Nobel Pursuits: Irving Langmuir’s Post-Student Scientific Journey Started at Stevens
The 1932 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recipient made breakthrough discoveries in light bulb technology, atomic structure and surface chemistry, among others
A man of many talents, Irving Langmuir impacted the scientific community in myriad ways during the 20th century. His work incorporated chemistry, physics and engineering. His ideas pushed science forward. His discoveries set precedents. His inventions improved lives. All this eventually culminated with the 1932 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. And for a period in the early 1900s, Stevens Institute of Technology was fortunate to call him “Professor Langmuir.”
Although the awards and recognition would come later, Langmuir’s mind was sharpened at Stevens. After receiving a Bachelor of Science in metallurgic engineering from Columbia University in 1903 and his Ph.D. from the University of Gottingen (Germany) in 1906, Langmuir taught chemistry at Stevens until 1909 for what is now the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.
Langmuir is one of two Nobel Prize winners with ties to Stevens, alongside alumnus Frederick Winslow Taylor.
"As a department, we take pride in his legacy and remain committed to fostering the same spirit of innovation and discovery that defined his career," said Woo Lee, Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. "His groundbreaking contributions to surface chemistry and plasma physics continue to inspire generations of scientists and engineers."
Langmuir’s early post-Stevens Career
After his stint at Stevens, Langmuir was hired by General Electric, where he would work and thrive until 1950. Working in GE’s Research Laboratory, Langmuir quickly ascended as one of the top scientific minds in the world.
Langmuir made his initial impact via his research with light bulbs. His first breakthrough was improving the diffusion pump, a 1915 invention that continued an interest in vacuum phenomena. Soon after, Langmuir and longtime collaborator Lewi Tonks made a significant breakthrough with light bulb shelf life. They discovered that the life of the tungsten filament in the bulbs could be significantly lengthened by filling the bulb with an inert gas, such as argon.
His work with light bulbs and vacuum technology led to the next stage of his career, and the one that would earn him universal acclaim: surface chemistry. While working with the tungsten-filament bulb, he observed that introducing molecular hydrogen into the bulb created a small layer of atomic hydrogen on the surface of the bulb.
Winning the Nobel Prize
His interest in surface chemistry cemented, Langmuir published a 1917 paper on the chemistry of oil films. This paper would set the stage for his 1932 Nobel Prize in chemistry. He had theorized that oils consisting of an aliphatic chain with a hydrophilic (alcohol/acid) end group created a one-molecule thick film upon the surface of water. The thickness of the film could then easily be determined from the known volume and area of the oil. The importance of this breakthrough allowed scientists to investigate the molecular configuration of oils before spectroscopic methods were refined and widely available.
"Langmuir’s discovery of 'a molecular monolayer' revolutionized our understanding of surface chemistry, which spun off many important applications, including producing artificial intelligence chips using processes such as atomic layer deposition," added Lee.
However, Langmuir’s recognition as a Nobel Prize winner is more based on his body of work as opposed to any one discovery. Among his many accomplishments, Langmuir’s discovery of atomic hydrogen through his work with the incandescent light bulb led to the development of the atomic hydrogen welding process.
Langmuir was one of the first scientists to work with plasmas and is credited by some as coining the phrase of ionized gases as plasmas because they reminded him of blood plasmas. Electron density waves discovered by Langmuir and Tonks are now known as Langmuir waves. He invented the concept of electron temperature and invented the diagnostic method with which to detect electron temperature. It is now called the Langmuir probe and commonly used in plasma physics. After World War I, Langmuir defined the modern concept of valence shells and isotopes, critical components of atomic structure and atomic theory.
Later in his career, Langmuir’s interest turned to atmospheric science and meteorology. An observation of wind-driven surface circulation on drifting seaweed is now called the Langmuir circulation. During World War II, he helped improve naval sonar detection and methods for deicing the wings of aircraft.
The totality of his awards and recognitions is unwieldy to list, but his impact on science is still felt today. And once upon a time, his brilliant mind was shaped at Stevens and passed on to the next generation right here in Hoboken.