Disputing my theory that Werner Heisenberg, my 4th cousin, 3x removed, had anything but a big brain would be futile. In 1932, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics “for the creation of quantum mechanics”. He was 31 years old. When I was 31 years old, I won $3 because I correctly matched the Powerball.

In 1928, Werner and two of his colleagues were nominated for the same prize but did not win. The competition must have been really tough that year because Albert Einstein had nominated them. Werner was not just smart; he was also wise. A scientist, author and philosopher, Werner’s most memorable quotes are floating around the internet. I am particularly fond of this one:

“Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.”
– from Across the Frontiers by Werner Heinsenberg

Werner’s appearance on my blog is special for a few reasons. Notwithstanding his big brain and the Nobel Prize (which deserves mentioning again), Werner’s the first and only distant cousin I’ve written about who was not born and raised in the United States. Although we have common ancestral roots, Werner’s ancestors stayed in Germany while mine ventured off to America back in the late 1840s.

I have my newly-discovered distant cousin Günter to thank for helping me discover Werner as a leaf in my family tree. Danke Schoen!

Kenfolk: Tranthams
Relation: 4th cousin, 3x removed
Common ancestors: Werner’s 3rd great grandparents, Gerhard and Regina (Meyer zu Strohen) Wessel, are my 6th great grandparents

Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg#Honors_and_awards