Albert Defant

Albert Joseph Maria Defant (July 12, 1884, Trient – December 24, 1974, Innsbruck) was an Austrian meteorologist, oceanographer and climatologist. He published fundamental works on the physics of the atmosphere and ocean and is regarded as one of the founders of physical oceanography.

Early life and academic work Albert Defant was born in Trient when this was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Defant went to schools in Trient and Innsbruck and then studied mathematics, physics, and geophysics at the University of Innsbruck in Austria from 1902. He received his PhD at Innsbruck University in 1906 with a thesis on raindrop sizes. He started working at the Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik (Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics) in Vienna, Austria in 1907. He obtained his Habilitation (degree permitting to teach at the university) at Vienna University in 1909 with a thesis on water level changes of Lake Garda.

Defant stayed at the Zentralanstalt until 1918, working mostly on problems of atmospheric physics, in particular in mountain ranges. He also gained experience in applied weather forecasting. During the later years of that period, he mainly focused on large-scale atmospheric circulation and on water level changes in lakes and adjacent seas, in particular tides and seiches.

Defant was Professor of Cosmic Physics (corresponding to meteorology and geophysics) at Innsbruck University from 1919 to 1926. During that time he was able to show that large-scale structures in the atmosphere can provide meridional heat transport from tropical to high latitudes.

By that time he was also rated as an expert on tides, and he was invited to participate in two cruises of the German survey vessel "Panther" in the North Sea in 1925 and 1926.

His later work in Berlin focused on the physics of the ocean, in particular on the upper ocean and its boundary to the atmosphere. International relations were important for him, particularly to Scandinavian scientists. These contacts were interrupted by World War II. Defant stayed in Berlin until the bomb strikes stopped the scientific work. The institute’s library had been evacuated to Wunsiedel in central Germany, and Defant did some teaching in Vienna and scientific work in Wunsiedel until the end of the war. 1932 "Vega-Medaille" der Schwedischen Gesellschaft für Anthropologie und Geographie, Stockholm, Schweden ("Vega Medal" of the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, Stockholm, Sweden) 1956 "Emil-Wiechert-Medaille" der Deutschen Geophysikalischen Gesellschaft ("Emil Wiechert Medal" of the German Geophysical Society). 1957 Ehrendoktor der Freien Universität Berlin, Deutschland (Honorary Doctor at the Free University of Berlin) 1962 Orden "Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste" (Order "Pour le mérite for sciences and arts"), Germany 1963 "Joachim-Jungius-Medaille", Joachim Jungius-Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Hamburg, Deutschland ("Joachim Jungius Medal", Joachim-Jungius Society of Sciences, Hamburg, Germany) 1974 "Goldene Jubiläumsmedaille" der Universität Innsbruck, Österreich ("Golden Anniversary Medal", Innsbruck University, Austria) 1974 Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst, Wien, Österreich (Austrian Honorary Medal for Science and Art, Vienna, Austria) 1975 (posthum) Golden Honorary Medal of the Oceanographic Society of Japan, Tokyo, Japan

Honorary memberships 1926 Naturwissenschaftlich-Medizinischer Verein, Innsbruck, Österreich (Society of Natural Sciences and Medicine, Innsbruck, Austria) 1939 Pommersche Geographische Gesellschaft, Greifswald, Deutschland (Pomeranian Geographical Society, Greifswald, Germany) 1939 Russische Geographische Gesellschaft, Leningrad, Russland (Russian Geographical Society, Leningrad, Russia) 1939 Royal Dutch Geographical Society, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 1949 New York Academy of Sciences, New York, USA 1956 Deutsche Wissenschaftliche Kommission für Meeresforschung (German scientific commission for marine research)

Memberships in professional societies 1919 Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina) 1935 Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin, Deutschland (Prussian Academy of Sciences, Berlin, Germany) 1935 Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Deutschland (Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Germany) 1939 Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, Österreich (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria) 1939 Royal Academy of Sciences, Göteborg, Sweden 1942 Finnish Academy of Sciences, Helsinki, Finland 1945 Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden 1951 Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, München, Deutschland (Bavarian Academy of Sciences, Munich, Germany) 1964 Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Oslo, Norway 1964 Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz, Deutschland (Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz, Germany)