Irving Langmuir
Irving Langmuir at home (c. 1900)
Born	January 31, 1881(1881-01-31) Brooklyn, New York
Died	August 16, 1957 (aged 76) Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Nationality	USA
Field	Chemistry
Alma mater	Columbia University University of Göttingen
Academic advisor	Walther Nernst
Notable prizes	Nobel Prize/Chemistry

Irving Langmuir (January 31, 1881 in Brooklyn, New York - August 16, 1957 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts) was an American chemist and physicist. His most noted publication was the famous 1919 article "The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules" in which, building on Gilbert N. Lewis's cubical atom theory and Walther Kossel's chemical bonding theory, he outlined his "concentric theory of atomic structure".^[1] While at G.E., from 1909-1950, Langmuir advanced several basic fields of physics and chemistry, invented the gas-filled incandescent lamp, the hydrogen welding technique, and was awarded the 1932 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work in surface chemistry. He was the first industrial chemist to become a Nobel laureate. The Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research near Socorro, New Mexico was named in his honor as was the American Chemical Society journal for Surface Science, called Langmuir. Image File history File links Langmuir-sitting. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Woods Hole is a census-designated place and village within the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near the island of Marthas Vineyard, and is the site of three famous scientific institutions: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Marine Biological Laboratory... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ... Alma Mater Columbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... Walther Nernst. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to the present day. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Woods Hole is a census-designated place and village within the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near the island of Marthas Vineyard, and is the site of three famous scientific institutions: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Marine Biological Laboratory... For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... Lewis in the Berkeley Lab Gilbert Newton Lewis (October 23, 1875-March 23, 1946) was a famous American physical chemist. ... The cubical atom was an early atomic model developed by Gilbert N. Lewis in 1916 to account for the phenomenon of valency. ... Walther Ludwig Julius Kossel (January 4, 1888 in Berlin, Germany – 22 May 1956 in Tübingen, Germany) was a German physicist known for his theory of the chemical bond (ionic bond/octet rule), Sommerfeld-Kossel displacement law of atomic spectra, the Kossel-Stranski model for crystal growth, and the Kossel... “GE” redirects here. ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... For other uses, see Chemistry (disambiguation). ... The incandescent light bulb uses a glowing wire filament heated to white-hot by electrical resistance, to generate light (a process known as thermal radiation). ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to the present day. ... Surface chemistry is the study of chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases, usually between a gas and a solid or between a liquid and a solid. ... The Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research is a scientific laboratory studying the cloud processes that produce lightning, hail, and rain, located in the Magdalena Mountains of central New Mexico in the United States. ... Socorro is a city located in Socorro County, New Mexico in the Rio Grande Valley, at an elevation of 4579 feet. ... The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a learned society (professional association) based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. ... Langmuir is is a peer-reviewed scientific journal, published since 1985 by the American Chemical Society. ...

Life

Irving Langmuir was born in Brooklyn, New York on January 31, 1881. He was the third child of four of Charles Langmuir and Sadie, née Comings. During his childhood, Langmuir's parents encouraged him to carefully observe nature and to keep a detailed record of his various observations. When Irving was eleven, it was discovered that he had poor eyesight. When this problem was corrected, details that had previously eluded him were revealed. Because of this, his interest in nature and the various complications of nature was heightened. This article is about the borough of New York City. ... This article is about the state. ...

During his childhood, Langmuir was greatly influenced by his older brother, Arthur Langmuir. Arthur was a research chemist who encouraged Irving to be curious about nature and how things work. Arthur helped Irving set up his first chemistry lab in the corner of his bedroom, and he was content to answer the myriad of questions that Irving would pose. Langmuir's hobbies included mountaineering, skiing, piloting his own plane, and classical music. In addition to his professional interest in the politics of atomic energy, he was deeply concerned about wilderness conservation.

