Elmer Imes

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Elmer Samuel Imes (born October 12, 1883 in Memphis (Tennessee) , † September 11, 1941 in New York ) was an American physicist .

Life

Imes - as a son of Elizabeth Wallace and Benjamin A. Imes of Afro-American descent - attended Grammar School in Oberlin, Ohio and the College of Agriculture and Technology in Norman, Alabama . He then studied until 1903 in Nashville at Fisk University, which was founded in 1866 for African-American students. After graduation, he taught math and physics at Alabama Normal University, but returned to Fisk University in 1913 for his Masters Degree in Physics (1915).

In 1918 Imes received his doctorate in physics from the University of Michigan under Harrison Randall (1870-1969). Randall had studied with Friedrich Paschen in Tübingen and set up a center for infrared spectroscopy at the university . Imes was one of his best students. In November 1919, Imes published the research results on the absorption of infrared radiation in some covalent gases from his dissertation in the Astrophysical Journal . With this publication Imes created the scientific basis for the development of infrared spectroscopy, to which he also contributed through the further development of infrared spectrometers. At the same time, his and Randall's detailed spectra of simple molecules (with additional rotation and vibration bands in the infrared range typical for molecules) were evidence of quantum mechanics, which was then in its early stages by Niels Bohr and others . Imes and Randall's work showed that quantum theory was applicable not only to atomic spectra, but also in more complex systems (with radiation in other areas of the spectrum). They also provided early evidence of an isotope shift in the spectra. At that time, William Coblentz at Cornell University was also a pioneer of infrared spectroscopy in the USA .

As an African American, Imes was unable to pursue a university career that matched his skills and went to the New York area as a consulting physicist and industrial physicist . In 1922 he was research physicist at the Federal Engineers Development Corporation, from 1924 at Burrows Magnetic Equipment Corporation and from 1927 research engineer at EA Everett Signal Supplies. This work led to four patents in his name, but did not satisfy Imes, so that in 1930 he returned to Fisk University as a physics professor. He devoted himself to teaching and researched infrared spectroscopy and magnetic materials, which he had gained experience in his time as an industrial physicist.

Imes is considered to be the first black physicist who made important contributions to modern physics and was only the second African American to receive a doctorate in physics in the USA.

On May 3, 1919, Elmer Imes and the Afro-American writer Nella Larsen married . With her he was part of the cultural boom of African American intellectuals in New York City ( Harlem Renaissance ). The marriage ended in divorce in 1933 after the couple had previously separated temporarily. Since both were nationally known African-American intellectuals, the divorce at Fisk University, where Imes had since entered into a relationship with the manager of the famous Fisk Jubilee Singers , led to a scandal.

literature

  • E. Scott Barr Men and milestones in optics. VI: The rise of infrared spectroscopy in the USA to World War II , Applied Optics, Volume 15, Issue 7, 1977, pp. 1707-1721
  • Norman Sheppard: The Historical Development of Experimental Techniques in Vibrational Spectroscopy , in John M. Chalmers, Peter Griffiths Handbook of Vibrational Spectroscopy , Volume 1, Wiley 2002

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ His father was a missionary in the southern states and his mother was born a slave.
  2. ↑ Imes Measurements of the near infra-red absorption of some diatomic gases , Astrophysical Journal 20 (1919), 251-276
  3. ↑ Imes, Randall: The Fine Structure of the Near Infra-Red Absorption Bands of HCI, HBr, and HF. In: Physical Review. 15, 1920, pp. 152-155
  4. ↑ Margaret Alic, biography of Imes, see web links. The first was Edward Bouchet at Yale University in 1876.
personal data
SURNAME Imes, Elmer
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Imes, Elmer Samuel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Memphis (Tennessee)
DATE OF DEATH September 11, 1941
Place of death new York