Irving Langmuir

Lore & Background

Irving Langmuir was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 31, 1881, the third of four children. His parents encouraged careful observation of nature, and after correcting poor eyesight at age eleven, his interest in nature's details grew. Influenced by his older brother Arthur, a research chemist, Langmuir set up his first chemistry lab in his bedroom. He graduated from Chestnut Hill Academy in 1898, earned a Bachelor of Science in metallurgical engineering from Columbia University in 1903, and a PhD from Göttingen in 1906 under Friedrich Dolezalek, studying the Nernst glower. After teaching at Stevens Institute of Technology, he joined General Electric in 1909, where he worked until 1950.

At General Electric, Langmuir improved the diffusion pump, leading to high-vacuum tubes, and discovered that filling a bulb with inert gas and coiling the tungsten filament greatly extended bulb life. His surface chemistry research began when he found that molecular hydrogen dissociated on hot tungsten, forming a monolayer. He studied thermionic emission, coined the term 'plasma' for ionized gases, and with Lewi Tonks discovered electron density waves now called Langmuir waves. He invented the Langmuir probe in 1924 to measure plasma temperature and density. In 1917, he published a paper on oil films that became the basis for his 1932 Nobel Prize, theorizing that oils with hydrophilic ends form monolayers on water.

Langmuir later contributed to atomic theory, defining valence shells and isotopes. With Katharine Blodgett, he studied monolayers and two-dimensional physics. In 1938, he turned to atmospheric science, refuting claims of the deer botfly's speed and discovering Langmuir circulation in the sea. During World War II, he worked on sonar, smoke screens, and deicing, leading to cloud seeding with dry ice and silver iodide. In 1953, he coined the term 'pathological science' for research biased by unconscious effects. He married Marion Mersereau in 1912, adopted two children, and died of a heart attack in Woods Hole on August 16, 1957.

Reader's Guide

Irving Langmuir's significance lies in his broad impact across chemistry, physics, and engineering. His Nobel Prize-winning work on surface chemistry established the concept of monolayers and laid the foundation for modern surface science, influencing fields from catalysis to materials science. His inventions at General Electric, including the gas-filled incandescent lamp and atomic hydrogen welding, had direct industrial applications, improving lighting and enabling new welding techniques. In plasma physics, Langmuir's introduction of the term 'plasma' and his development of the Langmuir probe provided essential tools for studying ionized gases, which are now critical in fusion research and semiconductor manufacturing. His later work on cloud seeding sparked ongoing debate about weather modification. Langmuir's legacy is also preserved in the Langmuir Laboratory for Atmospheric Research and the American Chemical Society journal Langmuir. His concept of pathological science remains a cautionary framework for evaluating controversial research.

Did You Know?

• Langmuir coined the term 'plasma' for ionized gases because they reminded him of blood plasma.
• He invented the atomic hydrogen welding process, which was the first plasma weld ever made.
• Langmuir's 1919 article 'The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules' popularized the concentric theory of atomic structure, though credit for the theory belongs mostly to Gilbert N. Lewis.
• He was an agnostic on religious views.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"To me, [it's] extremely interesting that men, perfectly honest, enthusiastic over their work, can so completely fool themselves." — Irving Langmuir "The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules" JACS, Vol. 41, No. 6, 868." — Irving Langmuir "The adsorption of gases on plane surfaces of glass, mica and platinum" JACS, Vol. 40, No. 9, 1361." — Irving Langmuir