- Alfred Lauck Parson
Infobox_Scientist
name = Alfred Lauck Parson
image_width =
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1889|10|24
birth_place =Lucknow ,India
death_date = death date and age|1970|1|1|1889|10|24
death_place = Allonby,England
nationality =
field =Chemist Physicist
alma_mater =Oxford University Harvard University University of California, Berkeley
known_for = Parson magnetonAlfred Lauck Parson (1889 - 1970) was a British chemist and physicist, whose "magneton theory" of the
atom contributed to thehistory of chemistry .Alfred L. Parson, "Magneton Theory of the Structure of the Atom," "Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection", Pub 2371, 80pp, 2 plates (Nov 29, 1915) [reprinted Pub 2419, V65, N11 (1916)] .]Biography
Born in
Lucknow ,India to Rev. Joseph & Sarah Jane (Lauck) Parson, Alfred received his BS inchemistry fromOxford University . Between 1913 and 1915 he was a visiting graduate student atHarvard and theUniversity of California, Berkeley , where coincidentallyGilbert N. Lewis was working as the chair of the department ofchemistry . During these years, Lewis read a paper by Parson, which argued that the electron, in theBohr model , might be a ring of negativeelectricity spinning with a high velocity about its axis and that achemical bond results from twoelectrons being shared between twoatoms . Parson published the final draft of his theory in 1915. Stimulated by this paper, Lewis published his famous 1916 article " [http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Chem-History/Lewis-1916/Lewis-1916.html The Atom and the Molecule] ", in which achemical bond forms owing to the sharing of pairs of electrons. [Gilbert N. Lewis , [http://dbhs.wvusd.k12.ca.us/webdocs/Chem-History/Lewis-1916/Lewis-1916.html The Atom and the Molecule] (1916).] Several other physicists of the time, includingArthur H. Compton ,Clinton Davisson , Lars O. Grondahl,David L. Webster , [David L. Webster "The Theory of Electromagnetic Mass of the Parson Magneton and other Non-Spherical Systems," "Physical Review", V9, pp. 484-499.] andH. Stanley Allen , developed Parson's ideas further using atoroidal ring model for theatom .Parson himself returned to
England , where he served inWorld War I . Suffering from severe shell shock, he did not pursue an academic career, but years later published papers and books on astronomy and related topics. He died 1970 in Allonby,England .cientific Contributions
The Parson magneton, also known as the "magnetic electron," was a hypothetical object in
atomic physics suggested by Parson in 1915: anelectron ring that generates amagnetic field . Parson's model of theatom inspired several othertoroidal ring model s.ee also
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History of the molecule
*History of quantum mechanics References
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