William Zisman

Dr. William Albert Zisman (dead 1986) [Cite web | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/12/AR2007061201934_5.html | title=Obituaries - washingtonpost.com | date=June 13, 2007 | accessdate=2008-03-11] was trained as a physicist but became enthralled in the exciting developments in the arena of surface science -- following in the footsteps of Langmuir, Rideal, and Harkins. [Advances in Chemistry Series, Robert F. Gould, Editor, American Chemical Society, 1964, p v.] His passion was so great that in 1938 he actually quit his job in Washington for a year and personally financed a year of study in the laboratory of the late Dr. Goranson at the Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory. The following year he successfully lobbied for a research program in surface chemistry and was hired to steer that program at the Naval Research Lab, later heading up the entire Chemistry Division.

While at NRL, Dr. Zisman developed the vibrating condenser method of measuring contact potential, a method that has been widely used since then. In fact, he did his master's thesis on this topic at MIT. He also did significant work on oils and during the war he made many important observations that led to the development of synthetic lubricants and additives. Perhaps no one of his era made greater contributions to the vast collection of excellent data on contact angle, wettability, surface tension, and adhesion. He was the author of over 100 publications and his name was on nearly two dozen patents, mostly for lubricants and protective treatments for surfaces. He also authored Zisman's Plot method which is incorporated in ramé-hart DROPimage software. In 1963 he received the Kendall Award from the American Chemical Society for his vast contributions to surface science. [Advances in Chemistry Series, Robert F. Gould, Editor, American Chemical Society, 1964, p vi.] [Cite web | url=http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=1319&content_id=CTP_004502&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1 | title=ACS Award in Colloid and Surface Chemistry | accessdate=2008-03-11]

There are 22 patents in his name. Among his greatest inventions is the NRL Contact Angle Goniometer which has been manufactured by ramé-hart, Netcong, NJ, for over 40 years.

References

External links

* http://www.ramehart.com/goniometers/newsletters/2007-12_news.htm