William Francis Giauque (;
[''The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'', 2004.] May 12, 1895 – March 28, 1982) was a Canadian-born
American chemist and
Nobel laureate recognized in 1949 for his studies in the properties of
matter
In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic part ...
at temperatures close to
absolute zero. He spent virtually all of his educational and professional career at the University of California, Berkeley.
Biography
William Francis Giauque was born in
Niagara Falls, Ontario
Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is on the western bank of the Niagara River in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario, with a population of 88,071 at the 2016 census. It is part of the St. Catharines - Niagara Census M ...
, on May 12, 1895.
As his parents were
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
citizens, they returned to the U.S. where he attended public schools primarily in Michigan. Following the death of his father in 1908, the family returned to Niagara Falls, where he studied at the Niagara Falls Collegiate Institute. After graduation, he looked for work in various power plants at Niagara Falls both for financial reasons and to pursue a career in electrical engineering. He was widely unsuccessful.
Eventually, however, his application was accepted by the
Hooker Electro-Chemical Company in
Niagara Falls, New York, which led him to employment in their laboratory. He enjoyed the work, and decided to become a chemical engineer.
After two years of employment, he entered the
College of Chemistry of the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in 1920. He entered graduate school at Berkeley, becoming a University Fellow (1920–1921) and a James M. Goewey Fellow (1921–1922). He received the Ph.D. degree in chemistry with a minor in physics in 1922.
Research
Although he began university study with an interest in becoming an engineer, he soon developed an interest in research under the influence of Professor
Gilbert N. Lewis. Due to his outstanding performance as a student, he became an instructor of chemistry at Berkeley in 1922 and after passing through various grades of professorship, he became a full professor of chemistry in 1934. He retired in 1962.
Absolute zero
He became interested in the
third law of thermodynamics
The third law of thermodynamics states, regarding the properties of closed systems in thermodynamic equilibrium: This constant value cannot depend on any other parameters characterizing the closed system, such as pressure or applied magnetic fiel ...
as a field of research during his experimental research for his Ph.D. research under Professor
George Ernest Gibson comparing the relative
entropies of glycerine crystals and glass.
The principal objective of his researches was to demonstrate through range of appropriate tests that the third law of thermodynamics is a basic natural law. In 1926, he proposed a method for observing temperatures considerably below 1 Kelvin (1 K is −457.87 °F or −272.15 °C). His work with
D.P. MacDougall between 1933 and 1935 successfully employed them.
He developed a
magnetic refrigeration
Magnetic refrigeration is a cooling technology based on the magnetocaloric effect. This technique can be used to attain extremely low temperatures, as well as the ranges used in common refrigerators.
A magnetocaloric material warms up when a ma ...
device of his own design in order to achieve this outcome, getting closer to absolute zero than many scientists had thought possible. This trailblazing work, apart from proving one of the fundamental laws of nature led to stronger steel, better gasoline and more efficient processes in a range of industries.
His research and that of his students included a large number of entropy determinations from low temperature measurements, particularly on condensed gases. The entropies and other thermodynamic properties of many gases were also determined from
quantum statistics and molecular energy levels available from band spectra as well as other sources.
His correlated investigations of the entropy of oxygen with Dr.
Herrick L. Johnston, led to the discovery of
oxygen isotopes 17 and 18 in the Earth's atmosphere and showed that physicists and chemists had been using different scales of atomic weight for years without recognising it.
Personal life
In 1932, Giauque married Dr. Muriel Frances Ashley and they had two sons. He died on March 28, 1982, in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...
.
Notes
References
*
External links
National Academy of Sciences biography* including the Nobel Lecture on December 12, 1949 ''Some Consequences of Low Temperature Research in Chemical Thermodynamics''
* .
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giauque, William
1895 births
1982 deaths
American physical chemists
American Nobel laureates
Canadian Nobel laureates
Nobel laureates in Chemistry
People from Niagara Falls, Ontario
University of California, Berkeley alumni
UC Berkeley College of Chemistry faculty
Canadian emigrants to the United States