Antoine Marc Gaudin (August 8, 1900 – August 23, 1974) was a
metallurgist
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
who laid the foundation for understanding the scientific principles of the
froth flotation
Froth flotation is a process for selectively separating hydrophobic materials from hydrophilic. This is used in mineral processing, paper recycling and waste-water treatment industries. Historically this was first used in the mining industry, wher ...
process in the minerals industry. He was also a professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
, and during World War II developed there the ore-processing techniques needed to extract uranium from its low grade ores for the Manhattan Project. He was a founding member of the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...
.
Early life
Gaudin was born in
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
,
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, where his French father was a railroad general manager and archaeologist, who relocated often. By his maturity Antoine could converse in Spanish, German, English, Greek, and French. The family returned to France where he was educated in
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
,
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
, and
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
.
Education
Gaudin attended universities in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...
from which he received his bachelor's degrees in 1916 and 1917, respectively. Toward the end of World War I, Gaudin and his father Paul moved to the United States, where Antoine attended
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 ...
and served, briefly in 1918, in the U. S. military. Working under the respected Arthur F. Taggert, specialists in ore dressing, he was granted in 1921 an Engineer of Mines degree from the
School of Mines
A school of mines (or mining school) is an engineering school, often established in the 18th and 19th centuries, that originally focused on mining engineering and applied science. Most have been integrated within larger constructs such as minera ...
at Columbia.
Career
After brief interludes in industry and a short-term relocation to France after his father's death, Gaudin returned to Columbia in 1924 as a lecturer. In 1926 he became an American citizen. From 1926 to 1929 he taught at the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
, and served as its head of research working with the U. S. Bureau of Mines in exploring flotation reagents. From 1929 to 1939, he was initially the "first research professor in ore dressing" at the
Montana School of Mines, Butte, and continued his work in flotation research.
Gaudin and his colleagues at the University of Utah/U.S. Bureau of Mines, and later Montana Tech, systematically investigated the function of reagents on the flotation behavior of pure minerals. Gaudin is admired as the father of ‘Fundamental Flotation Research’ due to his focused research on flotation process. Earlier work had focused on the improvement of machinery and physical systems, while Gaudin focused on the chemical. During this time and because of his and other metallurgists work, the understanding of flotation processes evolved from one of mechanics and empirical research to that of the chemical phase, the understanding of the science underpinning the process, which aided in the greatly expanded utility of the process. His book ''Flotation'' (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1932, revised edition 1957) was the first definitive hand-book for the process. In 1941, the Montana School of Mines bestowed on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Science for his research on flotation. The book "Principles of Mineral Dressing" authored by Gaudin is still the basic book for all mineral processing engineers.
He then assumed a professorship at MIT in 1939. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and subsequently, Gaudin led an MIT team extracting
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...
from low-grade ore. In secret research for the Manhattan Project, his team discovered how to use leaching and ion exchange to extract uranium from low grade ores for use in the development of the atomic bomb.
He taught for over a quarter of a century at MIT, and earned the affection of his students who for twenty years hosted an annual breakfast for him at the annual meeting of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME). He retired from MIT in 1966. For his distinguished career in education, Gaudin was awarded several of the highest honors bestowed by the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers.
The
published two volumes titled ''Flotation - A.M. Gaudin Memorial Volume'' in 1976, edited by MC Fuerstenau. In 1975 the
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration
The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) is a professional association for mining and metallurgy, with over 145,000 members. It was founded in 1871 by 22 mining engineers in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Un ...
(SME) instituted the 'Antoine M. Gaudin Award' in honour of Gaudin. It is awarded for: "scientific or engineering contributions that further understanding of the technology of mineral processing".
In 2016, in a list of the ten most famous metallurgists since Agricola, the SME selected Gaudin among its number.
Personal life
In 1927, Gaudin married Anna Goodeth Brooks of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Former students and colleagues knew Anna, wife of Gaudin, as a charming and gracious woman. Gaudin was blessed with sons Paul and Robert, daughter Elinor, and twelve grand children. Gaudin was an avid fisherman, an outstanding chess player, on occasions a gourmet cook, an artist and a collector of paintings, as well as a patron of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
On August 23, 1974, Gaudin died in Boston, Massachusetts. He and his wife are interred in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
Awards
(1) Robert H. Richards Award (1957), American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME).
(2) Mineral Industry Education Award (1969), AIME.
(3) Honorary Member (1972), AIME.
(4) Henry Krumb Lecture (1967), AIME.
(5) Extractive Metallurgy Lecture (1961), AIME.
(6) Sir Julius Wernher Lecture (1952), Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, London.
(7) Doctor of Science Honoris Causa (1941), The Montana School of Mines.
References
External links
National Academy memorial tribute* AM Gaudin, Principles of Mineral Dressing, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited, New Delhi.
* Douglas W. Fuerstenau, “A Century of Developments in the Chemistry of Flotation Processing”, Centenary of Flotation Symposium, Brisbane, Australia, June, 2005. http://www.nanoparticles.org/pdf/fuerstenau.pdf
* Antoine M. Gaudin Award, http://www.smenet.org/membership/awards/division-awards/mineral-metallurgical-processing-(mpd)/antoine-m-gaudin-award
* http://min-eng.blogspot.com/2015/07/in-conversation-with-douglas-fuerstenau.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaudin, Antoine Marc
1900 births
1974 deaths
20th-century American engineers
Founding members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni
University of Utah faculty
French emigrants to the United States
French expatriates in the Ottoman Empire