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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as Subject

Samuel A. Goudsmit

Photo

Dates

July 11, 1902 – December 4, 1978

Authorized Form of Name

Goudsmit, Samuel A. (Samuel Abraham), 1902-1978

Additional Forms of Names

Goudsmit, Samuel Abraham, 1902-1978

Biography

Abstract

Samuel Abraham Goudsmit was Senior Scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory (1948-1970). Other institutional affiliations included Northwestern University and University of Michigan. His research interests included magnetic mass spectrometers and atomic spectra.

Important Dates

July 11, 1902Birth, Hague (Netherlands).

1927Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Leiden, Leiden (Netherlands).

1927 – 1946Associate Professor of Physics (1927-1932) and Professor of Physics (1932-1946), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Mich.).

1941 – 1946Researcher, Radiation Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

1944 – 1945Scientific Head, Operation ALSOS, Office of Field Service, Office of Scientific Research and Development.

1946 – 1948Professor of Physics, Northwestern University.

1947Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1948 – 1951Lecturer, New School for Social Research.

1948 – 1970Senior Scientist (1948-1970) and Chair, Department of Physics (1952-1960), Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton (N.Y.).

1949 – 1959Lecturer, United States Navy Bureau of Ships.

1951 – 1975Managing Editor (1951-1966) and Editor-in-Chief (1967-1975), Physical Review, American Physical Society.

1957 – 1974Visiting Professor, Rockefeller Institute.

1958 – 1978Editor, Physical Review Letters, American Physical Society.

1975 – 1978Visiting Professor, University of Nevada, Reno.

1976Awarded National Medal of Science.

December 4, 1978Death, Reno (Nev.).

Occupation

Nuclear physicist.

Places

Birth

Hague (Netherlands)

Graduate Education

Leiden (Netherlands)

Employment

Ann Arbor (Mich.)

Upton (N.Y.)

Death

Reno (Nev.)

Subjects

Atomic spectra.

Magnetic fields.

Mass spectrometry.

Nuclear physics.

Theoretical physics.

Relationships

People

Family

Goudsmit, Esther

Daughter.

Goudsmit, Irene Bejach

Second wife.

Goudsmit, Jaantje Logher

First wife. Married 1927, divorced 1960.

Advisors & Collaborators

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

Advised by Goudsmit at University of Michigan "Zeeman effect of the hyperfine structure of atomic levels," and co-wrote "Atomic energy states, as derived from the analyses of optical spectra."

Ehrenfest, Paul, 1880-1933

PhD advisor at University of Leiden "Atoommodel en structuur der spectra."

Colleagues

Adair, Robert K., 1924-

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Blume, Martin, 1932-

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Brueckner, Keith A.

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Cool, Rodney L. (Rodney Lee), 1920-1988

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Courant, Ernest D. (Ernest David), 1920-

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

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

Both employed at University of Michigan.

Cronin, James W., 1931-2016

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Davis, Raymond, 1914-2006

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Dennison, David M. (David Mathias), 1900-1976

Both employed at University of Michigan.

Emery, V. J. (Victor J.)

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Feinberg, Gerald, 1933-

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Frazer, Benjamin Chalmers

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Goldhaber, Gertrude S. -1998

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Goldhaber, Maurice, 1911-2011

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Haworth, Leland J. (Leland John), 1904-

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Laporte, Otto, 1902-1971

Both employed at University of Michigan.

Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

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

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Palmer, Robert B., 1934-

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Poskanzer, A. M. (Arthur M.), 1931-

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Randall, Harrison M. (Harrison McAllister), 1870-

Both employed at University of Michigan.

Samios, Nicholas P.

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Schwartz, Melvin, 1932-2006

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Shirane, G.

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Tape, Gerald Frederick, 1915-2005

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Uhlenbeck, George Eugène, 1900-1988

Both employed at University of Michigan.

Vineyard, G. H.

