Albert Potter Wills (1873–1937) was an American physicist who researched magnetic materials and was the PhD advisor of the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner

Isidor Isaac Rabi Isidor Isaac Rabi (; born Israel Isaac Rabi, July 29, 1898 – January 11, 1988) was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944 for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance, which is used in magnetic resonance ima ...

. During his career he investigated magnetic susceptibilities, magnetic shielding,

magnetostriction Magnetostriction (cf. electrostriction) is a property of magnetic materials that causes them to change their shape or dimensions during the process of magnetization. The variation of materials' magnetization due to the applied magnetic field chan ...

, conduction of electricity through mercury vapor, and hydrodynamics. He also wrote a textbook on

vector analysis Vector calculus, or vector analysis, is concerned with differentiation and integration of vector fields, primarily in 3-dimensional Euclidean space \mathbb^3. The term "vector calculus" is sometimes used as a synonym for the broader subjec ...

. Wills received his PhD from

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...

in 1897 under

Arthur Gordon Webster Arthur Gordon Webster (November 28, 1863 – May 15, 1923) was an American physicist who founded the American Physical Society. Biography Webster was born on November 28, 1863, at Brookline, Massachusetts, to William Edward Webster and Mary Sha ...

with a thesis entitled: ''On the susceptibility of diamagnetic and weakly magnetic substances.'' During 1898–1899 Wills worked at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

and the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

. During 1899–1902 he was at

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...

and 1902–1903 at the Cooper Hewitt Laboratory. His final appointment, 1903–1937, was at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. In 1909 at Columbia University,

Max Planck Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (, ; 23 April 1858 – 4 October 1947) was a German theoretical physicist whose discovery of energy quanta won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Planck made many substantial contributions to theoretical p ...

gave eight lectures in German. Wills translated the lectures into English, and in 1915 Columbia University Press published his translation.

References

Sources

* J. C. Poggendorff, ''Biographisch-literarisches Handwörterbuch für Mathematik, Astronomie, Physik, Chemie und verwandte Wissenschaftsgebiete;'' P. Weinmeister, P., Ed.; Verlag-Chemie: Berlin, 1904; Bd. IV, p. 1644. * ''American Men of Science'', 2nd ed.; Cattell, J.M., Eds.; Science Press: Lancaster, PA, 1910; pp. 515. * "Prof. Albert Wills is dead in Florida," ''The New York Times'', Apr 18, 1937, p. 48 (or II 8), col. 4. * National Cyclopaedia of American Biography being the history of the United States. New York: James T White & Co, 1939; Vol 27, pp. 430–431. * A.P. Wills, "On the susceptibility of diamagnetic and weakly magnetic substances," PhD Thesis, Clark University, Worcester, MA, 1897. (Also appeared in ''Phil. Mag.'' 1898, 45, pp.432–447). * I.I. Rabi, ''Phys. Rev.'' 1927, 29(1), pp. 174–185

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Albert Potter American physicists 1873 births 1937 deaths Clark University alumni Bryn Mawr College faculty Columbia University faculty