William Coblentz

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William Coblentz

William Weber Coblentz (born November 20, 1873 in North Lima , Ohio , † September 15, 1962 in Washington, DC ) was an American physicist and astronomer . He made significant research in infrared spectroscopy , for which he is considered a pioneer, and infrared astronomy .

Life

Coblentz had German-Swiss ancestors and grew up in the country in modest circumstances, so that he could not finish high school until 1896. He studied physics from 1896 at Case Western Reserve University (then Case School of Applied Science) with a bachelor's degree in 1900 and at Cornell University , where he made his master's degree in 1901 ( Infra-Red spectra of Asphalt ) and in 1903 with Edward L. Nichols ( Some Optical Properties of Iodine , Physical Review, Volume 16, 1913, pp. 35-50). He then spent two years researching on a Carnegie Foundation scholarship at Cornell University before joining the National Bureau of Standards in 1905, whose radiometric department he founded in 1905 and headed until his retirement in 1945.

Coblentz is a pioneer in infrared spectroscopy in the USA. He measured many spectra with high accuracy with a spectrometer he had developed and published them in a book in 1905. His investigations were also the first indication of the possibility of detecting functional groups in chemistry in the spectra and of using the infrared spectrum as a fingerprint of molecular groups which was recorded much later. He also measured the infrared radiation from stars , planets and nebulae. He developed his first infrared detector in 1913 for the Lick Observatory . With Carl Lampland (1873–1951) from the Lowell Observatory , he found evidence of a thin atmosphere from the differences in the infrared spectra of Mars by day and night. His determination of the constants of black body radiation confirmed Planck's law of radiation . He also dealt with other areas of physics, for example bioluminescence ( fireflies ), in later years with UV radiation and its medical application (therapeutic (1938) and as a trigger for skin cancer (1948)) and even with parapsychology . He held ten patents, including one for a solar cell .

Gravestone of Coblentz and Family, Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington D. C.

In 1924 he married Catherine Cate Coblentz (1897–1951), an author of children's books.

In recognition of his achievements in infrared astronomy, craters on the Moon and Mars were named after him. The Coblentz Society, which is dedicated to vibration spectroscopy, is named in his honor and awards a Coblentz Medal. In 1920 Coblentz received the Jansen Medal from the French Academy of Sciences. He received the Howard N. Potts Medal from the Franklin Institute in 1910 , the Rumford Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 1945 the Frederic Ives Medal from the Optical Society of America . In 1930 Coblentz was elected to the National Academy of Sciences . Coblentz Peak , a mountain in Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula, has borne his name since 1959 .

Fonts

  • Investigations of Infra-Red Spectra , Carnegie Institution 1905 (the book has been reprinted several times later), online
  • From the life of a researcher , New York, Philosophical Library 1951 (autobiography)

literature

  • William Meggers William Weber Coblentz , Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 39, 1965, pp. 54-102
  • Applied Optics, November 1963, the issue is dedicated to Coblitz
  • 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
  • Journal of the Optical Society of America, Volume 36, 1936, Issue 2, pp. 61-71, on receiving the Ives Medal, with list of publications

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ YM Rabkin Technological Innovation in Science: The Adoption of Infrared Spectroscopy by Chemists , Isis, Volume 78, 1987, pp. 31-54.
  2. ↑ Coblitz Present status of the determination of the constant of total radiation from a black body , Bulletin National Bureau of Standards, Volume 12, 1916, pp. 553-582
  3. ^ Coblentz A physical study of the firefly , Carnegie Institution 1912
  4. ↑ Man's place in a superphysical world , 1955
  5. ↑ Coblentz (moon crater) in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature of the IAU (WGPSN) / USGS
  6. ^ Coblentz (Mars crater) in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature of the IAU (WGPSN) / USGS
personal data
SURNAME Coblentz, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Coblentz, William Weber (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American physicist and astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH North Lima , Ohio
DATE OF DEATH September 15, 1962
Place of death Washington, DC