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Warburton, Ernest Keeling

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Wick, G. C. (Gian Carlo)

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Additional

Berlin, Theodore H., 1917-1962

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

Bok, Bart J. (Bart Jan), 1906-1983

Breit, Gregory, 1899-1981

Brillouin, Léon, 1889-1969

Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974

Casimir, H. B. G. (Hendrik Brugt Gerhard), 1909-2000

Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

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

Fok, V. A. (Vladimir Aleksandrovich), 1898-1974

Frank, Charles, Sir

Gamow, George, 1904-1968

Gerlach, Walther, 1889-1979

Gorter, C. J. (Cornelis Jacobus), 1907-

Hartley, Ralph Vinton Lyon, 1888-1970

Havens, William W. (William Westerfield), 1920-2004

Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976

Hoddeson, Lillian

Inglis, David Rittenhouse, 1905-1995

Irving, David John Cawdell, 1938-

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

Kowarski, Lew

Kronig, R. (Ralph), 1904-

Landé, Alfred, 1888-

Loomis, F. W. (Francis Wheeler), 1889-1976

Lorentz, H. A. (Hendrik Antoon), 1853-1928

Mayer, Maria Goeppert, 1906-1972

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Pauli, Wolfgang, 1900-1958

Pauling, Linus, 1901-1994

Peierls, Rudolf E. (Rudolf Ernst), 1907-1995

Perrin, Michael Wilcox

Polanyi, Michael, 1891-1976

Pound, Robert V.

Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988

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

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Slater, John C. (John Clarke), 1900-1976

Smith, Gail Preston, 1915-

Thomas, Llewellyn Hilleth, 1903-1992

Urey, Harold Clayton, 1893-1981

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

Weizsacker, Carl Friedrich, Freiherr von, 1912-2007

Weyl, Hermann, 1885-1955

Wideroe, Rolf, 1902-

Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000

Wu, Ta-you

Zeeman, Pieter, 1865-1943

Institutions

Major Positions

American Physical Society

Managing Editor, Physical Review; Editor-in-Chief, Physical Review; Editor, Physical Review Letters.

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Senior Scientist and Chair, Department of Physics.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Radiation Laboratory

Researcher.

New School for Social Research (New York, N.Y. : 1919-1997)

Lecturer.

Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). Department of Physics

Professor of Physics.

Rockefeller University

Visiting Professor.

United States. Navy Department. Bureau of Ships

Lecturer.

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development

Scientific Head, Operation ALSOS, Office of Field Service.

University of Michigan. Department of Physics

Associate Professor of Physics and Professor of Physics.

University of Nevada. Dept. of Physics.

Visiting Professor.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden

Obtained PhD in Physics (1927).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

75th anniversary session of the American Physical Society [sound recording], 1974 April 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

American Physical Society records, 1899-1989.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Archive for the History of Quantum Physics, 1898-1950 (bulk).

Library

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

History of physics audio-visual collection, circa 1918-1996, 1960-1988 (bulk)

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Informal moments, Summer Symposia at the University of Michigan [motion picture] / taken by David Dennison ; 1933-1937.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Invited papers on the history of physics [sound recording] : American Physical Society Meeting, 1966 April 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Letters to NBS staff on "Atomic Energy Levels," 1949-1971.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Samuel Abraham Goudsmit, 1963 December 5 and 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Samuel Goudsmit 1976 May 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Outtakes and candid footage from the production of : The world of Enrico Fermi, circa 1930-1968.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Palmer Physical Laboratory Colloquia [sound recording], 1962 and 1966.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Quantum physics correspondence, 1918-1948.

Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz.

Potsdamer Strasse, Postfach 1107, W-1000, Berlin 30, Germany

Samuel A. Goudsmit correspondence [microform], 1921-1933.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Samuel A. Goudsmit papers, 1921-1979.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Samuel A. Goudsmit papers, 1928-1932.

Library

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Samuel A. Goudsmit papers.

Museum of Jewish Heritage

342 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10173, USA

Samuel and Irene Goudsmit collection, 1862-1944.

Leo Baeck Institute at the Center for Jewish History

15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011, USA

Samuel Goudsmit addition to papers, 1932-1974.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Samuel Goudsmit address [sound recording]

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Samuel Goudsmit quantum mechanics seminar for science writers [sound recording], 1964 October 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Symposium of the Forum on Physics and Society [sound recording] : science and secrecy, 1973 April 24.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Text materials for documentary film: The world of Enrico Fermi, circa 1930-1968.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

The development of physics in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s [sound recording] / 1974 April 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

The Michigan Symposium on Theoretical Physics, circa 1961.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

The world of Enrico Fermi [motion picture].

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Alfred Landé incoming letters [microform], 1915-1927.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Alfred Landé papers, 1915-1970.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Esther M. Goudsmit papers, 1925-1995.

Bentley Historical Library

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA

Esther Marianne Goudsmit papers, 1927-1981.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

F. W. Loomis papers, 1920-1976.

University Archives

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Gail P. Smith autobiography, circa 1965.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

George Uhlenbeck papers, 1918-1982 (bulk 1925-1970).

