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AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectJames Franck
Dates
August 26, 1882 – May 21, 1964
Authorized Form of Name
Franck, James, 1882-1964
Additional Forms of Names
Biography
Abstract
James Franck was Professor Emeritus of Physical Chemistry at the University of Chicago (1938-1964). Other institutional affiliations included Johns Hopkins University and the University of Copenhagen. His research interests included quantum theory and for the quantum mechanical description of atoms and molecules.
Important Dates
August 26, 1882Birth, Hamburg (Germany).
1906Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Berlin (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin), Berlin (Germany).
1906 – 1918Assistant in Physics (1906-1911); Privatdozent (1911-1916); and Associate Professor of Physics (1916-1918), University of Berlin (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin), Berlin (Germany).
1918 – 1920Head, Physics Division, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physical Chemistry (Kaiser Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Furderung de Wissenschaften).
1920 – 1933Professor and Director of the Second Institute for Experimental Physics, University of Göttingen (Universität Göttingen), Göttingen (Germany).
1925Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics with Gustav Hertz "for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom".
1933Speyer Professor, Johns Hopkins University.
1934 – 1935Guest Professor, University of Copenhagen (Københavns universitet).
1935 – 1938Professor, Johns Hopkins University.
1938 – 1964Professor of Physical Chemistry (1938-1947); Head, Photosynthesis Research Group (1949-1956); and Professor Emeritus of Physical Chemistry (1947-1964), University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).
1942 – 1945Director, Chemistry Division (1942-1943); Associate Director (1943-1944); and Consultant (1944-1945), Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
1944Member, National Academy of Sciences.
May 21, 1964Death, Göttingen (Germany).
Occupation
Atomic physicist.
Places
Birth
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Family
Sponer, Hertha, 1895-1968
Wife; married in 1946.
Advisors & Collaborators
Blackett, P. M. S. (Patrick Maynard Stuart), Baron Blackett, 1897-1974
Advised by Franck at Universitat Gottingen.
Condon, Edward Uhler, 1902-1974
Advised by Franck at University of California, Berkeley and collaborated on the Franck-Condon principle.
At University of Berlin carried out seminal studies of elastic collisions between electrons and inert gas atoms and shared the 1925 Nobel Prize in Physics "for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom."
Advised by Franck at Universität Göttingen (University of Göttingen).
Kopfermann, Hans
Advised by Franck at University of Heidelberg.
Kuhn, H. G. (Heinrich Gerhard), 1904-
Advised by Franck at University of Göttingen.
Loomis, F. W. (Francis Wheeler), 1889-1976
Worked with Franck at University of Göttingen.
Advised by Franck while a post-doc at University of Göttingen, both employed at Johns Hopkins University and at University of Chicago.
Rabinowitch, Eugene, 1901-1973
Advised by Franck while post-doc at University of Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.
Tate, John T. (John Torrence), 1889-1950
Advised by Franck at University of Berlin in the heat of vaporization of metals.
Von Hippel, Arthur R. (Arthur Robert), 1898-
Advised by Franck at University of Göttingen.
Warburg, Emil Gabriel
PhD advisor at Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin on the mobilities of ions in gaseous discharges.
Colleagues
Allison, Samuel King, 1900-1965
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Boyd, George Edward, 1912-
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Burton, Milton, 1902-
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Compton, Arthur Holly, 1892-1962
Both employed at University of Chicago and at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Coryell, Charles D. (Charles Du Bois), 1912-1971
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Daniels, Farrington, 1889-1972
Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago and at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Falicov, L. M. (Leopoldo Maximo), 1933-1995
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Friedman, Jerome I. (Jerome Isaac), 1930-
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago and at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Herzfeld, Karl F. (Karl Ferdinand), 1892-
Both employed at Johns Hopkins University.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Kirkwood, John Gamble, 1907-1959
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Mayer, Maria Goeppert, 1906-1972
Both employed at Johns Hopkins University.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Seaborg, Glenn T. (Glenn Theodore), 1912-1999
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Smyth, Henry De Wolf, 1898-1986
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Spedding, F. H. (Frank Harold), 1902-
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Stearns, Joyce C.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago and the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Tsui, D. C. (Daniel Chee), 1939-
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago and at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Weinberg, Alvin Martin, 1915-2006
Both employed at University of Chicago and the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Wood, Robert Williams, 1868-1955
Both employed at Johns Hopkins University.
