caption doctoral_advisor death_date death_place birth_place citizenship nationality ethnicity name field work_institutions birth_date doctoral_students image article_title birth_name
carl friedrich von weizsäcker , 1993 friedrich hund 28 april 2007 starnberg , bavaria kiel , schleswig-holstein germany german german carl friedrich von weizsäcker physics , philosophy max planck institute june 28 , 1912 karl-heinz höcker carl_friedrich_von_weizsaecker . jpg carl friedrich von weizsäcker
 carl friedrich freiherr von weizsäcker
carl friedrich von weizsäcker

carl friedrich freiherr von weizsäcker -lrb- june 28 , 1912 -- april 28 , 2007 -rrb- was a german physicist and philosopher .
he was the longest-living member of the team which performed nuclear research in germany during the second world war , under werner heisenberg 's leadership .
there is ongoing debate as to whether or not he , and the other members of the team , actively and willingly pursued the development of a nuclear bomb for germany during this time .
a member of the prominent weizsäcker family , he was son of the diplomat ernst von weizsäcker , elder brother of the former german president richard von weizsäcker , father of the physicist and environmental researcher ernst ulrich von weizsäcker , and father-in-law of the former general secretary of the world council of churches konrad raiser .
weizsäcker made important theoretical discoveries regarding energy production in stars from nuclear fusion processes .
he also did influential theoretical work on planetary formation in the early solar system .
in his late career , he focussed more on philosophical and ethical issues , and was awarded several international honors for his work in those areas .
