Biographical Memoirs Volume 53 (1982) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 296-321
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From page 297... ...
He was exceptional in that he persisted in exploring atomic, molecular, and solid state theory, while many of his peers were coerced by war, or tempted by novelty, to divert to nuclear mysteries. Not least, his texts and his lectures contributed materially to the rise of the illustrious American generation of physicists of the 1 940's and 1950's.*
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From page 298... ...
298 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS theless, when he entered the University of Rochester in 1917 he took physics courses as well as a curriculum of chemistry and mathematics. As a senior he assisted in the physics laboratory and clid his first indepenclent research for a special honors thesis, a measurement of the clependence on pressure of the intensities of the Balmer lines of hydrogen.
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From page 299... ...
The result of Slater's conversations was the celebrated paper [19241 on "The Quantum Theory of Radiation" in the Philosophical Magazine, listed as by Prof.
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From page 300... ...
It was natural that the Harvard Physics Department annexed Slater to its staff when he returned to America. Though all papers written by theoretical physicists on the eve of the quantum mechanical breakthrough were speculative in nature, two of Slater's speculations were essentially correct.
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From page 301... ...
It was published in 1931 but he had been working and talking about the subject before 1930. The idea of directed valence is that by using proper linear combinations of s and p wave functions one can construct wave functions that project out in particular directions like the horns of a cow.
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From page 302... ...
John had twice spent time in Europe, taking significant part in hammering out the implications of the new quantum mechanics, whereas ~ was scheduled to make my first pilgrimage to Europe in the next year. It is hard for this generation to appreciate the feeling of inferiority we then, in this country, felt for pure science in Europe.
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From page 303... ...
In 1931 he wrote on directec! valence and on the quantum theory of the equation of state, in 1934 there was a paper on energy bands in metals, and in 1936 one on ferromagnetism in nickel.
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From page 304... ...
Compton, with Vannevar Bush's National Defense Research Committee's financing, set up the Radiation l~aboratory at MIT to develop microwave radar. At these high frequencies the electromagnetic fields had more in common with sound waves than with the usual wire-born currents, and those familiar with theoretical physics were better acquainted with their behavior than were the electrical engineers of that era.
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From page 305... ...
C Slater, Solid-State and Molecular Theory: A Scientific Biography (New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1975)
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From page 306... ...
Tohn's own research returned to molecular and solid state theory. As the postwar department began to take form, he was able to spend more time in this field.
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From page 307... ...
"As he put it, 'Our purpose is to take the quantum theory of atoms, molecules and solids out of the semi-empirical form which it has largely followecl since the development of wave mechanics and to proceed! as rapicIly as possible to put it on a quantitative basis.' " ~ Having served as departmental head for twenty-one years, he was ready to give up administration and become an Institute Professor, able to clevote his energies to research and teaching.
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From page 308... ...
With atoms, the Hartree-Fock-Slater potential is spherically symmetrical, but with molecules the potential involves two or more centers; the interaction integrals between wave functions far exceeded the computational capabilities of the time. With the advent of the Whirlwind]
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From page 309... ...
As Slater has written: "The Florida Physics Department was a congenial one, with main emphasis on solid state physics, statistical physics and relater! fields.
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From page 310... ...
He and his colleagues calculated the compressibilities of various solicts (thus coming full circle from his doctoral thesis) , the magnetic properties of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic materials, the binding energies and magnetic properties of various polyatomic molecules, X-ray absorption in molecules and solids, the relationship between the Xa method and the virial theorem and the use of the Xc method]
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From page 311... ...
The quantum theory of radiation. Philos.
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From page 312... ...
Rev., 37:682-97. The quantum theory of the equation of state.
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From page 313... ...
Rev., 51:840-46. Wave functions in a periodic potential.
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From page 314... ...
Princeton, Ad.: D Van Nostrand.
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From page 315... ...
Rev., 84:1261-62. Quantum Theory of Matter.
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From page 316... ...
1~. Work on molecular theory in the Solid State and Molecular Theory Group at MIT.
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From page 317... ...
1960 Quantum Theory of Atomic Structure, vols.
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From page 318... ...
Science, 148:805. Symmetry and Energy Bands in Crystals, Quantum Theory of Molecules and Solids, vol.
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From page 319... ...
Treatment of exchange in atomic, molecular and solid state theory.
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From page 320... ...
1974 The Self-Consistent Field for Molecules and Solids, Quantum Theory of Molecules and Solids, vol.
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From page 321... ...
JOH N CLARKE SLATER 321 Power series methods for cellular calculations on atoms, molecules and solids. In: Quantum Science, ed.
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