he developed while at the Russian front. Karl Schwarzschild was born on 9 October 1873 in Frankfurt am Main, the eldest of six boys and one girl, to Jewish parents. His father was active in the business community of the city, and the family had ancestors in Frankfurt from the sixteenth century onwards. The family owned two fabric stores in Frankfurt. His brother Alfred became a painter.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The young Schwarzschild attended...

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