Professor Pascual Jordan, c mid-20th century

Pascual Jordan, born 18 October 1902, died 31 July 1980, was a German theoretical and mathematical physicist who is known for his contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. Jordan enrolled in the Technical University of Hanover in 1921, and studied zoology, mathematics, and physics, before moving to the University of Göttingen in 1923. He also studied physics under Max Born whilst there. Together with Max Born and Werner Heisenberg, Jordan co-authored an important series of papers on quantum mechanics. Jordan joined the Nazi Party in 1933, and also an SA unit, but did not subscribe to the Deutsche Physik movement which discriminated against Jewish scientists and 'Jewish science', such as Einstein's theory of relativity. Jordan enlisted in the Luftwaffe in 1939. After WWII, Wolfgang Pauli declared Jordan 'rehabilitated', and eventually he returned to teaching at the University of Hamburg in 1953, becoming emeritus in 1971. He also entered politics and served as a member of parliament in West Germany for the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1957 to 1961. Jordan died in 1980, aged 71. Many consider that Jordan would have won the Nobel Prize in Physics with Max Born had he not joined the Nazi Party.