Education

He attended his early education at various schools and institutes in America and Paris (1892-1895). He graduated with a B.S. in metallurgical engineering from the Columbia University School of Mines (the first mining and metallury school in the U.S., established,1864 and presently known as Henry Krumb School of Mines) in 1903. He earned his Ph.D. degree in 1906 under Nobel laureate Walther Nernst in Göttingen, for research done using the "Nernst glower", an electric lamp invented by Nerst. His doctoral thesis was entitled “On the Partial Recombination of Dissolved Gases During Cooling.” He later did postgraduate work in chemistry. Langmuir then taught at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, until 1909, when he began working at the General Electric research laboratory (Schenectady, New York). In 1912, he married Marion Mersereau. Metallurgical engineering- Designing, creating, or producing metals by various methods, for various applications, from metallic elements described on the Chemical Periodic Table of the Elements. ... Alma Mater Columbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. ... A school of mines that forms part of Columbia University, New York City. ... Henry Krumb was a American copper miner. ... Walther Nernst. ... Göttingen marketplace with old city hall, Gänseliesel fountain and pedestrian zone Göttingen ( ) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... The Nernst glower is an obsolete device for providing a continuous source of (near) infrared radiation for use in spectroscopy. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Map of New Jersey highlighting Hoboken Image of Hoboken taken by NASA (red line shows where Hoboken is). ... “GE” redirects here. ... Schenectady (IPA ) is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. ...

Scientific work

His initial contributions to science came from his study of light bulbs (a continuation of his Ph.D. work). His first major development was the invention of the diffusion pump, which ultimately led to the invention of the high-vacuum tube. A year later, he and colleague Lewi Tonks discovered that the lifetime of a tungsten filament was greatly lengthened by filling the bulb with an inert gas, such as argon. He also discovered that twisting the filament into a tight coil improved its efficiency. These were important developments in the history of the incandescent light bulb. Diffusion pumps are a type of vacuum pump designed to achieve better vacuum pressures than possible by use of mechanical pumps alone. ... Structure of a vacuum tube diode Structure of a vacuum tube triode In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube, or (outside North America) thermionic valve or just valve, is a device used to amplify, switch or modify a signal by controlling the movement of electrons in an evacuated space. ... Lewi Tonks, 1897-1971, American quantum physicist noted for discovery (with Marvin D. Girardeau) of the Tonks-Girardeau gas. ... For other uses, see Tungsten (disambiguation). ... An inert gas is any gas that is not reactive under normal circumstances. ... General Name, symbol, number argon, Ar, 18 Chemical series noble gases Group, period, block 18, 3, p Appearance colorless Standard atomic weight 39. ... “Light bulb” redirects here. ...

Irving Langmuir - chemist and physicist

As he continued to study filaments in vacuum and different gas environments, he began to study the emission of charged particles from hot filaments (thermionic emission). He was one of the first scientists to work with plasmas and was the first to call these ionized gases by that name, because they reminded him of blood plasma.^[2] Irving Langmuir Source: http://perso. ... Irving Langmuir Source: http://perso. ... Closeup of the filament on a low pressure mercury gas discharge lamp showing white thermionic emission mix coating on the central portion of the coil. ... For other uses, see Plasma. ... Blood plasma is the liquid component of blood, in which the blood cells are suspended. ...

He introduced the concept of electron temperature and in 1924 invented the diagnostic method for measuring both temperature and density with an electrostatic probe, now called a Langmuir probe and commonly used in plasma physics. The current of a biased probe tip is measured as a function of bias voltage to determine the local plasma temperature and density. He also discovered atomic hydrogen, which he put to use by inventing the atomic hydrogen welding process; the first plasma weld ever made. Plasma welding has since been developed into gas tungsten arc welding. For other uses, see Plasma. ... For other uses, see Plasma. ... A Langmuir probe is a device named after Nobel Prize winning physicist Irving Langmuir which is used to determine the electron temperature, electron density, and plasma potential. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), also known as tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding, is an arc welding process that uses a nonconsumable tungsten electrode to produce the weld. ...

Later years

Following World War I Langmuir contributed to atomic theory and the understanding of atomic structure by defining the modern concept of valence shells and isotopes. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... The valence shell is the outermost shell of an atom, which contains the electrons most likely to account for the nature of any reactions involving the atom and of the bonding interactions it has with other atoms. ... For other uses, see Isotope (disambiguation). ...

