- Frederick Seitz
Infobox Scientist
name = Frederick Seitz
image_width =
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1911|7|4
birth_place =San Francisco ,California , USA
death_date = death date and age|2008|3|2|1911|7|4
death_place =New York City, New York , USA
nationality =United States
field =Physics
work_institution = University of IllinoisRockefeller University
doctoral_advisor =Eugene Wigner
doctoral_students =
known_for =Wigner-Seitz unit cell
prizes =
footnotes =Frederick Seitz (
July 4 ,1911 –March 2 ,2008 ) was an and a pioneer ofsolid state physics . Seitz studied underEugene Wigner atPrinceton University , graduating in 1934. He, along with Wigner, came up with the concept of theWigner-Seitz unit cell . He also founded theFrederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as several other material research laboratories across the United States.cite journal| author=E. Goldwasser, A.V. Granato, R.O. Simmons |title=Frederick Seitz |journal=Physics Today |year=2008 |volume=61 |issue=7 |pages=pp. 66–67] [cite web| title= The 1950s in the Departement of Physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign| url=http://www.physics.uiuc.edu/history/Timeline/1950s.html]Biography
Born in San Francisco on July 4, 1911, Seitz graduated from
Lick-Wilmerding High School in the middle of his senior year. He went on to study physics atStandford University obtaining his bachelor's degree in three years, and then moved toPrinceton University to studymetal s underEugene Wigner . He and Wigner pioneered one of the first quantum theory of crystals, and developed concepts such as theWigner-Seitz unit cell .After his graduate studied, Seitz continued to work on solid state physics, publishing "The Modern Theory of Solids" in 1940, motivated by a desire to "write a cohesive account of the various aspects of solid-state physics in order to give the field the kind of unity it deserved". "The Modern Theory of Solids" helped unify and understand the relations between the fields of
metallurgy ,ceramics , andelectronics . He was also a consultant on many World War II related projects inmetallurgy , radiation damage to solids and electronics amongst others. He, along withHillard Huntington , made the first calculation of the energies of formation and migration of vacancies and interstitials in copper, inspiring many works on point defects in metals.He was the president of Rockefeller University from 1968 to 1978 during which he helped to launch new research programs in
molecular biology ,cell biology , andneuroscience as well as creating a joint MD-PhD program withCornell University . Shortly before his retirement from Rockefeller University in 1979, Seitz began working as a paid permanent consultant for theR.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company , advising their research program. [cite web|title=Tobacco Documents|url=http://tobaccodocuments.org/ness/29154.html?pattern=frederick%5Ba-z%5D%2A%5CW%2Bseitz%5Ba-z%5D%2A&p7]In 1994, Seitz authored "Global warming and ozone hole controversies. A challenge to scientific judgment.", a report published by the
George C. Marshall Institute , of which he was a founder and chairman of the board, titled "" In a broader discussion of environmental toxins, he concluded "there is no good scientific evidence that passive inhalation is truly dangerous under normal circumstances." [cite web |title=Tobacco Control - Sign In Page |url=http://tc.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/10/4/375]Seitz questioned whether
global warming isanthropogenic . [cite web|title=GIVE TITLE |url=http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=812] He supported the position of theOregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM) on global warmingclarifyme and in an open letter invited scientists to sign the OISM's global warming petition. He also signed the 1995Leipzig Declaration and questioned the view thatCFCs "are the greatest threat to theozone layer ". [cite web|title=A Conversation with Dr. Frederick Seitz |url=http://www.marshall.org/article.php?id=21]Seitz died
March 2 2008 in New York. [cite web |author=J.L. Bast |title=Report #2 from the Global Warming Conference in New York City |url=http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=22848] [cite news| author=D. Hevesi| title=Frederick Seitz, 96, Dies; Physicist Who Led Skeptics of Global Warming |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E1D71138F935A35750C0A96E9C8B63 |publisher=The New York Times |date=2008-03-06 |page=C12] He was said to have a "wry sense of humour" and to be "a kind and generous person, giving untold and unacclaimed time and energy to help young scientists and young science along their way".Positions held
*
Carnegie Tech , Head of the physics department (1946–?) [cite web|title=Saxonburg Cyclotron 50th Reunion |url=http://info.phys.cmu.edu/welcome/news/Interactions/1997/Saxonburg50th.html]
*University of Illinois , Professor of physics (1949–1968)Fact|date=August 2008
*American Institute of Physics , Chairman (1954-1959)
*Academic Press , Editor (1955–1984)
*North Atlantic Treaty Organization , (1959-1960)
*American Physics Society , Chairman (1961)
*United States National Academy of Sciences , Chairman (1962–1964)
*United States National Academy of Sciences , Chairman (1964-1969)Fact|date=August 2008
*Rockefeller University , President Emeritus (1968–1978)
*Richard Lounsbery Foundation , President (?–?) [cite web|title=Richard Lounsbery Foundation |url=http://rlounsbery.org]
*Science and Environmental Policy Project , Chair (?–?)Fact|date=August 2008
*George C. Marshall Institute , Founder, ChairmanFact|date=August 2008Books
* Frederick Seitz "On the Frontier, My Life in Science" (American Institute of Physics, 1994)
*Nikolaus Riehl and Frederick Seitz "Stalin’s Captive: Nikolaus Riehl and the Soviet Race for the Bomb" (American Chemical Society and the Chemical Heritage Foundations, 1996) ISBN 0-8412-3310-1.: This book is a translation of Nikolaus Riehl’s book "Zehn Jahre im goldenen Käfig (Ten Years in a Golden Cage)" (Riederer-Verlag, 1988); but Seitz wrote a lengthy introduction. It contains 58 photographs .Awards
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