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Gilbert N. Lewis

Gilbert Newton Lewis was a famous American United States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., a... 

 physical chemist. Lewis is best known for the 1902 valence bond theory, which he developed in coordination with Irving Langmuir Irving Langmuir

Irving Langmuir was an American [i] chemist [i] and physicist [i]. ... 

. His 1923 textbook Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Substances, written in coordination with Merle Randall is one of the founding books in chemical thermodynamics Chemical thermodynamics

[i], chemical thermodynamics is the mathematical study of the interrelation of [[heat]... 

. In 1926, Lewis coined the term "photon Photon

In modern physics [i], the photon is the elementary particle [i] responsible for electromagnetic phenomena [i] ... 

" for the smallest unit of radiant energy.

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Timeline

1875   Born

1946   Died



Encyclopedia


Gilbert Newton Lewis was a famous American United States

The United States of America, also known as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., a... 

 physical chemist. Lewis is best known for the 1902 valence bond theory, which he developed in coordination with Irving Langmuir Irving Langmuir

Irving Langmuir was an American [i] chemist [i] and physicist [i]. ... 

. His 1923 textbook Thermodynamics and the Free Energy of Chemical Substances, written in coordination with Merle Randall is one of the founding books in chemical thermodynamics Chemical thermodynamics

[i], chemical thermodynamics is the mathematical study of the interrelation of [[heat]... 

. In 1926, Lewis coined the term "photon Photon

In modern physics [i], the photon is the elementary particle [i] responsible for electromagnetic phenomena [i] ... 

" for the smallest unit of radiant energy.

Early life

Lewis was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts Weymouth, Massachusetts

Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County [i], Massachusetts [i], United States [i] ... 

. His father was a Dartmouth Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is a private [i] academic institution in Hanover [i], New Hampshire [i] ... 

-graduated lawyer and broker. He was a precocious child who learned to read at age three.

His family moved to Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska

Lincoln is the capital [i] of Nebraska [i] and is the county seat [i] of Lancaster County [i] ... 

 when he was 9 years-old. He was homeschooled Homeschooling

Home education, also called homeschooling or home school, is the process by which children a... 

 until age 9. He went to public school from age 9 to 14 and then he went to the University of Nebraska University of Nebraska–Lincoln

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln, often called UNL, but also known as Nebraska or ... 

, and three years later transferred to the Harvard University where he showed an interest in economics Economics

In the social science [i]s, economics is the study of the production [i], ... 

, but concentrated in chemistry Chemistry

Chemistry is the science [i] of matter [i] at the atom [i]ic to molecular [i] scale, dealing primarily ... 

, getting his B.A. in 1896 and his Ph.D. in 1899. His first published work, a study of thermochemical and electrochemical properties of amalgams, was based on his doctoral research and was published in 1898.

Career

After earning his Ph.D., he stayed as an instructor for a year before taking a traveling fellowship, studying under the physical chemist Wilhelm Ostwald Wilhelm Ostwald

Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald was a German [i] chemist [i]. ... 

 at Leipzig Leipzig

Leipzig [] is the largest city in the federal state [i] of Saxony [i] in Germany [i] ... 

 and Walther Nernst Walther Nernst

Walther Hermann Nernst was a German [i] chemist [i] who helped establish the modern field of physical chemistry [i] ... 

 at Göttingen Göttingen

Gttingen is a city [i] in Lower Saxony [i], Germany [i]. ... 

. He then returned to Harvard as an instructor for three more years, and in 1904 left to become superintendent of weights and measures for the Bureau of Science of the Philippine Islands Philippines

The Philippines , officially the Republic of the Philippines , is an island nation [i] located in ... 

 in Manila Manila

The City of Manila, or simply Manila, is the capital [i] of the Philippines [i]. ... 

. The next year he returned to Cambridge Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city [i] in the Greater Boston [i] area of Massachusetts [i], United States [i]. ... 

 when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, is a private world-leading research university [i] ... 

  appointed him to a faculty position, in which he had a chance to join a group of outstanding physical chemists under the direction of Arthur Amos Noyes. He quickly rose in rank, becoming assistant professor in 1907, associate professor on 1908, and full professor in 1911. He left MIT to become professor of physical chemistry and dean of the College of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California [i] ... 

 in 1912. Lewis Hall at Berkeley, built in 1948, was named in his honor.

Timeline

In 1908 he published the first of several papers on relativity Theory of relativity

The theory of relativity, or simply relativity, refers specifically to two theories: Albert Einstein [i] ... 

, in which he derived the mass Mass

Mass is a property of a physical [i] object that quantifies the amount of matter [i] and energy [i] ... 

-energy Energy

In general, the concept [i] of energy refers to "the potential for causing changes." The word is used in ... 

 relationship in a different way from Albert Einstein Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German [i]-born theoretical physicist [i]. ... 

's derivation. He also introduced the thermodynamic concept of fugacity in a paper, "The osmotic pressure of concentrated solutions, and the laws of the perfect solution," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 30, 668-683 .

On June 21, 1912, he married Mary Hinckley Sheldon, daughter of a Harvard professor of Romance languages Romance languages

The Romance languages, a major branch of the Indo-European language family [i], ... 

. They had two sons, both of whom became chemistry professors, and a daughter.

In 1913, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences United States National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States [i] whose members serve pro bono [i] ... 

, but in 1934 he resigned in a dispute over the internal politics of that institution.

