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The Fascinating Story of Planck Wissen
How a funny idea led to deeper insights
I was recently walking alongside my colleague on our way to a local shop, when the topic of the conversation turned to my essays. My colleague mentioned that my work (the overarching concept of how I approach my writing — learning and sharing what I learn) reminded him of “Planck Wissen”. You see, the word “Wissen” in the German language means knowledge.
I could tell that Planck Wissen is knowledge that is somehow associated with Max Planck, the famous German theoretical physicist. But I did not have more insight into it.
When I told my colleague that I did not know what Planck Wissen meant, he was genuinely surprised, almost as if he expected someone like me to know all about it. Nonetheless, he happily narrated the story of how Planck Wissen came to be a thing.
It turned out to be one of the more intriguing stories I have heard in a while and I thought I would share it in an essay. So, here we are.
Who is Max Planck?
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was born in 1858 into a family of academics and intellectuals. He had a talent for mathematics and music and received early training in astronomy, mechanics, and mathematics.
