Christian Doppler

In 1836, Christian Doppler married Mathilde Sturm, the daughter of a middle-class goldsmith, Franz Sturm. She stood by her husband all through his life, giving him the required support whenever he faced any problem. The couple had three sons and two daughters.

Doppler had developed a chest problem in Prague. His condition began to deteriorate as he returned to Vienna in 1849. In November, 1852, he traveled to Venice, hoping warmer climate would help him to recover; but it did not.

By March 1853, his condition deteriorated further and he began to sink very fast. On hearing the news, Mathilde, who had remained at Vienna with their five children, rushed to Venice.

Christian Andreas Doppler was born on 29 November 1803, in Makart Platz area of Salzburg, Austria. At that time, the square was known as Hannibal Platz after Hannibal von Raitenau, brother of Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich.

His father, Johann Evangialist Doppler, was a well-to-do stonemason. His mother, Therese Doppler, was the daughter of a middle-class comb maker. She had brought in considerable dowry, which added to the family’s wealth and made their life quite comfortable.

Christian Doppler was his parents’ fifth child, having an elder brother named Johann Doppler and three elder sisters named Katharina Doppler Mullbauer, Anna Doppler and Theresia Doppler. It is possible that he also had a few younger siblings; but no detail is available about them.

Information available on Christian’s early life is also very scarce and vague. However, it is certain that although Christian’s elder brother Johann was predestined to inherit the family business his father had planned the same profession for him.

In the trade licensing register of 1804, he had declared that he would not use the second licensed stonemasonry he had bought for 600 guilders in 1797, but would “someday hand it over to a son”. By this, he must have meant his second son, born in the previous year.

In 1829, shortly after graduating from the University of Vienna, Christian Doppler received an appointment as the assistant to Adam Burg, the professor of higher mathematics and mechanics at the Vienna Polytechnic Institute. Since Burg was from Salzburg, it is believed that he had a hand in the appointment.

During his assistantship at the Vienna Polytechnic Institute, Doppler published four mathematics papers, the first being ‘A contribution to the theory of parallels’. However, it was only a temporary post and he remained there only up to 1833. Meanwhile, he continued to look for a permanent position.

At that time, getting a permanent job in the academic field was not at all easy. It involved a long written test as well as a short probationary lecture on any unpredictable topic before an appointed commission. Moreover, signs of higher learning also went against the candidate.

Doppler applied for the chair of higher mathematics at Vienna Polytechnic and also to schools in Linz, Salzburg, Gorizia and Ljubljana. On 23 March 1833, he applied for the post of a professor of mathematics at the Technical Secondary School in Prague, but failed to get any response.

The period between 1833 and 1835 was very bad for Doppler. Forced to return home to Salzburg, he maintained himself by working as a bookkeeper at a cotton spinning mill. After 18 months, he became disillusioned about his chances in Austria and decided to migrate to the USA.

Christian Doppler is best remembered for his principle of Doppler’s Effect, which he postulated in 1842 work. According to the Doppler’s Effect, color is a manifestation of the frequency of the light wave, as seen by the beholder. He then explained that if either the source or the observer is moved there is a shift in the frequency.