Burkhard Heim (; 9 February 1925 – 14 January 2001) was a German theoretical physicist known for the creation of a unified field theory called Heim theory. He was particularly interested in the application of his theory to the development of hyperspace travel.
Academic and work history
1940s
In 1943, Heim met Heisenberg, a German physicist involved in atom bomb research, and told him of his plan to use chemical implosion to facilitate an atomic explosion. This design was based on an idea he developed for a 'clean' hydrogen bomb when he was 18. Heisenberg was impressed by Heim's knowledge, but thought the approach would be impractical.
At the start of World War II, Heim avoided conscription into the German Air Force by working in a chemical laboratory as an explosives technician. An explosion in the laboratory caused by the mishandling of unstable compounds left him without hands and mostly deaf and blind when he was 19. Heim underwent the Krukenberg Procedure after the accident.
In 1946, Heim registered to study physics at the University of Göttingen.
1950s
In 1952, during the third congressional session of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) in Stuttgart, Germany, Heim presented his theory for interplanetary propulsion under the title of "Die dynamische Kontrabarie als Lösung des astronomischen Problems" (The Dynamic Kontrabarie as Solution of the Astronautical Problem). It was the first time the idea of gravitational, electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces were treated as distortions of their proper Euclidean metrics in a higher-dimensional space. A brief description of Heim's lecture was recorded in the proceedings of the Society for Space Research.
In 1954, he began to study under Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker in Göttingen. He wrote his diploma thesis on physical processes in the Crab Nebula Supernova. After this, he began to work at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Göttingen. However, he soon found it extremely difficult to work in a team due to his disabilities.
In 1955, Heim contracted with the Glenn L. Martin Company to assist them with a gravity control propulsion project. The news about Heim's contract was among several revelations that had been published during the period of intensified United States gravity control propulsion research (1955 - 1974).
In 1956, Heim completed a 27-page progress report that summarized his philosophy (syntrometry) and his theory (Principle of Dynamic Kontrabarie) for coupling general relativity with quantum dynamics for propulsion applications. Sample calculations for an expedition from the surface of the Earth to the surface of the planet Mars appeared at the end of Heim's progress report.
In November 1957, Heim delivered a lecture about his propulsion theory to the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Raketentechnik und Raumfahrt (German Society for Rocket Technology and Space Travel), Frankfurt. Subsequently, Wernher von Braun sought his comments on various aerospace projects. According to von Ludwiger, an audiotape of Heim's presentation had been prepared for shipment to America.
In 1959, Heim completed his first publication in the German journal Zeitschrift für Flugkörper (Magazine for Missiles), Heim discussed "the principle of the dynamic Kontrabarie" in which he examined how a field drive would be more effective than the best chemical drive for rockets. These papers remained ambiguous on the fundamental concepts underlying his theory of the field drive, likely due to the necessity to complete the calculations on the extra fields of his field theory. These calculations were not performed until a few years later.
Heim stopped work on the propulsion aspect of his theory in 1959. Subsequently, the remainder of his life was devoted to refining the unified field attributes of his theory.
1960s
In the late 1950s and early 1960s there were a number of reports on Heim in magazines and tabloids such as Le Figaro, Bunte Illustrierte, Quick and Stern. The magazine le Figaro remarked, on 15 January 1969, that he was an "inhuman robot". The German television station ARD ran reports and interviews with Heim. It was speculated that Heim was likely to make a breakthrough, either in fundamental physics or propulsion theory.
On 17 November 1969 Heim reported the progress he had made towards developing his unified field theory to Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). Pascual Jordan and Gebhard Lyra were among the small body of scientists who attended that colloquium. Jordan wrote Heim a letter on 22 December 1969 encouraging him to publish his theory.