Percy Williams Bridgman

Percy Williams Bridgman (* April 21, 1882 in Cambridge, Massachusetts; † August 20, 1961 in Randolph, New Hampshire ) was an American physicist. Bridgman was awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in the field of high pressure physics.

He is also known for his studies of the electrical conductivity in metals and crystal properties. He also wrote works on the philosophy of modern science, especially of operationalism.

Life

Bridgman was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the nearby town of Newton, he went to school. He started in 1900 at Harvard University to study physics.

From 1905, he began his research, which he examined the effects of high pressure on materials and their thermodynamic behavior. Due to a malfunction, he changed his pressure apparatus with the result that he had invented a new device that allowed him to produce of more than 10 GPa. Until then only prints up to 0.3 GPa ( Giga Pascal ) could be achieved. With this new apparatus a multitude of new research has been carried out, for example on the effect of pressure on the compressibility, the electrical resistance, the thermal conductivity, the tensile strength and the viscosity of different materials.

In 1908 he received his Ph.D. in physics at Harvard University. Here he spent his professional career until 1954. From 1910 he taught at Harvard University, from 1913 as an Assistant Professor, from 1919 he was a professor until 1926, he was Hollis professor of mathematics and natural philosophy. From 1950 he was there Higgins University Professor.

In 1954 he retired.

1946 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to him: " For the invention of an apparatus to produce extremely high pressure and for his discoveries he made ​​therewith in the field of high pressure physics ".

He invented two methods for producing single crystals ( crystal growth ): the horizontal Bridgman method (HB) and the vertical Bridgman method (VB). In both methods, material is a boat or an ampoule moved horizontally or vertically through a heater. The material is melted and crystallized again upon cooling. By controlling the cooling can thus produce single crystals. A further development of the vertical method by Donald C. Stock Barger is called Bridgman Stockbarger method, while a multi-zone furnace is used with different temperature zones.

Suffering from Paget's bone disease, he committed suicide on August 20, 1961 by a shot to the head own life. Before he left the oft-quoted words in the ethics of science: "It is not fitting for a society that forces one to do this yourself Maybe today is the last day I'll even be able to do this.. "

Bridgman had great influence on Robert Oppenheimer, who was studying at Harvard University. Bridgman married Olive Ware 1912. Their daughter Jane was born in 1914, her son Robert in 1915. He was friends with BF Skinner, the most prominent representatives of radical behaviorism.

Honors and Memberships

In addition to the Nobel Prize he received numerous other academic awards:

  • The Rumford Medal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • The Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute
  • The Roozeboom Medal of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences
  • The Comstock Prize for Physics of the National Academy of Sciences (1933 )
  • And the New York Award from the Research Corporation.

Furthermore, Bridgman was repeatedly awarded an honorary doctorate from Stevens Institute of Technology (1934 ), Harvard (1939 ), Brooklyn Polytechnic ( 1941), Princeton (1950), Sorbonne (Paris, 1950) and Yale ( 1951).

In 1942 he was president of the American Physical Society. From 1918 he was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He was a foreign member of the Royal Society and an honorary member of the Physical Society ( London).

In his memory the Bridgman Award is awarded.

Works

  • P. W. Bridgman: Dimensional Analysis. Revised edition. AMS Press, Inc., 1931, ISBN 0,404,147,747th PW Bridgman: Theory of physical dimensions: similarity considerations in physics. Revised edition. Teubner, Leipzig, 1932.
  • P. W. Bridgman: The logic of modern physics. Hueber, Munich 1932.
Cambridge (Massachusetts) Newton (Massachusetts) Bridgman–Stockbarger technique Paget's disease of bone Digital Object Identifier Gerald Dworkin Hendrik Lorentz Pieter Zeeman Pierre Curie Gabriel Lippmann Karl Ferdinand Braun Guglielmo Marconi Wilhelm Wien Heike Kamerlingh Onnes Johannes Stark Albert Einstein Niels Bohr James Franck Gustav Ludwig Hertz Jean-Baptiste Perrin C. V. Raman Werner Heisenberg James Chadwick Clinton Davisson George Paget Thomson Enrico Fermi Ernest Lawrence Otto Stern Felix Bloch Max Born Polykarp Kusch John Bardeen Owen Chamberlain Robert Hofstadter Alfred Kastler Martin Ryle Antony Hewish James Rainwater Burton Richter Robert Woodrow Wilson Abdus Salam Steven Weinberg James Cronin Val Logsdon Fitch Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Carlo Rubbia Simon van der Meer Gerd Binnig Heinrich Rohrer Georg Bednorz Melvin Schwartz Wolfgang Paul Pierre-Gilles de Gennes Bertram Brockhouse Frederick Reines Steven Chu Claude Cohen-Tannoudji Herbert Kroemer Jack Kilby Wolfgang Ketterle Anthony James Leggett David Gross Hugh David Politzer Frank Wilczek Albert Fert Makoto Kobayashi (physicist) Willard Boyle Andre Geim Konstantin Novoselov Saul Perlmutter Brian Schmidt Serge Haroche Peter Higgs Integrated Authority File
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