Robert A. Millikan

Robert Andrews Millikan
Born	March 22, 1868 Morrison, Illinois, USA
Died	December 19, 1953 San Marino, California, USA
Residence	USA
Nationality	American
Field	Physicist
Institution	University of Chicago California Institute of Technology
Alma Mater	Oberlin College Columbia University
Doctoral Advisor	Michael Pupin Albert Michelson
Doctoral Students	William Pickering
Known for	Charge on the electron
Notable Prizes	Nobel Prize for Physics (1923)

Robert Andrews Millikan (March 22, 1868 – December 19, 1953) was an American experimental physicist who won the 1923 Nobel Prize for his measurement of the charge on the electron and for his work on the photoelectric effect. He later studied cosmic rays. Image File history File links Robert-millikan1. ... March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (82nd in leap years). ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Morrison may refer to: // Companies Wm Morrison (Morrisons) - a chain of supermarkets in the UK. People Adam Morrison (born 1984), American college basketball player Alexia Morrison, litigant in Morrison v. ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... Physicists working in a government lab A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ... The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech)[1] is a private, coeducational university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ... Oberlin College is a small, selective liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, in the United States. ... Columbia University is a private university whose main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ... Mihajlo Pupin. ... Albert Abraham Michelson. ... William Pickering (April 2, 1796 – 1854), British publisher and bookseller (biography: Keynes, Geoffrey Kt. ... The Electron is a fundamental subatomic particle that carries an electric charge. ... Image File history File links Nobel. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (82nd in leap years). ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Physics (from the Greek, (phúsis), nature and (phusiké), knowledge of nature) is the science concerned with the discovery and understanding of the fundamental laws which govern matter, energy, space and time. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... The Electron is a fundamental subatomic particle that carries an electric charge. ... The photoelectric effect is the emission of electrons from matter upon the absorption of electromagnetic radiation, such as ultraviolet radiation or x-rays. ... Cosmic rays can loosely be defined as energetic particles originating outside of the Earth. ...

Biography

Education

Millikan received a Bachelor's degree in the classics from Oberlin College in 1891 and his doctorate in physics from Columbia University in 1895 Рhe was the first to earn a Ph.D. from that department. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Classics, particularly within the Western University tradition, when used as a singular noun, means the study of the language, literature, history, art, and other aspects of Greek and Roman culture during the time frame known as classical antiquity. ... Oberlin College is a small, selective liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, in the United States. ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Physics (from the Greek, (ph̼sis), nature and (phusik̩), knowledge of nature) is the science concerned with the discovery and understanding of the fundamental laws which govern matter, energy, space and time. ... Columbia University is a private university whose main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ... 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

"At the close of my sophomore year [...] my Greek professor [...] asked me to teach the course in elementary physics in the preparatory department during the next year. To my reply that I did not know any physics at all, his answer was, 'Anyone who can do well in my Greek can teach physics.' 'All right,' said I, 'you will have to take the consequences, but I will try and see what I can do with it.' I at once purchased an Avery’s Elements of Physics, and spent the greater part of my summer vacation of 1889 at home – trying to master the subject. [...] I doubt if I have ever taught better in my life than in my first course in physics in 1889. I was so intensely interested in keeping my knowledge ahead of that of the class that they may have caught some of my own interest and enthusiasm."

Millikan's enthusiasm for education continued throughout his career, and he was the coauthor of a popular and influential series of introductory textbooks,^[1] which were ahead of their time in many ways. Compared to other books of the time, they treated the subject more in the way in which it was thought about by physicists. They also included many homework problems that asked conceptual questions, rather than simply requiring the student to plug numbers into a formula. 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

• spouse = Greta Ervin Blanchard (m. 1902)
• children = Clark Blanchard, Glenn Allen, and Max Franklin

