- Jesse Beams
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Jesse Wakefield Beams Born December 25, 1898
Belle Plains, Kansas, USADied July 23, 1977
Charlottesville, Virginia, USAResidence Charlottesville, Virginia Citizenship United States Fields Physics Institutions University of Virginia Alma mater University of Virginia, University of Wisconsin-Madison Doctoral advisor Llewellyn G. Hoxton Notable students Frank Hereford Known for Development of the ultracentrifuge Notable awards Howard N. Potts Medal (1942)
National Medal of Science (1967)Jesse Wakefield Beams (December 25, 1898[1] in Belle Plaine, Kansas[2]; died July 23, 1977[3]) was an American physicist at the University of Virginia.
Beams completed his undergraduate B.A. in physics at Fairmount College in 1921 and his master's degree the next year at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.[2] He spent most of his academic career at the University of Virginia, where he received his Ph.D. in physics in 1925. He spent the next three years in a physics fellowship at Yale University, where he performed research on the photoelectric effect with Ernest Lawrence.[4] Beams was appointed a professor of physics at the University of Virginia in 1929. During World War II, he worked on the Manhattan Project, where his ultracentrifuge was used to demonstrate the separation of the uranium isotope U-235 from other isotopes. Officials in charge of the atomic bomb project concluded, however, that Beams's centrifuges were not as likely as other methods to produce enough highly enriched uranium for a bomb in the time available, and the centrifuge program was abandoned. After World War II, centrifuge separation of uranium isotopes was perfected by German scientists and engineers working in the Soviet Union. In 1953 Beams was appointed the Francis H. Smith Professor of Physics at the University of Virginia. Beams was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1967 for his work on the ultracentrifuge.[5] He retired from the University in 1969.[6]
Beams' contributions include the first linear electron accelerator, the magnetic ultracentrifuge, and the application of the ultracentrifuge to the separation of isotopes and to the separation of viruses from liquids. He held many patents in magnetic bearings and ultracentrifuges. In addition to the National Science Medal, he was awarded the American Physical Society's John Scott Medal, the Lewis Prize of the American Philosophical Society, and the University of Virginia's first annual Thomas Jefferson Award.[7]
Contents
Patents
Inventor(s) Year Patent No. Invention Title Trotter, Woodstock, Beams 1935 U.S. Patent 2,016,825 Air Conditioning Beams, Holmes 1941 U.S. Patent 2,256,937 Suspension of Rotatable Bodies Masket, Snoddy, Beams 1949 U.S. Patent 2,478,663 Projectile Testing Machine Beams 1950 U.S. Patent 2,521,112 Method and Apparatus for Separating Fluids by Thermal Diffusion Beams 1950 U.S. Patent 2,521,891 Valve Beams, Snoddy, Hoxton 1950 U.S. Patent 2,525,197 Thermal Flowmeter Beams, Morton 1954 U.S. Patent 2,666,363 Transmission Line Kerr Cell Beams 1954 U.S. Patent 2,691,306 Magnetically Supported Rotating Bodies Beams, Snoddy 1956 U.S. Patent 2,763,155 High Altitude Burner Simulator Beams, Snoddy 1960 U.S. Patent 2,948,572 Centrifuges Beams 1962 U.S. Patent 3,041,482 Apparatus for Rotating Freely Suspended Bodies Beams 1962 U.S. Patent 3,066,849 High Vacuum Pump System Beams 1965 U.S. Patent 3,196,694 Magnetic Suspension System Goss, Porter, Roberts, Tuve, Beams, Selvidge 1975 U.S. Patent 3,908,933 Guided Missile Publications
- Beams, J. and Haynes, F., The Separation of Isotopes by Centrifuging, (Sept 1936) Phys. Rev., vol. 50, Issue 5, pp. 491-492.
- Beams, J., Production and Use of High Centrifugal Fields, (1954) Science, vol. 120, Issue 3121, pp. 619-625.
See also
References
- ^ Annual report - National Academy of Sciences. 1979. p. 42. http://books.google.com/books?id=M1ArAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=%22Jesse+W.+Beams%22+1898&source=bl&ots=Oo0DmjxbcP&sig=B8vCzO0wRW5uA_jH0dbyf3hI5Po&hl=en&ei=_zoZTKKNC4aglAe2gIG6Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CAsQ6AEwATgK.
- ^ a b The University of Virginia Record: New Series, Vol. X. Charlottesville: University of Virginia. 1924-02-15. p. 52. http://repo.lib.virginia.edu:18080/fedora/get/uva-lib:117254/uva-lib-bdef:105/getPageTurner?behav=getImageBrowse&snum=20&sblk=2&page=uva-lib:117311.
- ^ Fowle, Farnsworth (1977-07-25). "Jesse W. Beams, 78, A Top Physicist, Dies". New York Times: pp. 18. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F6081EF8395E137B93C7AB178CD85F438785F9&scp=1&sq=jesse+beams&st=p.
- ^ "Beams and Lawrence". http://www.phys.virginia.edu/History/Beams/lawrence.asp. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
- ^ Dabney, Virginius (1981). Mr. Jefferson's University: A History. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. p. 463. ISBN 081390904X. http://repo.lib.virginia.edu:18080/fedora/get/uva-lib:178665/uva-lib-bdef:105/getPageTurner?behav=getImageBrowse&snum=20&sblk=24&page=uva-lib:179234.
- ^ "Beams Honored By Special Symposium". Cavalier Daily. 1969-05-20. http://scripta.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-textwg/cavdaily.pl?str=beams&offset=21874353&fileid=19690520.
- ^ Dabney, p. 377.
Categories:- 1898 births
- 1977 deaths
- University of Virginia faculty
- University of Virginia alumni
- National Medal of Science laureates
- University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
- Manhattan Project people
- American physicist stubs
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