Hans Friedrich Geitel

Hans Friedrich Karl Geitel (16 July 1855 in Braunschweig – 15 August 1923 in Wolfenbüttel) was a German physicist.

Through the relocation of his family, his father was a forester, Hans Geitel came to Blankenburg in 1861 and grew up in close proximity to Julius Elster.

In 1879 Geitel got his teaching degree in Braunschweig and accepted a position as teacher at the then called Herzogliche Große Schule (translation: Ducal Great School) in Wolfenbüttel.

Geitel and Elster published works on meteorology, nuclear physics, and the photoelectric effects.

Geitel recognized the law of radioactive decay in 1899 and coined the term atomic energy.