John Hasbrouck Van Vleck

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox scientist John Hasbrouck Van Vleck (Template:IPAc-en;<ref>Template:Cite Dictionary.com</ref> March 13, 1899 – October 27, 1980) was an American physicist and mathematician. He was co-awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977, for his contributions to the understanding of the behavior of electronic magnetism in solids.

Early life and education

Van Vleck was born to mathematician Edward Burr Van Vleck and Hester L. Raymond in Middletown, Connecticut, while his father was an assistant professor at Wesleyan University, and where his grandfather, astronomer John Monroe Van Vleck, was also a professor. He grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and received an A.B. degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1920, before earning his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1922 under the supervision of Edwin C. Kemble.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career and research

He joined the University of Minnesota as an assistant professor in 1923, then moved to the University of Wisconsin before settling at Harvard. He also earned Honorary D. Sc., or D. Honoris Causa, degree from Wesleyan University in 1936.<ref name=":0">Template:Nobelprize including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1977 Quantum Mechanics The Key to Understanding Magnetism</ref>

J. H. Van Vleck established the fundamentals of the quantum mechanical theory of magnetism, crystal field theory and ligand field theory (chemical bonding in metal complexes). He is regarded as the Father of Modern Magnetism.<ref>John H. van Vleck, International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.</ref><ref>On the verge of Umdeutung in Minnesota: Van Vleck and the correspondence principle. Part One Template:Webarchive, Anthony Duncan, Michel Janssen; Elsevier Science, 8 May 2007.</ref><ref>On the verge of Umdeutung in Minnesota: Van Vleck and the correspondence principle. Part Two Template:Webarchive, Anthony Duncan, Michel Janssen; Elsevier Science, 8 May 2007.</ref>

During World War II, J. H. Van Vleck worked on radar at the MIT Radiation Lab. He was half time at the Radiation Lab and half time on the staff at Harvard. He showed that at about 1.25-centimeter wavelength water molecules in the atmosphere would lead to troublesome absorption and that at 0.5-centimeter wavelength there would be a similar absorption by oxygen molecules.<ref>Norman F. Ramsey Oral History (1991)Template:Dead link, NORMAN F. RAMSEY: An Interview Conducted by John Bryant, IEEE History Center, 20 June 1991.</ref><ref>Oral History Transcript Template:Webarchive, Interview with John H. Van Vleck by Katherine Sopka at Lyman Laboratory of Physics, 28 January 1977.</ref><ref>Louis Brown, A radar history of World War II, Institute of Physics Pub., 1999, Template:ISBN, pp. 442, 521.</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This was to have important consequences not just for military (and civil) radar systems but later for the new science of radioastronomy.

Van Vleck (left) receives the Lorentz Medal from Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, 1974.

J. H. Van Vleck participated in the Manhattan Project. In June 1942, J. Robert Oppenheimer held a summer study for confirming the concept and feasibility of a nuclear weapon at the University of California, Berkeley. Eight theoretical scientists, including J. H. Van Vleck, attended it. From July to September, the theoretical study group examined and developed the principles of atomic bomb design.<ref>New Weapons Laboratory Gives Birth to the "Gadget", 50th Anniversary Article, Los Alamos National Laboratory.</ref><ref>Berkeley Summer Study Group Template:Webarchive, The Atomic Heritage Foundation.</ref><ref>Atomic History Timeline 1900– 1942 Template:Webarchive, The Atomic Heritage Foundation.</ref>

J. H. Van Vleck's theoretical work led to the establishment of the Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Laboratory. He also served on the Los Alamos Review committee in 1943. The committee, established by General Leslie Groves, also consisted of W. K. Lewis of MIT, Chairman; E. L. Rose, of Jones & Lamson; E. B. Wilson of Harvard; and Richard C. Tolman, Vice Chairman of NDRC. The committee's important contribution (originating with Rose) was a reduction in the size of the firing gun for the Little Boy atomic bomb, a concept that eliminated additional design weight and sped up production of the bomb for its eventual release over Hiroshima. However, it was not employed for the Fat Man bomb at Nagasaki, which relied on implosion of a plutonium shell to reach critical mass.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Leslie R. Groves, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, Retired; Now It Can Be Told, Harper, 1962, pp. 162–63.</ref>

The philosopher and historian of science Thomas Kuhn completed a Ph.D. in physics under Van Vleck's supervision at Harvard.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

From 1951, Van Vleck was Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Harvard. He concurrently held the first deanship of Harvard's Division of Engineering and Applied Physics until 1957.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Van Vleck's grave (back right) at Forest Hill Cemetery

In 1961/62 he was George Eastman Visiting Professor at University of Oxford<ref name="nofollow">Nobel Laureates Template:Webarchive, University of Oxford.</ref> and held a professorship at Balliol College.<ref>Inspiring minds: the Eastman Professors, Floreat Domus, Balliol College News, Issue 12, June 2006.</ref>

In 1950 he became foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1966<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Lorentz Medal in 1974.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> For his contributions to the understanding of the behavior of electrons in magnetic solids, Van Vleck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1977, along with Philip W. Anderson and Sir Nevill Mott.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Van Vleck transformations, Van Vleck paramagnetism and Van Vleck formula<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> are named after him.

Van Vleck died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, aged 81.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was buried at Forest Hill Cemetery.

Awards and honors

Van Vleck was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1934,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the United States National Academy of Sciences in 1935,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the American Philosophical Society in 1939.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was awarded the Irving Langmuir Award in 1965, the National Medal of Science in 1966 and elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1967.<ref name=frs/> He was awarded the Elliott Cresson Medal in 1971, the Lorentz Medal in 1974 and the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977.

Personal life

J. H. Van Vleck met Abigail Pearson, a student at University of Minnesota, during his professorship there, and married her on June 10, 1927.<ref name=":0" /> He and his wife Abigail were also important art collectors, particularly in the medium of Japanese woodblock prints (principally Ukiyo-e), known as Van Vleck Collection. It was inherited from his father Edward Burr Van Vleck. They donated the collection to the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin in 1980s.<ref>E. B. Van Vleck Collection Template:Webarchive, Chazen Museum of Art</ref>

Publications

References

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Oral histories

Archival collections

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