Charge of the electron

In 1901, while a professor at the University of Chicago, Millikan published the first results of his oil-drop experiment (since repeated, with varying degrees of success, by generations of physics students) in which he measured the charge on a single electron. The so-called elementary charge is one of the fundamental physical constants and accurate knowledge of its value is of great importance. His experiment measured the force on tiny charged droplets of oil suspended against gravity between two metal electrodes. Knowing the electric field, the charge on the droplet could be determined. Repeating the experiment for many droplets, Millikan showed that the results could be explained as integer multiples of a common value (-1.592×10^-19 coulomb), the charge on a single electron. That this is somewhat lower than the modern value of -1.60217653×10^-19 coulomb is probably due to Millikan's use of an inaccurate value for the viscosity of air. 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A professor giving a lecture The meaning of the word professor (Latin: one who claims publicly to be an expert) varies. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ... The purpose of Robert Millikans oil-drop experiment (1909) was to measure the electric charge of the electron. ... The Electron is a fundamental subatomic particle that carries an electric charge. ... The elementary charge (symbol e or sometimes q) is the electric charge carried by a single proton, or equivalently, the negative of the electric charge carried by a single electron. ... In science, a physical constant is a physical quantity whose numerical value does not change. ... The integers are commonly denoted by the above symbol. ... The coulomb (symbol: C) is the SI unit of electric charge. ... The elementary charge (symbol e or sometimes q) is the electric charge carried by a single proton, or equivalently, the negative of the electric charge carried by a single electron. ... The coulomb (symbol: C) is the SI unit of electric charge. ... The pitch drop experiment at the University of Queensland. ... Layers of Atmosphere (NOAA) Air redirects here. ...

There is some controversy over the use of selectivity in Millikan's results of his second experiment measuring the electron charge. This work was done by Allan Franklin, a former high energy experimentalist and current philosopher of science at the University of Colorado. Franklin contends that, while Millikan's exclusions of data do not affect the final value of e that he obtained, there was substantial "cosmetic surgery" that Millikan performed which had the effect of reducing the statistical error on e. This enabled Millikan to quote the figure that he had calculated e to better than one half of one percent; in fact, if Millikan had included all of the data he threw out, it would have been to within 2%. While this would still have resulted in Millikan having measured e better than anyone else at the time, the slightly larger uncertainty might have allowed more disagreement with his results within the physics community, which Millikan likely tried to avoid. The University of Colorado (CU) System consists of five campuses: University of Colorado at Boulder University of Colorado at Colorado Springs University of Colorado at Denver University of Colorado Health Sciences Center Fitzsimons campus of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, scheduled to open in 2007 in Aurora, Colorado...

Photoelectric effect

When Einstein published his seminal 1905 paper on the particle theory of light, Millikan was convinced that it had to be wrong, because of the vast body of evidence that had already shown that light was a wave. He undertook a decade-long experimental program to test Einstein's theory, which required building what he described as "a machine shop in vacuo" in order to prepare the very clean metal surface of the photo electrode. His results confirmed Einstein's predictions in every detail, but Millikan was not convinced of Einstein's radical interpretation, and as late as 1916 he wrote, "Einstein's photoelectric equation... cannot in my judgment be looked upon at present as resting upon any sort of a satisfactory theoretical foundation," even though "it actually represents very accurately the behavior" of the photoelectric effect. In his 1950 autobiography, however, he simply declared that his work "scarcely permits of any other interpretation than that which Einstein had originally suggested, namely that of the semi-corpuscular or photon theory of light itself." Einstein redirects here. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A wave is a disturbance that propagates through space or spacetime, often transferring energy. ... 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Since Millikan's work formed some of the basis for modern particle physics, it is ironic that he was rather conservative in his opinions about 20th century developments in physics, as in the case of the photon theory. Another example is that his textbook, as late as the 1927 version, unambiguously states the existence of the ether, and mentions Einstein's theory of relativity only in a noncommittal note at the end of the caption under Einstein's portrait, stating as the last in a list of accomplishments that he was "author of the special theory of relativity in 1905 and of the general theory of relativity in 1914, both of which have had great success in explaining otherwise unexplained phenomena and in predicting new ones."

Later life

In 1917, solar astronomer George Ellery Hale convinced Millikan to begin spending several months each year at the Throop College of Technology, a small academic institution in Pasadena, California that Hale wished to transform into a major center for scientific research and education. A few years later Throop College became the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and Millikan left the University of Chicago in order to become Caltech's "chairman of the executive council" (effectively its president). Millikan would serve in that position from 1921 to 1945. At Caltech most of his scientific research focused on the study of "cosmic rays" (a term which he coined). About 1927 he worked with Friedrich Hund on the development of the theory now known as the Millikan-Hund theory, regarding quantum behaviour. In the 1930s he entered into a debate with Arthur Compton over whether cosmic rays were composed of high-energy photons (Millikan's view) or charged particles (Compton's view). Millikan thought the cosmic ray photons were the "birth cries" of new atoms continually being created by God to counteract entropy and prevent the heat death of the universe. Compton would eventually be proven right by the observation that cosmic rays are deflected by the Earth's magnetic field (and so must be charged particles). 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... George Ellery Hale, Sc. ... Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech)[1] is a private, coeducational university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ... The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Cosmic rays can loosely be defined as energetic particles originating outside of the Earth. ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Arthur H. Compton on the cover of Time magazine, January 13, 1936 Arthur Holly Compton (September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962) won the Nobel Prize in Physics (1927) for discovery of the effect named after him. ... Robert Millikan pursued the theory of birth cries of atoms for many years, to explain the origin of cosmic rays. ... In thermodynamics, entropy, symbolized by S, is a state function of a thermodynamic system defined by the differential quantity , where dQ is the amount of heat absorbed in a reversible process in which the system goes from the one state to another, and T is the absolute temperature. ... The heat death is a possible final state of the universe, in which it has run down to a state of no free energy to sustain motion or life. ... In physics, magnetism is one of the phenomena by which materials exert an attractive or repulsive force on other materials. ...

