Max Margules was a mathematician, physicist, and chemist. In 1877 he joined the Central Institute of Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) in Vienna as a volunteer. After two years he left Vienna to study in Berlin for a year. He returned to Vienna and received his PhD in Electrodynamics. During his doctoral studies he was a Privatdozent: an unpaid position, but one which allowed him to lecture students.