Max Wien (1866 – 1938) was a German physicist and the director of the Institute of Physics at the University of Jena. He was born in Königsberg (Prussia, at that time German, today Kaliningrad, Russia).

He invented the "Löschfunkensender" (generator of slightly weakened electromagnetic oscillations, used for example, on the RMS Titanic) during the years 1906 to 1909 and the Wien bridge oscillator in 1891. At that time, Wien did not have a means of developing electronic gain so a workable oscillator could not be achieved (William Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, was successful in 1939).

Erwin Schrödinger in his autobiography "Mein Leben, Meine Weltansicht" described Wien as "moderately anti-semitic".

He died in Jena, Germany.

1866 births | 1938 deaths | German physicists

Max Wien | Max Wien | マックス・ヴィーン