In 1916, he formulated the idea that a covalent bond Covalent bond

Covalent bonding is an intramolecular form of chemical bond [i]ing characterized by the sharing of one o ... 

 consisted of a shared pair of electron Electron

The electron is a fundamental [i] subatomic particle [i] that carries an electric charge [i]... 

s and defined the term odd molecule when an electron is not shared. His ideas on chemical bond Chemical bond

A chemical bond is the physical phenomenon of chemical species [i] being held together by attraction of ... 

ing were expanded upon by Irving Langmuir Irving Langmuir

Irving Langmuir was an American [i] chemist [i] and physicist [i]. ... 

 and became the inspiration for the studies on the nature of the chemical bond by Linus Pauling Linus Pauling

Linus Carl Pauling was an American [i] quantum chemist [i] and biochemist [i] ... 

. This year he published what became known as the Lewis structure Lewis structure

Lewis structures, also called electron-dot structures or electron-dot diagrams, are diagrams that show t... 

 and the Cubical atom Cubical atom

The cubical atom was an early atomic [i] model published by Gilbert N. Lewis [i] in 1916 [i] to acc ... 

 model.

In 1919, by studying the magnetic Magnetism

In physics [i], magnetism is one of the phenomena [i] by which materials [i] exert an attractive or repu ... 

 properties of solutions of oxygen Oxygen

Oxygen is a chemical element [i] with the chemical symbol O and atomic number [i] 8.... 

 in liquid Liquid

A liquid is one of the main phases of matter [i]. ... 

 nitrogen Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element [i] which has the symbol N and atomic number [i] 7 in the periodic table [i] ... 

, he found that O4 molecule Molecule

In chemistry, a molecule is an aggregate of two or more atom [i]s in a definite arrangement held togethe ... 

s were formed. This was the first evidence for tetratomic oxygen.

In 1923, he formulated the electron-pair theory of acid-base reactions. In the so-called Lewis theory of acids and bases, a "Lewis acid" is an electron-pair acceptor and a "Lewis base" is an electron-pair donor. This year he also published his book Valence and the structure of atoms and molecules.

Based on work by J. Willard Gibbs Josiah Willard Gibbs

Josiah Willard Gibbs was an American [i] mathematical physicist [i] ... 

, it was known that chemical reactions proceeded to an equilibrium determined by the free energy of the substances taking part. Lewis spent 25 years determining free energies of various substances. In 1923 he and Merle Randall published the results of this study, which helped formalize modern chemical thermodynamics Chemical thermodynamics

[i], chemical thermodynamics is the mathematical study of the interrelation of [[heat]... 

.

In 1926, he coined the term "photon Photon

In modern physics [i], the photon is the elementary particle [i] responsible for electromagnetic phenomena [i] ... 

" for the smallest unit of radiant energy.

Lewis was the first to produce a pure sample of deuterium oxide in 1933. By accelerating deuteron Deuterium

Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is a stable isotope [i] of hydrogen [i] with a natural abundance [i] ... 

s in Ernest O. Lawrence's Ernest Lawrence

Ernest Orlando Lawrence was an American [i] physicist and Nobel Laureate best known for h ... 

 cyclotron Cyclotron

A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator [i]. ... 

, he was able to study many of the properties of atomic nuclei. During the 1930s, he was faculty advisor and mentor to Glenn T. Seaborg Glenn T. Seaborg

Glenn Theodore Seaborg was an American [i] chemist [i] prominent in the discovery and iso ... 

, who was retained for post-doctoral work as Lewis' personal research assistant before going on to win the 1951 Nobel Prize Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are prize [i]s instituted by the will [i] of Alfred Nobel [i], awarded to people... 

 in Chemistry and have the element Seaborgium named in his honor.

In the last years of his life, he established that phosphorescence Phosphorescence

*Opalescence [i]
  • Phosphor [i]

... 

 of organic Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is a specific discipline within the subject of chemistry [i]. ... 

 molecules involves an excited triplet state and measured the magnetic properties of this triplet state.

During his career he published on many other subjects besides those mentioned in this article, ranging from the nature of light Light

Light is electromagnetic radiation [i] with a wavelength [i] that is visible to the eye [i] or, in a technical [i] ... 

 quanta to the economics Economics

In the social science [i]s, economics is the study of the production [i], ... 

 of price stabilization.

He died at age 70 of a heart attack while working in his laboratory in Berkeley. He had been working on an experiment with liquid hydrogen cyanide, and deadly fumes from a broken line were leaking into the laboratory when a graduate student found the professor's lifeless body under a workbench. The coroner said Gilbert N. Lewis died of coronary artery disease; however, some believe that the death may have been a suicide. UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus William Jolly, who reported the various views on Gilbert N. Lewis' death in his 1987 history of University of California, Berkeley’s College of Chemistry, From Retorts to Lasers, said one higher-up in the department believed the suicide theory.

A possible explanation for the suicide theories was depression following a lunch with Irving Langmuir Irving Langmuir

Irving Langmuir was an American [i] chemist [i] and physicist [i]. ... 

. On the day of Gilbert N. Lewis' death, Irving Langmuir and Gilbert N. Lewis met for lunch at the University of California, Berkeley. It was reported by associates that Gilbert N. Lewis came back from the meeting in a dark mood. He reportedly sat down for a morose game of bridge with some colleagues, and then went back to work in his lab. An hour later, Gilbert N. Lewis was dead. Irving Langmuir's papers at the Library of Congress confirm that Irving Langmuir was on the University of California, Berkeley campus that day. Irving Langmuir had gone to the University of California, Berkeley to receive an honorary degree.

External links

  • - Chemical Achievers
  • - Eric Weisstein's World of Scientific Biography
  • - Overview