Paul Scherrer (03.02.1890-1970) was a Swiss experimental physicist. He studied in Zurich, Königsberg and Göttingen. He was a lecturer at the University of Göttingen, where in 1916 he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. In 1920 —60 he was professor at the Zurich Polytechnic, and from 1927 also director of the Institute of Physics.
His research concerned X-rays, the structure of crystals, nuclear physics and solid-state physics. Together with P. Debye he developed (1916) a method of studying the structure of fine-crystalline materials by means of X-ray diffraction (the Debye—Scherrer method).