Bentley Historical Library

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA

George Uhlenbeck papers, 1925-1988.

Rockefeller Archive Center

15 Dayton Ave., Pocantico Hills, North Tarrytown, NY 10591-1598, USA

H. P. Robertson papers, 1922-1980 (bulk 1936-1966).

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Lew Kowarski papers, 1907-1981 (bulk 1930-1981).

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Lillian Hoddeson papers, 1904-2001.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Materials gathered for his book, The German atomic bomb [microform], 1938-1945. Irving, David John Cawdell.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Niels Bohr material collected elsewhere, 1912-1962.

Niels Bohr Archive

Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark

Oral history interview with Alfred Landé, 1962 March 5, 6, 7, 8 and June 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Bart Jan Bok, 1978 May 15, 17, 19 and 1978 June 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Carl Friedrich Weizsacker, 1985 May 9.

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 Cornelis Jacobus Gorter, 1962 November 13.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with David Mathias Dennison, 1964 January 27, 28 and 30.

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 Frederick Charles Frank, 1985 April 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Frederick Seitz, 1982 October 6 and 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Frederick Seitz, 1994 July 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with George Eugene Uhlenbeck, 1962 March 30, 31, April 5, May 10 and 1963 December 9.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with H. R. Crane, 1973 March 28 and 1974 June 18.

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

Oral history interview with Harrison M. Randall, 1964 February 19, 20 and 1965 June 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir, 1963 July 5 and 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Linus Carl Pauling, 1964 March 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Llewellyn Hilleth Thomas, 1962 May 10.

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 Michael Willcox Perrin, 1985 April 11.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ralph de Laer Kronig, 1962 November 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral History interview with Robert F. Bacher, 1966 June 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral History interview with Robert F. Bacher, 1981, 1983.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral History interview with Robert F. Bacher, 1986 February 13.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral History interview with Robert V. Pound, 2003 May 22 and 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Rudolf Ernst Peierls, 1985 April 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ta-You Wu, 1977 February 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Vannevar Bush, 1964.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Vannevar Bush, 1964.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

Oral history interview with Vladimir Aleksandrovich Fok, 1967 October 11.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, 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

Oral history interview with William W. Havens, 1991 February 21, July 17, 29, Augut 5, 12 and 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Paul Ehrenfest papers [microform], 1903-1933.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Paul Ehrenfest papers, 1902-1933.

Rijksmumsum voor de Geschiedenis van de Natuurwetenschappen en van de Geneeskunde 'Museum Boerhaave'

Steenstraat IA, 2313 BS Leiden, Netherlands

Pieter Zeeman papers, 1877-1946.

Rijksarchief in Noord-Holland

Kleine Houtweg 18, Haarlem, Netherlands

Ralph Vinton Lyon Hartley papers, 1920-1970.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Richard Feynman papers, 1933-1965.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Robert F. Bacher papers, 1924-1994.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Rolf Wideröe papers, 1942-1945.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Theodore Berlin papers, 1944-1962.

Rockefeller Archive Center

15 Dayton Ave., Pocantico Hills, North Tarrytown, NY 10591-1598, USA

William T. Scott collection on Michael Polanyi, 1903-1995 (bulk 1979-1991).

Library

University of Nevada, Reno.

Special Collections Dept., Reno, NV 89557, USA.

Published Resources

Author

Alsos / Samuel A. Goudsmit ; with a new introduction by R.V. Jones.

Atomic energy states, as derived from the analyses of optical spectra / compiled by Robert F. Bacher, and Samuel Goudsmit.

Atoommodel en structuur der spectra, door Samuel Abraham Goudsmit.

Crystal rectifiers / by Henry C. Torrey and Charles A. Whitmer; ed. by S. A. Goudsmit [and others, under the supervision of the] Office of Scientific Research and Development, National Defense Research Committee.

Samuel Goudsmit, Alsos (New York: H. Schuman, 1947)

The structure of line spectra, by Linus Pauling and Samuel Goudsmit

Subject

"Heisenberg, Goudsmit, and the German Atomic Bomb," Physics Today 42 (1989): 52-60

"Quantum Numbers and Electron Spin: The History of a Discovery," Archives Internationale d'Histoire des Sciences 40 (1990): 305-331

"Samuel Abraham Goudsmit: 1902-1978", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

"Spin: All is Not What It Seems," Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 38 (2007): 529-557

Samuel A. Goudsmit Physics Today obituary.