William Ralph Smythe (July 5, 1893 – July 6, 1988) was a physicist at California Institute of Technology .
Early life
A native of Canon City , Colorado, he graduated from Colorado College and spent some time in Dartmouth College before his studies were interrupted by World War I .[ 1] He eventually completed his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1921 under Nobel laureate Albert Michelson and Henry Gale .
Career
After teaching in the University of the Philippines ,[ 1] he became a professor at Caltech in 1923, remaining there until he retired in 1964 as professor emeritus.[ 2]
His research focused on "electromagnetic studies, the separation of isotopes , isolation of radioactive potassium and other elements, and the isotope ratio of oxygen." In 1926, Smythe was the first to propose ion -velocity spectrometers , which he eventually built with Josef Mattauch .[ 3]
Smythe taught at least six Nobel Prize laureates: Charles Townes , Donald Glaser , William Shockley , Carl Anderson , James Rainwater , and Edwin McMillan , who won the Chemistry prize .[ 4] In 1939 he authored a textbook on applied electromagnetism titled Static and Dynamic Electricity ,[ 5] which was a widely used reference specially by electrical engineers[ 6] in the field during the 20th century. His electromagnetism course was modeled after the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos examinations[ 7] [ 8] and designed to "weed out weaklings."[ 4] Smythe's course was so infamous that future Nobel Prize in Economics laureate Vernon Smith switched to electrical engineering from physics to avoid it.[ 9]
Personal life
Smythe's son, William Rodman Smythe, became a professor of physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder .[ 1] [ 10] Smythe died in Boulder, Colorado, on July 6, 1988.[ 1]
See also
References
^ a b c d Hough, John; Metzger, Eileen (1995). "Frasier Meadows Manor Retirement Community - Resident Biographies, Volume 1 - Ralph Smythe" (PDF) . p. 115. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2015 .
^ "Retiring This Year" (PDF) . Engineering and Science . 27 (9): 16. June 1964. Retrieved 20 November 2015 .
^ "Mass Spectrometry" . Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 2015-11-21 .
^ a b Smith, Dave (January 29, 1976). "Teacher of 6 Nobel men stays in swim of things" . The Milwaukee Journal. Retrieved 20 November 2015 .
^ Smythe, William Ralph (1 January 1989). Static And Dynamic Electricity . Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-89116-917-8 .
^ Terrall, M. (1978). "William Ralph Smythe (1893 - 1988)" . CaltechOralHistories . California Institute of Technology . p. 60.
^ Panofsky, Wolfgang K.H. (6 August 2007). Panofsky on Physics, Politics, and Peace: Pief Remembers . Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-0-387-69732-1 .
^ Greenberg, John; Buge, Carol. "Oral History of William A. Fowler" (PDF) . Archives of the California Institute of Technology. p. 14.
^ "Vernon L. Smith - Biographical" . www.nobelprize.org . Retrieved 2015-11-20 .
^ "Smythe, W. Rodman | Physics" . phys.colorado.edu . Retrieved 2015-11-21 .
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