Michael Polanyi Hungarian-British scientist Date of Birth: 11.03.1891 Country: Austria

1. Michael Polanyi: Hungarian-British Scientist and Philosopher
2. Early Life and Education
3. Military Service and Scientific Research
4. Political Career and Return to Science
5. Work in Germany and Conversion to Christianity
6. Economic Research and Emigration

Michael Polanyi: Hungarian-British Scientist and Philosopher

Michael Polanyi was a Hungarian-British scientist who made significant contributions to physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy of science. Born in Vienna, Austria, in 1891, he was the fourth child of Michael and Cecilia Pollacsek, Hungarian and Lithuanian Jews, respectively.

Early Life and Education

Polanyi's father was an entrepreneur, while his mother's grandfather was the chief rabbi of Vilnius. The family later moved to Budapest, where they changed their name to Polanyi. Michael Polanyi completed high school in Budapest in 1909 and went on to study medicine, receiving his medical degree in 1914. With the help of Ignác Pfeifer, a chemistry professor at a Budapest university, he secured a scholarship to study chemistry at the Technical College in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Military Service and Scientific Research

During World War I, Polanyi served as a medical officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army on the Serbian front. He left service in 1916 due to health reasons and used his free time to write a PhD dissertation on adsorption. His work was approved by Albert Einstein and supervised by Gusztáv Buchböck. Polanyi received his doctorate from the University of Budapest in 1919.

Political Career and Return to Science

In 1918, Polanyi briefly served as secretary to the Minister of Health in the newly formed Hungarian Democratic Republic. However, he left politics when the Communists came to power in 1919 and returned to medicine. After the Hungarian Soviet Republic collapsed, Polanyi refused to serve in the Red Army and opposed the regime of Miklós Horthy.

Work in Germany and Conversion to Christianity

In 1920, Polanyi returned to Karlsruhe and joined the Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Faserstoffchemie under Fritz Haber. In 1923, he converted to Christianity and married Magda Elizabeth Kemeny. Polanyi became head of the Institute's division of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry in 1926. His son John, a future chemist and Nobel laureate, was born in 1929. His other son, George Polanyi, became a prominent British economist.

Economic Research and Emigration

Polanyi also became interested in economics, studying inflation and unemployment in Weimar Germany. After the Nazis came to power, he fled to the United States, where he focused on sociology. Michael Polanyi passed away on February 22, 1976, at the age of 84.