Otto Laporte (July 23, 1902 – March 28, 1971) was a German-born American physicist who made contributions to quantum mechanics, electromagnetic wave propagation theory, spectroscopy, and fluid dynamics.
Before World War I, they were stationed in the fortified cities of Mainz (where Laporte was born), Cologne, and Metz, in which he received his early education.
There, he was influenced by the mathematicians Arthur Schoenflies, Ludwig Bieberbach, and Ernst Hellinger, and the physicists Max Born, and Alfred Landé.
There, he was influenced by William F. Meggers, Gregory Breit, Merle A. Tuve, Paul D. Foote, F. L. Mohler, Arthur Ruark, and Harold Urey.
Laporte had to cut his visit short and make a two-week, non-stop trip via the Trans-Siberian Railway in order to arrive in Munich in time.
His next visits to Japan were as a lecturer at the University of Tokyo, on leave from Michigan, in 1933 and 1937; during these periods, he learned to speak Japanese and understand their culture.
Two years later, he conducted experiments in fluid dynamics with an advanced design shock tube facility put together under Lincoln Smith at Michigan.
The addition of fluid dynamics to his research activities was in reality a convergence of a number of his professional interests in quantum mechanics and spectroscopy.