JOHN VAN VLECK, 81, COWINNER OF 1977 NOBEL PRIZE
Author: By John Ellement Globe Correspondent
Date: Tuesday, October 28, 1980
Page: ?????
Section: RUN OF PAPER OBITUARY
John Van Vleck, cowinner of the 1977 Nobel prize in physics and a retired
Harvard University professor, died in his sleep yesterday at his Cambridge
home. He was 81.
The research conducted by Mr. Van Vleck through 50 years, and especially
his work in the 1930s, is credited with creating the modern theory of
magnetism.
The Swedish Academy of Sciences called Mr. Van Vleck the "father of modern
magnetism" when he was named along with one of his former students and an
English professor as corecipient of the Nobel prize.
Mr. Van Vleck and his cowinners - Philip Anderson, a former student of Mr.
Van Vleck's, and Sir Nevill Mott - were cited for reaserch on the electronic
structure of magnetic and "disordered systems" - work that has been applied to
the development of the laser, new industrial uses of glass and copper spirals
used in birth control devices.
The so-called "disordered systems" exists within noncrystallic materials
that have irregular atomic structures, making it difficult to theorize about
them.
Mr. Van Vleck was the first to indicate the importance of electron
correlation - the interaction between the motions of the electrons.
The author of numerous articles and monographs on physics, Mr. Van Vleck's
1932 book, Electric and Magnetic Susceptiblities, has remained of central
importance in the field of theoretical physics.
Mr. Van Vleck once described his research as an attempt to "get at what is
the truth of things. The more we know about the universe, the better off we
are."
After learning he had been selected as a Nobel winner, he told reporters,
"So often the prizes go to younger men. Anybody couldn't help feeling that it
is a culmination when you're 78 years old."
Born in Middletown, Conn., Mr. Van Vleck grew up in Wisconsin and earned
his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1920. He earned his
master's degree at Harvard University in 1921 and a doctorate in 1922 also at
Harvard.
Mr. Van Vleck taught at Harvard for one year before moving on to the
University of Minnesota in 1923. After five years there, he taught at the
University of Wisconsin, returning to Harvard in 1934 as an associate
professor for math and physics.
In 1935, Mr. Van Vleck was named a full professor and ten years later,
chairman of the school's physics department. In 1951, he was named the Hollis
professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosphy. He retired from teaching in
1969.
Among other awards presented Mr. Van Vleck were a decorated chevalier
Legion of Honor from the French government in 1963 and the National Medal of
Science in 1966.
He was a member of numerous professional organizations both in the United
States and abroad, including the American Philosophical Society, the Royal
Society of London, the French Academy of Science and the Royal Academies of
Sweden and The Netherlands.
He leaves his wife, Abigail (Pearson) Van Vleck of Cambridge.
The date for a Harvard memorial service is to be announced later.
ELLEM ;10/27,19:45 LDRISC;10/29,14 B07979196
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