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Authorised form of nameIsrael; Werner (1931-2022); physicist
Dates1931-2022
NationalityCanadian
Place of birthBerlin, Brandenburg, Prussia, Germany, Europe
Date of birth04 October 1931
Place of deathVictoria, British Columbia, Canada
Date of death18 May 2022
OccupationPhysicist
Research fieldBlack holes
Gravitational physics
General relativity
Theoretical physics
Physics
ActivityEducation:
University of Cape Town, (B.Sc and M.Sc); Trinity College, Dublin (PhD)
Career:
Feld Nazi Germany with his family and settled in Cape Town, South Africa (1936); Professor in the department of Physics at the University of Alberta (1958-1996); Adjunct Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Victoria in Victoria, British Columbia.
Awards/Medals:
Medal of Achievement in Physics of Canadian Association of Physicists 1981
University of Alberta Research Prize in Natural Sciences and Engineering 1983
Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Prize 1984
Officer of the Order of Canada 1994
Memberships:
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada 1972
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election20/03/1986
Age at election54
RelationshipsSpouse: Inge Margulies.
PublishedWorksRCN 11081
OtherInfoConducted important work in general relativity, particularly on black holes and relativistic thermodynamics. He proved the unexpected theorem that a non-rotating black hole must be spherically symmetric. His theorem initiated a chain of results which led to the complete description of black hole equilibrium states by known solutions. This opened a new era in black hole theory by making it possible to perform detailed calculations. He also showed how to treat thin shells of matter in general relativity and developed a theory of transport coefficients in relativistic thermodynamics which does not lead to propagation faster than light.
SourceThe Royal Society Fellows Directory, Professor Werner Israel OC FRS, [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/werner-israel-11684/; last accessed: 23/04/2025]
Times Colonist, Werner Israel Obituary, [URL: https://www.legacy.com/ca/obituaries/timescolonist/name/werner-israel-obituary?id=40021020; last accessed: 23/04/2025]
CodeNA4221
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EC/1986/19Israel, Werner: certificate of election to the Royal Society1981
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