Mario Markus (born July 29, 1944) is a German-Chilean physicist who worked for a long time in the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund. In addition to his scientific work, Markus has exhibited his own computer graphics, as well as written novels and poetry and translated Spanish poems.
In 1970 he obtained his physics diploma under Konrad Tamm at the Institute for Applied Physics at the University of Heidelberg with a thesis on the Pinch-Effekt in plasmas made up of electrons and holes in semiconductors. From March 1970 to 1973 he conducted research for his doctorate on instabilities in plasmas at this institute. At the beginning of 1973 he received his doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.). After working as an assistant at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Heidelberg, he moved to the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt am Main in April 1974. From January 1975 he was a research associate at the former Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Nutritional Physiology (today's MPI for Molecular Physiology) in Dortmund in the department of the biochemist and biophysicist Benno Hess. [1] In 1988 he habilitated at the University of Dortmund, where he was first appointed a lecturer and then, in August 1997, an associate professor.
In addition to his scientific work, he has published several volumes of poetry, a novel, a comic and works on computer graphics. [2]
Since the 1980s, Markus has created numerous works and presented exhibitions with computer graphics based on his novel representation of Ljapunow exponents (Lyapunow diagrams or Ljapunow fractals or Markus- Ljapunov diagrams). [3] It should be noted, however, that many of these representations do not meet the mathematical definition of fractals, in which sections are similar or equal to the overall picture. In 2009 he published a comprehensive book on that subject with a CD-ROM for the reader to create such graphics: the german book “Die Kunst der Mathematik” (The Art of Mathematics), which was also published in Spanish. Below are some examples of Markus Ljapunov diagrams that appear in that book.
Markus discovered and described in detail a special type of crystals. These are 2D crystals, which are formed when microscope slides are wetted with a hydrophilic substance and allowed to dry. [14] A drop of a chemical solution spontaneously spreads over the entire slide and crystallizes in a form that is completely different from known 3D crystals or monomolecular 2D crystals. Examples of Markus’ 2D crystals are shown here below.
Mario Markus coined the term "ludic science" (Latin: ludus, the game). In cooperation with the German Society of Chemists (Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, GdCh) Mario Markus has offered an annual prize of 10,000 euros since 2022 for outstanding "ludic" scientific achievements. In order to finance the award, he leaves his house worth almost one million euros to the Gesellschaft deutscher Chemiker in his testament. [15] [16]
As editor:
Mario Markus (born July 29, 1944) is a German-Chilean physicist who worked for a long time in the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Physiology in Dortmund. In addition to his scientific work, Markus has exhibited his own computer graphics, as well as written novels and poetry and translated Spanish poems.
In 1970 he obtained his physics diploma under Konrad Tamm at the Institute for Applied Physics at the University of Heidelberg with a thesis on the Pinch-Effekt in plasmas made up of electrons and holes in semiconductors. From March 1970 to 1973 he conducted research for his doctorate on instabilities in plasmas at this institute. At the beginning of 1973 he received his doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.). After working as an assistant at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Heidelberg, he moved to the Max Planck Institute for Biophysics in Frankfurt am Main in April 1974. From January 1975 he was a research associate at the former Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Nutritional Physiology (today's MPI for Molecular Physiology) in Dortmund in the department of the biochemist and biophysicist Benno Hess. [1] In 1988 he habilitated at the University of Dortmund, where he was first appointed a lecturer and then, in August 1997, an associate professor.
In addition to his scientific work, he has published several volumes of poetry, a novel, a comic and works on computer graphics. [2]
Since the 1980s, Markus has created numerous works and presented exhibitions with computer graphics based on his novel representation of Ljapunow exponents (Lyapunow diagrams or Ljapunow fractals or Markus- Ljapunov diagrams). [3] It should be noted, however, that many of these representations do not meet the mathematical definition of fractals, in which sections are similar or equal to the overall picture. In 2009 he published a comprehensive book on that subject with a CD-ROM for the reader to create such graphics: the german book “Die Kunst der Mathematik” (The Art of Mathematics), which was also published in Spanish. Below are some examples of Markus Ljapunov diagrams that appear in that book.
Markus discovered and described in detail a special type of crystals. These are 2D crystals, which are formed when microscope slides are wetted with a hydrophilic substance and allowed to dry. [14] A drop of a chemical solution spontaneously spreads over the entire slide and crystallizes in a form that is completely different from known 3D crystals or monomolecular 2D crystals. Examples of Markus’ 2D crystals are shown here below.
Mario Markus coined the term "ludic science" (Latin: ludus, the game). In cooperation with the German Society of Chemists (Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker, GdCh) Mario Markus has offered an annual prize of 10,000 euros since 2022 for outstanding "ludic" scientific achievements. In order to finance the award, he leaves his house worth almost one million euros to the Gesellschaft deutscher Chemiker in his testament. [15] [16]
As editor: