Lewi Tonks, 1897-1971, American quantum physicist noted for discovery (with Marvin D. Girardeau) of the Tonks-Girardeau gas. 1897 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... American, when used as an adjective, can mean of the United States of America or of or relating to the Americas; when used as a noun, United States citizen, residing in the Americas, or less frequently American English. Immigrants to the United States are usually called first-generation Americans, regardless... Fig. ... The word physicist should not be confused with physician, which means medical doctor. ... Marvin D. Girardeau is a quantum physicist, currently a research professor at the University of Arizona. ... In physics, a Tonks-Girardeau gas is a Bose-Einstein Condensate in which the repulsive interactions between bosonic particles confined to one dimension dominate the physics of the system. ...

Tonks was employed by the General Electric for most of his working life, researching microwaves and ferromagnetism. He worked under Irving Langmuir on plasma physics, with a special interest in ball lightning, nuclear fusion, tungsten filiament light bulbs, and lasers. The General Electric Company, or GE, (NYSE: GE) is a multinational technology and services company. ... Microwave Slang for small waves, like at a beach, often used by surfers. ... Ferromagnetism is a phenomenon by which a material can exhibit a spontaneous magnetization, and is one of the strongest forms of magnetism. ... Irving Langmuir -- chemist and physicist Irving Langmuir (January 31, 1881 in Brooklyn, New York - August 16, 1957 in Woods Hole, Massachusetts) was an American chemist and physicist. ... The word plasma has a Greek root which means to be formed or molded (the word plastic shares this root). ... Ball Lightning Ball lightning is a natural phenomenon associated with thunderstorms and takes the form of a long-lived, glowing, floating object, as opposed to the short-lived arcing between two points seen in common lightning. ... The deuterium-tritium fusion reaction is considered the most promising for producing fusion power. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Tungsten, W, 74 Chemical series Transition metals Group, Period, Block 6 (VIB), 6, d Density, Hardness 19250 kg/m3, 7. ... 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). ... Laser (US Air Force) A laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is a device which uses a quantum mechanical effect, stimulated emission, to generate a coherent beam of light from a lasing medium of controlled purity, size, and shape. ...

Tonks advocated a logarithmic pressure scale for vacuum technology to replace the torr. In mathematics, if two variables of bn = x are known, the third can be found. ... Pressure (symbol: p or P) is the measure of the force that acts on a unit area. ... The article on the vacuum cleaner is located elsewhere. ... The torr is a unit of pressure. ...

Tonks was notable for his high ethical standards and concern with social problems. Several times, he put up bail money for people who could not themselves afford to do so; he provided career counselling for the poor in deprived areas; and after retiring from GE, worked as a volunteer for the Schenectady Human Rights Commission; and also campaigned on Vietnam war issues. Traditionally, bail is some form of property which is deposited or pledged to a court in order to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail (skipping bail is also illegal). ... The Vietnam War was a war fought roughly from 1957 to 1975 after the North Vietnamese government secretly agreed to begin involvement in South Vietnam. ...

External links

1. http://www.aip.org/history/esva/catalog/esva/Tonks_Lewi.html
2. http://www.aip.org/history/ead/aip_tonks/20030130.html