John C. Slater

For other people named John Slater, see John Slater (disambiguation).
John C. Slater
Slater in 1952
Born
John Clarke Slater

(1900-12-22)December 22, 1900
Oak Park, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJuly 25, 1976(1976-07-25) (aged 75)
Sanibel Island, Florida, U.S.
Alma mater
Known for
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
Institutions
Thesis The Compressibility of the Alkali-Halides  (1923)
Doctoral advisorPercy Williams Bridgman
Doctoral students

John Clarke Slater (December 22, 1900 – July 25, 1976) was an American physicist who advanced the theory of the electronic structure of atoms, molecules and solids.[1][2][3] He also made major contributions to microwave electronics.[1] He received a B.S. in physics from the University of Rochester in 1920 and a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard in 1923, then did post-doctoral work at the universities of Cambridge (briefly) and Copenhagen. On his return to the U.S. he joined the physics department at Harvard.

In 1930, Karl Compton, the president of MIT, appointed Slater as chairman of MIT's department of physics. He recast the undergraduate physics curriculum, wrote 14 books between 1933 and 1968, and built a department of international prestige. During World War II, his work on microwave transmission, done partly at the Bell Laboratories and in association with the MIT Radiation Laboratory, was significant in the development of radar.

In 1950, Slater founded the Solid State and Molecular Theory Group (SSMTG) within the physics department. The following year, he resigned the chairmanship of the department and spent a year at the Brookhaven National Laboratory of the Atomic Energy Commission. He was appointed Institute Professor of Physics and continued to direct work in the SSMTG until he retired from MIT in 1965, at the mandatory retirement age of 65.

He then joined the Quantum Theory Project of the University of Florida as research professor, where the retirement age allowed him to work for another five years. The SSMTG has been regarded[1] as the precursor of the MIT Center for Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE).[4] His scientific autobiography[5] and three interviews[6][7] present his views on research, education and the role of science in society.

Slater was nominated for the Nobel Prize, in both physics and chemistry, multiple times,[8] and he received the National Medal of Science in 1970. In 1964, Slater and his then-92-year-old father, who had headed the Department of English at the University of Rochester many years earlier, were awarded honorary degrees by that university. Slater's name is part of the terms Bohr-Kramers-Slater theory, Slater determinant and Slater orbital.

  1. ^ a b c Philip M. Morse, John Clarke Slater (1900–1976) : A Biographical Memoir by Philip M. Morse (PDF), retrieved 2014-12-12
  2. ^ Per-Olav Lowdin (ed.) Quantum Theory of Atoms, Molecules and the Solid State, A Tribute to John C. Slater, Academic Press, N.Y. 1966.
  3. ^ Van Vleck, John H. (October 1976). "John C. Slater". Physics Today. 29 (10): 68–69. Bibcode:1976PhT....29j..68V. doi:10.1063/1.3024428. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27.
  4. ^ "MIT Center for Materials Science and Engineering". Mit.edu. 2011-03-10. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  5. ^ Slater, J. C. (1975). Solid-State and Molecular Theory: A Scientific Biography. New York: Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-79681-7.
  6. ^ "Oral history interview transcript with John C. Slater 3 October 1963, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives". American Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 2011-03-14.
  7. ^ Oral History Transcript - Dr. John C. Slater, interviewed by Charles Weiner, Niels Bohr Center and Archives for the History of Physics. Session I, Gainesville, February 23, 1970. Archived June 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Session II, MIT, August 7, 1970. Archived June 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "John Clarks Slater". NobelPrize.org. 2020-04-01. Retrieved 2022-04-05.