W. H. Furry

Biography

Abstract

Wendell Hinkle Furry was Emeritus Professor of Physics at Harvard University (1934-1984). Other institutional affiliations included the University of California, Berkeley and the California Institute of Technology. His research interests included beta decay and neutrinos.

Important Dates

February 18, 1907Birth, Prairieton (Ind.).

1928Obtained AB, DePauw University, Greencastle (Ind.).

1930Obtained AM, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Champaign (Ill.).

1932Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Champaign (Ill.).

1932 – 1934National Research Fellow, California Institute of Technology.

1932 – 1934National Research Fellow, University of California, Berkeley.

1934 – 1984Instructor to Associate Professor of Physics (1934-1962); Chair, Department of Physics (1965-1968); and Professor to Emeritus Professor of Physics (1962-1984), Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1943 – 1945Researcher, Radiation Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

December 17, 1984Death, Cambridge (Mass.).

Occupation

Theoretical physicist.

Places

Birth

Prairieton (Ind.)

Undergraduate Education

Greencastle (Ind.)

Graduate Education

Champaign (Ill.)

Employment

Cambridge (Mass.)

Death

Cambridge (Mass.)

Subjects

Beta decay.

Communism and science.

Neutrinos.

Neutrons.

Theoretical physics.

Trials (Contempt of legislative bodies).

Relationships

People

Colleagues

Adler, Stephen L.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Anderson, Carl D. (Carl David), 1905-1991

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bainbridge, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Tompkins), 1904-1996

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bardeen, John

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bateman, Harry, 1882-1946

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Benedek, George Bernard, 1928-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Birge, Raymond T. (Raymond Thayer), 1887-

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Bloembergen, N.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bonner, Tom Wilkerson, 1910-1961

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Branscomb, Lewis M., 1926-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Brewer, Richard G.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bridgman, P. W. (Percy Williams), 1882-1961

Both employed at Harvard University.

Brillouin, Léon, 1889-1969

Both employed at Harvard University.

Brode, Robert B. (Robert Bigham), 1900-1986

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Callan, Curtis G.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Coleman, Sidney, 1937-2007

Both employed at Harvard University.

Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978

Both employed at Harvard University.

Cormack, Allan MacLeod, 1924-1998

Both employed at Harvard University.

Crane, H. R. (Horace Richard), 1907-2007

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Deser, S. (Stanley)

Both employed at Harvard University.

DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Duwez, Pol

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Epstein, Paul S. (Paul Sophus), 1883-1966

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Feenberg, Eugene

Both employed at Harvard University.

Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981

Both employed at Harvard University.

Gallagher, Thomas F., 1944-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Gates, S. James

Both employed at Harvard University.

Georgi, Howard

Both employed at Harvard University.

Glashow, Sheldon L.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Glauber, Roy J., 1925-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Griggs, David, 1911-1974

Both employed at Harvard University.

Gross, David J. (David Jonathan)

Both employed at Harvard University.

Halperin, Bertrand I.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Hooft, G. 't

Both employed at Harvard University.

Houston, W. V. (William Vermillion), 1900-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Jackiw, Roman W.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Jaffe, Arthur, 1937-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kemble, Edwin C. (Edwin Crawford), 1889-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kleppner, Daniel

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kohn, Walter, 1923-2016

Both employed at Harvard University.

Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Leggett, A. J. (Anthony J.)

Both employed at Harvard University.

Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Loeb, Leonard B. (Leonard Benedict), 1891-

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Lyman, Theodore, 1874-1954

Both employed at Harvard University.

Martin, Paul Cecil, 1931-

Both employed at Harvard University.

McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Nelson, Ann E. (Ann Elizabeth)

Both employed at Harvard University.

Nelson, David R., 1951-

Both employed at Harvard University.

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

Both employed at Harvard University.

Oldenberg, Otto, 1888-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Both employed at California Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley.

Pierce, George Washington, 1872-1956

Both employed at Harvard University.

Polchinski, Joseph Gerard

Both employed at Harvard University.

Politzer, H. David, 1949-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Pound, Robert V.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Purcell, Edward M.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Quinn, Helen R.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Both employed at Harvard University.

Raney, William P.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Saunders, Frederick A. (Frederick Albert), 1875-1963

Both employed at Harvard University.

Schwinger, Julian, 1918-1994

Both employed at Harvard University.

Serber, R. (Robert)

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Starr, Chauncey

Both employed at Harvard University.

Steinhardt, Paul J.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Strauch, Karl, 1922-2000

Both employed at Harvard University.

Street, Jabez Curry, 1906-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Tinkham, Michael

Both employed at Harvard University.

Tolman, Richard C. (Richard Chace), 1881-1948

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Tousey, Richard

Both employed at Harvard University.

Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980

Both employed at Harvard University.

Von Kármán, Theodore, 1881-1963

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Weinberg, Steven, 1933-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Wilson, Kenneth G. (Kenneth Geddes), 1936-2013

Both employed at Harvard University.

Wilson, Richard, 1926-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Wise, Mark B., 1953-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Witten, E.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Wu, Tai Tsun

Both employed at Harvard University.

Additional

Aharonov, Yakir, 1932-

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

Buck, Paul Herman, 1899-1978

Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976

Holton, Gerald James

Inglis, David Rittenhouse, 1905-1995

MacDonald, Gordon J. (Gordon James), 1929-2002

Pauli, Wolfgang, 1900-1958

Phillips, Melba, 1907-2004

Roe, Anne, 1904-1991

Uhlenbeck, George Eugène, 1900-1988

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Institutions

Major Positions

Harvard University. Department of Physics

Instructor to Associate Professor of Physics; Chair, Department of Physics; and Professor to Emeritus Professor of Physics.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Radiation Laboratory

Researcher.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

California Institute of Technology. Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy

National Research Fellow.

DePauw University.

Obtained AB (1928).

University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics

National Research Fellow.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Department of Physics

Obtained AM (1930) and PhD in Physics (1932).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Commemorating the 40th anniversary [computer file] / 2002.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Correspondence with David Enskog, Sydney Chapman, Harrison Brown, and Wendell H. Furry concerning the development of the theory of non-uniform gases, 1922-1946.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Wendell Furry 1977 January 17 and 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Wendell Furry, 1971 August 9.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Physical Review records, 1940-1947.

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Wendell Hinkle Furry papers, circa 1927-1985.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Subject

Anne Roe papers, 1949-1971 (bulk).

Library

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Eulogies for Wendell Hinkle Furry, 1985.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Nathan M. Pusey letter to Senator Joseph R. McCarthy regarding Harvard Professor Wendell H. Furry, 1953 November 9.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

On being a student of Norman Ramsey, 2017.

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 Eugene Feenberg, 1973 April 13 and 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Gerald Holton, 1977 January 11.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Gordon J. MacDonald, 1993 November 15, 1994 March 18 and 1995 August 4.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Kenneth Bainbridge, 1977 March 16 and 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Norman Ramsey, 1960 July 19 to August 4.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Paul Buck, 1977 March 2.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

Physics for science and engineering students, by W.H. Furry, E.M. Purcell, and J.C. Street.