Both employed at University of Chicago.
Additional
Biermann, Ludwig, 1907-1986
Birge, Raymond T. (Raymond Thayer), 1887-
Burger, Herman Carel, 1893-1965
Compton, Betty Charity McCloskey, 1916-
Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-
Davisson, Clinton Joseph, 1881-1958
Debye, Peter J. W. (Peter Josef William), 1884-1966
Epstein, Paul S. (Paul Sophus), 1883-1966
Fajans, Kasimir, 1887-1975
Gerlach, Walther, 1889-1979
Hanle, Wilhelm, 1901-
Heitler, Walter, 1904-
Hund, Friedrich, 1896-1997
Inglis, David Rittenhouse, 1905-1995
Jordan, Pascual, 1902-1980
Kamen, Martin David, 1913-2002
Klein, Oskar
Lasarev, Petr Petrovich, 1878-1942
Levi, Hilde
Loeb, Leonard B. (Leonard Benedict), 1891-
Meggers, William F. (William Frederick), 1888-1966
Meissner, Karl Wilheim, 1891-
Meitner, Lise, 1878-1968
Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953
Nordheim, Lothar, 1899-
Oldenberg, Otto, 1888-
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Platzman, Robert L. (Robert Leroy), 1918-1973
Pohl, Robert Wichard, 1884-1976
Polanyi, Michael, 1891-1976
Reiche, F. (Fritz), 1883-1969
Smyth, Charles Phelps, 1895-1990
Villars, Donald Statler, 1900-
Vorobyov, Alexei
Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002
Weizsacker, Carl Friedrich, Freiherr von, 1912-2007
Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008
Institutions
Major Positions
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Obtained PhD in Physics (1906). Assistant in Physics; Privatdozent; and Associate Professor of Physics.
Johns Hopkins University. Department of Physics
Speyer Professor and Professor.
Kaiser Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Furderung de Wissenschaften
Head, Physics Division.
Københavns universitet
Guest Professor.
Manhattan Project (U.S.)
Director of Chemistry Division; Associate Director; and Consultant, Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory.
United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development. Metallurgical Laboratory
Director of Chemistry Division; Associate Director; and Consultant, Manhattan Project.
Universität Göttingen
Professor and Director, Second Institute for Experimental Physics.
University of Chicago. Department of Physics
Professor of Physical Chemistry; Head, Photosynthesis Research Group; and Professor Emeritus of Physical Chemistry.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Archive for the History of Quantum Physics, 1898-1950 (bulk).
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Collections relating to history of physics and allied sciences.
Stadt Göttingen Archiv
Postfach 3831, 3400 Göttingen
James Franck papers, 1705-.
Leo Baeck Institute at the Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011, USA
James Franck papers, 1882-1966.
The Joseph Regenstein Library. Department of Special Collections
University of Chicago
1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Max von Laue letters to James Franck, 1907-1964.
The Joseph Regenstein Library. Department of Special Collections
University of Chicago
1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Oral history joint interview with James Franck and Hertha Sponer-Franck, 1962 July 9 to 14.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Reminiscences [sound recording] : an address at the American Physical Society, Southeastern Section, 1962 April 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Subject
Copies of papers from elsewhere not directly related to Niels Bohr, 1920-
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
Donald Statler Villars intellectual autobiography, 1964.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Eugene Rabinowitch papers, 1954-1964.
The Joseph Regenstein Library. Department of Special Collections
University of Chicago
1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Eugene Rabinowitch: His life -- primarily based on an interview with him on January 5, 1964 at 1021 West Church, Champaign [sound recording] (mostly in his words).
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Fritz Reiche papers, 1907-1998.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Georg von Hevesy scientific correspondence, 1910-1966.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
History of Physics [sound recording], 2014 April 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Karl W. Meissner letters from Max Theodor Felix von Laue, James Franck, and Annamarie Bertel Schrödinger, 1939-1949.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Kasimir Fajans papers, 1912-1975.
