Christian Doppler

views updated

Christian Doppler

1803-1853

Austrian physicist best known for research into the effects of motion on acoustic pitch (the Doppler effect). Doppler described the reason for the rising pitch of an approaching train whistle and the drop as the train passes. He suggested applying this principle to astronomical objects, where it has become a powerful tool for determining the motions of stars, verifying the existence of black holes, and measuring the size of the universe.

More From encyclopedia.com

About this article

Christian Doppler

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article

You Might Also Like

    NEARBY TERMS