In his private life, Millikan was an enthusiastic tennis player. He was married and had three sons, the eldest of which, Clark B. Millikan, became a prominent aerodynamic engineer. A tennis net Tennis is a game played between either two players (singles) or two teams of two players (doubles). Players use a stringed racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponents court. ... Aerodynamics (shaping of objects that affect the flow of air, liquid or gas) is a branch of fluid dynamics concerned with the study of forces and gas flows. ...

His beliefs are of some note today. In his later life he became interested in the relationship between Christian faith and science, his own father having been a minister. He dealt with this in pamphlets and the book Evolution in Science and Religion. A more controversial belief of his was eugenics. This led to his association with the Human Betterment Foundation and his praising of San Marino, California for being "the westernmost outpost of Nordic civilization . . . [with] a population which is twice as Anglo-Saxon as that existing in New York, Chicago or any of the great cities of this country."[1] The Human Betterment Foundation (HBF) was an American eugenics organization established in Pasadena, California in 1928 by E.S. Gosney with the aim to foster and aid constructive and educational forces for the protection and betterment of the human family in body, mind, character, and citizenship. It primarily served to... San Marino is a city in Los Angeles County, California, USA. The population was 12,945 at the 2000 census. ...

Death and legacy

37 cent stamp, issued 26 Jan 1982

He died at his home in San Marino, California in 1953 and was interred in the "Court of Honor" at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Millikan Middle School (formerly Millikan Junior High School) in the suburban Los Angeles neighborhood of Sherman Oaks is named in his honor. Image File history File links Robert-millikan-stamp. ... Image File history File links Robert-millikan-stamp. ... Gates of Forest Lawn Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a cemetery in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. ... Nickname The Jewel City Location Location of Glendale within Los Angeles County and the State of California. ...

Awards

• IEEE Edison Medal (1922)
• Hughes Medal (1923)
• Nobel Prize for Physics (1923)
• Matteucci Medal (1925)

The Hughes Medal, named after microphone inventor David Edward Hughes, is one of several medals awarded by the Royal Society, Englands reigning academy of science. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Physics from 1901 to the present day. ... The Matteucci Medal was established to award physicists for their fundamental contributions. ...

Bibliography

• Goodstein, D., "In defense of Robert Andrews Millikan", Engineering and Science, 2000. No 4, pp30-38 (pdf).
• Millikan, R A (1950) The Autobiography of Robert Millikan
• Nobel Lectures, "Robert A. Millikan – Nobel Biography". Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam.
• Segerstråle, U (1995) Good to the last drop? Millikan stories as “canned” pedagogy, Science and Engineering Ethics vol 1, pp197-214
• Robert Andrews Millikan "Robert A. Millikan – Nobel Biography".
• The NIST Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty

See also

• Nobel Prize controversies

Since the first award of the Nobel Prizes in 1901, they have generated criticism and much controversy. ...

Notes

1. ^ The books, coauthored with Henry Gordon Gale, were A First Course in Physics (1906), Practical Physics (1920), Elements of Physics (1927), and New Elementary Physics (1936).

Henry Gordon Gale (September 12, 1874 - November 16, 1942) was an American astrophysicist and author. ...

References and further reading

Books

• Waller, John, "Einstein's Luck: The Truth Behind Some of the Greatest Scientific Discoveries". Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-860719-9
• Physics paper On the Elementary Electrical Charge and the Avogadro Constant (extract) http://www.aip.org/history/gap/
• Works by Robert Millikan at Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...

External links

• "Famous Iowans," by Tom Longdon
• Millikan biography with a lot of pictures