He joined Katharine B. Blodgett to study thin films and surface absorption. They introduced the concept of a monolayer (a layer of material one molecule thick) and the two-dimensional physics which describe such a surface. In 1932 he received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry "for his discoveries and investigations in surface chemistry." // Katharine Blodgett was named the first woman to ever get her Ph. ... A monolayer is a single, closely packed layer of atoms or molecules [1]. A Langmuir monolayer is a one-molecule thick insoluble layer of an organic material spread onto an aqueous subphase. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to the present day. ... Surface chemistry is the study of chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases, usually between a gas and a solid or between a liquid and a solid. ...

Time Magazine, August 28, 1950

In 1938, Langmuir's scientific interests began to turn to atmospheric science and meteorology. One of his first ventures, although tangentially related, was a refutation the claim of entomologist Charles H. T. Townsend that the deer botfly flew at speeds in excess of 800 miles per hour. Langmuir estimated the fly's true speed at 25 miles per hour. This is a magazine cover. ... This is a magazine cover. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... Meteorology is the scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting. ... // Meteorology (from Greek: μετέωρον, meteoron, high in the sky; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting. ... Subfamilies  Cephenemyiinae  Gasterophilinae  Hypodermatinae Oestridae (also called botfly or bot fly) is a family of Oestroidea. ...

During World War II, Langmuir worked on improving naval sonar for submarine detection, and later to develop protective smoke screens and methods for deicing aircraft wings. This research led him to theorize that the introduction of dry ice and iodide into a sufficiently moist cloud of low temperature could induce precipitation (cloud seeding); though in frequent practice, particularly in Australia and the People's Republic of China, the efficiency of this technique remains controversial today. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... This article is about underwater sound propagation. ... An American Airlines MD-80 aircraft being de-iced at Syracuse Hancock International Airport De-icing is the process of removing ice from a surface. ... Dry ice is a genericized trademark for solid (frozen) carbon dioxide. ... An iodide ion is an iodine atom with a −1 (negative one) charge. ... Cessna 210 with cloud seeding equipment Cloud seeding, a form of weather modification, is the attempt to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds, by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei. ...

In 1953 Langmuir coined the term "pathological science", describing research conducted with accordance to the scientific method, but tainted by unconscious bias or subjective effects. This is in contrast to pseudoscience, which has no pretense of following the scientific method. In his original speech, he presented ESP and flying saucers as examples of pathological science; since then, the label has been applied to polywater and cold fusion. Irving Langmuir coined the phrase pathological science in a talk in 1953 Pathological science is the process in science in which people are tricked into false results . ... Scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. ... A typical 18th century phrenology chart. ... Extra-sensory perception (ESP) is defined in parapsychology as the ability to aquire information by paranormal means. ... UFO redirects here. ... Polywater was a hypothetical polymerized form of water that was the subject of much scientific controversy during the late 1960s. ... This article is about the nuclear reaction. ...

After a short illness, he died of a heart attack in 1957. His obituary ran on the front page of the New York Times. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

The Irving Langmuir House, in Schenectady, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. Irving Langmuir House was a home of Irving Langmuir. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources to improve its verifiability. ...

References

1. ^ Langmuir, I. (1919). "The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules", Journal of the American Chemical Society. Vol. 41, No. 6, 861.
2. ^ What is Plasma? - Coalition for Plasma Science

Patents

• Langmuir, U.S. Patent 1,180,159 , "Incandescent Electric Lamp"
• Langmuir, U.S. Patent 1,244,217 , "Electron-discharge apparatus and method of operating the same"
• Langmuir, U.S. Patent 1,251,388 , "Method of and apparatus for controlling x-ray tubes"

External links

• Langmuir Journal ACS Chemistry Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
• "Langmuir, Irving" Infoplease.com.
• " Irving Langmuir's Ball Lightning Tube". Ball Lightning Page. Science Hobbyist.
• "Irving Langmuir shows Whitney one of his inventions, the Pliotron tube. ca. 1920.". Willis Rodney whitney: the "Father of basic research in industry".
• "Pathological Science" - noted lecture of 18 December 1953 at GE Labs