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
Martin David Kamen papers, 1923-1992 (bulk 1945-1955).
Mandeville Special Collections Library
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
Michael Polanyi papers, 1900-1975.
The Joseph Regenstein Library. Department of Special Collections
University of Chicago
1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Niels Bohr collection of manuscripts by other authors, 1910-1961.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
Niels Bohr letter to Professor James Franck, 1920 October 18.
Pierpont Morgan Library
29 E. 36th Street, New York, NY 10016, USA
Niels Bohr material collected elsewhere, 1912-1962.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
Niels Bohr scientific correspondence, 1903-1962.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
Oral history interview with Alexei Vorobyov, 1990 July 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Arthur von Hippel, 1981 October 6.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Betty Compton, 1968 April 11 and 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Carl Friedrich Weizsacker, 1986 January 28.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Charles P. Smyth, 1986 May 30.
The Beckman Center for History of Chemistry
Chemical Heritage Foundation
315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2702, USA
Oral history interview with David Lazarus, 1981 December 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with David Rittenhouse Inglis, 1977 May 9 and 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ernst Pascual Jordan, 1963 June 17, 18, 19 and 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Eugene Paul Wigner, 1981 January 24.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Friedrich Hund, 1963 June 25 and 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with George Gamow, 1968 April 25 and 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Gerhard Herzberg : 1986 May 5.
The Beckman Center for History of Chemistry
Chemical Heritage Foundation
315 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2702, USA
Oral history interview with Gustav Ludwig Hertz, 1963 May 14 and 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with H. G. Kuhn, 1984 July 09.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Herbert Friedman, 1980 August 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Herman Carel Burger, 1962 November 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Hilde Levi, 1971 October 28.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with J. Robert Oppenheimer, 1963 November 18 and 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1988 May 4, May 23 and November 28.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Joseph Edward Mayer, 1975 January 24.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Karl K. Darrow, 1964 April 2 and 10 June.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Leonard B. Loeb, 1962 August 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Lise Meitner, 1963 May 12.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim, 1962 July 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Lothar Wolfgang Nordheim, 1977 July 24.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ludwig Franz Benedikt Biermann, 1978 June 23 and July 6.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Maria Goeppert Mayer, 1962 February 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Max Born, 1960 June 1, 1962 October 17 and 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Michael Polanyi, 1962 February 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Oskar Benjamin Klein, 1962 September 25 to 16 July 1963.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Otto Robert Frisch, 1963 May 8.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Otto Stern, 1962 May 29 and 1963 May 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with P. M. S. Blackett, 1962 December 17.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Robert Wichard Pohl, 1963 June 25.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Victor Frederick Weisskopf, 1963 July 10.
Oral history interview with Walter Heitler, 1963 March 18 and 19.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Walter M. Elsasser, 1986 March 12.
Archives
National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307-3000, USA
Oral history interview with Walther Gerlach, 1963 February 18 and 23.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Wilhelm Hanle, 1979 May 23 to June 2.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Otto Oldenberg biographical notes on James Franck, circa 1971.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Peter J. W. Debye papers, 1901-1906 and 1918-1945.
Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften
Boltzmannstr. 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany
Petr P. Lasarev papers, 1914-1941.
Archive
Russian Academy of Sciences
ul. Novocheremushkinskaia, 34, Moscow, 117218, Russia
Puzzles, History, and Reality TV; Physics Beyond the Classroom [sound recording], 2017 March 13.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Robert L. Platzman papers, 1944-1952.
The Joseph Regenstein Library. Department of Special Collections
University of Chicago
1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Robert Pohl letters to James Franck, 1920-1960.
Deutsches Museum
Museumsinsel 1, 80306 Munich, Germany
Scientific correspondence [microform], 1907-1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Walther Gerlach correspondence [microform], 1916-1937.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
William F. Meggers home movies [motion picture], 1927-1957.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Published Resources
Author
Die Elektronenstossversuche / [Von] James Franck [und] Gustav Hertz.
Subject
"James Franck: 1882-1964", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
Aufrecht im Sturm der Zeit : der Physiker James Franck, 1882-1964 / Jost Lemmerich.