Walker Bleakney

Biography

Abstract

Walker Bleakney was an American physicist, who conducted research in the fields of atomic physics, mass spectrometers, fluid dynamics, ionization of gases, and blast waves. His institutional affiliations include University of Minnesota and Princeton University.

Important Dates

February 8, 1901Birth, Elderton (Pa.).

1924Obtained BS, Whitman College, Walla Walla (Wash.).

1930Obtained PhD, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (Minn.).

1930 – 1992National Research Fellow (1930-1932); Instructor to Professor of Physics (1932-1953); Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics (1953-1963); Chair, Department of Physics (1960-1967); Class of 1909 Professor of Physics (1963-1969); and Class of 1909 Emeritus Professor of Physics (1969-1992), Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).

1941 – 1945Director, Princeton University Station, Division 2 (Effects of Impact and Explosion), National Defense Research Committee, Princeton (N.J.).

1959Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1963Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

January 15, 1992Death, Santa Barbara (Calif.).

Occupation

Atomic physicist.

Places

Birth

Elderton (Pa.)

Undergraduate Education

Walla Walla (Wash.)

Graduate Education

Minneapolis (Minn.)

Employment

Princeton (N.J.)

Death

Santa Barbara (Calif.)

Subjects

Atomic and molecular physics.

Mass spectrometry.

Nuclear energy -- United States.

Shock waves.

Relationships

People

Colleagues

Adelberger, Eric G.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Aizenman, Michael

Both employed at Princeton University.

Anderson, P. W. (Philip W.), 1923-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Austin, Robert H.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Bargmann, V. (Valentine), 1908-1989

Both employed at Princeton University.

Barschall, H. H. (Henry Herman), 1915-1997

Both employed at Princeton University.

Bertsch, George F.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Bohm, David, 1917-1992

Both employed at Princeton University.

Brown, G. E. (Gerald Edward), 1926-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Callan, Curtis G.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Christ, Norman

Both employed at Princeton University.

Compton, K. T. (Karl Taylor), 1887-1954

Both employed at Princeton University.

Condon, Edward Uhler, 1902-1974

Both employed at Princeton University.

Creutz, E.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Cronin, James W., 1931-2016

Both employed at Princeton University.

Dicke, Robert H. (Robert Henry)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Eisenhart, Luther Pfahler, 1876-1965

Both employed at Princeton University.

Feynman, Richard P. (Richard Phillips), 1918-1988

Both employed at Princeton University.

Fitch, Val L., 1923-2015

Both employed at Princeton University.

Fletcher, James Chipman, 1919-1991

Both employed at Princeton University.

Freedman, Stuart J.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Frieman, E. A.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Gross, David J. (David Jonathan)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Happer, William, 1939-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Hartle, J. B. (James B.)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Hofstadter, Robert, 1915-1990

Both employed at Princeton University.

Hopfield, John J.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Lieb, Elliott H.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Misner, Charles W.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Montroll, E. W.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985

Both employed at Princeton University.

Pines, David, 1924-2018

Both employed at Princeton University.

Pollock, Robert Elwood, 1936-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Robertson, H. P. (Howard Percy), 1903-1961

Both employed at Princeton University.

Schwarz, John H.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Segal, Irving Ezra

Both employed at Princeton University.

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Both employed at Princeton University.

Shenstone, A. G. (Allen Goodrich)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Smyth, Henry De Wolf, 1898-1986

Both employed at Princeton University.

Thorne, Kip S.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Treiman, Sam B.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Van de Graaf, Robert Jemison, 1901-1967

Both employed at Princeton University.

Warburton, Ernest Keeling

Both employed at Princeton University.

Weiss, Rainer

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wightman, A. S. (Arthur Strong), 1922-2013

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wilkinson, David T.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wu, C. S. (Chien-shiung), 1912-1997

Both employed at Princeton University.

York, James W., Jr., 1939-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Additional

Brattain, Walter H. (Walter Houser), 1902-1987

Emrich, Raymond Jay, 1917-

Nier, Alfred O. (Alfred Otto), 1911-1994

Reynolds, George T.

Smith, Lincoln Gilmore, 1912-

Tate, John T. (John Torrence), 1889-1950

Professor at the University of Minnesota.

Townes, Charles H.

Urey, Harold Clayton, 1893-1981

Institutions

Major Positions

Princeton University. Department of Physics

National Research Fellow; Instructor to Professor of Physics; Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics; Chair, Department of Physics; Class of 1909 Professor of Physics; and Class of 1909 Emeritus Professor of Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

National Research Council (U.S.)

United States. Council of National Defense. National Defense Research Committee

Director, Princeton University Station, Division 2 (Effects of Impact and Explosion).

University of Minnesota. Department of Physics and Astronomy

Obtained PhD in 1930.

Whitman College

Obtained BS in 1924.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Reminiscences of Professor Benjamin Harrison Brown, plus impromptu speeches given shortly after the announcement of the Nobel Prize to Walter Brattain and others [sound recording], 1965 and 1956.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Walker Bleakney papers, 1920s-1961.

Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

Princeton University

1 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA

Walker Bleakney Retirement Symposium [sound recording], 1969 May 2.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Allen Shenstone autobiography, 1962.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Circular letters with Walker Bleakney, Vladimir Rojansky, and Everly J. Workman; letter from J. B. Fisk concerning news of fission reaching U. S.; letters regarding the 1924 Harvard Engineering School Prize examination; and selected papers, 1924-1974.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Lecture on stable isotopes from CO2 [videorecording].

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Lincoln Gilmore Smith collection, 1950-1966.

Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library

Princeton University

65 Olden Street, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA

Oral history interview with Charles H. Townes, 1979 June 18 and 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harold Clayton Urey, 1964 March 24.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Princeton University Department of Physics records, 1909-1971.

Department of Rare Books and Special Collections

Princeton University

1 Washington Road, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA

Reminiscences of the Beginnings of Shock Wave Work at Princeton University: an address by Walker Bleakney; Early Development of the Shock Tube and its Role in Current Research: an address by Raymond J. Emrich of Lehigh University; and a symposium program, 1965.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

"Reminiscences of My Youth in Oregon," American Journal of Physics 40 (1972): 953-959

Harvard tercentenary conference of arts and sciences (1936 : Cambridge, Mass.)

Subject

"Walker Bleakney and the Development of the Shock Tube at Princeton," Shock Waves 5 (1996): 327-339

Walker Bleakney Physics Today obituary.

Walker Bleakney: 1901-1992, Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences