Philip M. Morse

Biography

Abstract

Philip McCord Morse was Professor of Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (1939-1968). Other institutional affiliations include Princeton University and Brookhaven National Laboratory. His research interests included acoustics and the theory of sound absorption, astrophysics, quantum mechanics, mathematical tables, and atomic power.

Important Dates

August 6, 1903Birth, Shreveport (La.).

1926Obtained BS, Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland (Ohio).

1927Obtained MA, Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).

1929Obtained PhD in Physics, Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).

1929 – 1930Instructor in Physics, Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).

1930 – 1931International Research Fellow, University of Munich and Cambridge University.

1931 – 1985Assistant Professor of Physics (1931-1934); Associate Professor of Physics (1934-1939); Professor of Physics (1939-1968); Director, Underwater Sound Laboratory (1939-1942); Director, Operations Research Center (1953-1969); Director, Computation Center (1955-1967); and Professor Emeritus (1968-1985), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1939 – 1945Supervisor, Sound Control Laboratory, Harvard University.

1942 – 1945Director, Operations Research Group, United States Navy.

1944 – 1945Assistant Chief, Office of Field Service, Office of Scientific Research and Development.

1946 – 1948Director, Brookhaven National Laboratory.

1946 – 1950Member, Council, American Physical Society.

1946 – 1950Member, Science Advisory Committee, United States Navy.

1948 – 1962Member, Board of Trustees (1948-1949 and 1950-1962), RAND (Research and Development) Corporation.

1949 – 1950Director of Research, Weapons Systems Evaluation Group, United States Department of Defense.

1950 – 1951President, Acoustical Society of America.

1950 – 1960Member, Advisory Panel to the Mathematics Division, National Bureau of Standards.

1952President, Operations Research Society of America.

1952 – 1958Member, Science Advisory Committee, Ordnance Department, United States Army.

1952 – 1960Member, Advisory Panel on Computing Machines, National Science Foundation.

1955Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1955 – 1960Member, Board of Trustees, Institute for Defense Analyses.

1956 – 1965Chair, Committee on Mathematical Tables (1956-1960); Member, Committee on the Uses of Computers (1960-1965); and Member, Committee on Natural Resources (1962-1965), National Research Council.

1957 – 1977Editor, Annals of Physics.

1958 – 1964Member, Board of Trustees, Adage, Inc.

1959 – 1965Chair, Advisory Panel on Operations Research, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

1962 – 1968Chair, Advisory Panel on Operations Research, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

1965 – 1966Member, Telecommunications Science Panel, United States Department of Commerce.

1968 – 1978Member, Board of Trustees, New England Regional Computer Network.

1972President, American Physical Society.

1975 – 1980Chair, Governing Board, American Institute of Physics.

September 5, 1985Death, Concord (Mass.).

Occupation

Acoustician.

Places

Birth

Shreveport (La.)

Undergraduate Education

Cleveland (Ohio)

Graduate Education

Princeton (N.J.)

Employment

Cambridge (Mass.)

Death

Concord (Mass.)

Subjects

Astrophysics.

Microwaves.

Nuclear energy.

Quantum theory.

Sound.

Relationships

People

Family

Hopkins, Annabelle

Wife. Married in 1929.

Morse, Allen Crafts

Father.

Morse, Edith McCord

Mother.

Advisors & Collaborators

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

PhD advisor at Princeton University, "A theory of the electric discharge through gases;" and both employed at Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Condon, Edward Uhler, 1902-1974

Co-wrote book "Quantum Mechanics" and both employed at Princeton University.

Draper, C. S. (Charles Stark)

Advised by Morse at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on "The physical processes accompanying detonation in the internal combustion engine." Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Feshbach, Herman

Advised by Morse at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on "Relating the Properties of Tritium to Nuclear Forces" and both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Ingard, K. Uno

Co-wrote "Theoretical Acoustics."

Schiff, Leonard I. (Leonard Isaac), 1915-1971

Advised by Morse at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on quantum theory.

Sommerfeld, Arnold, 1868-1951

Post-doctorate advisor at University of Munich.

Young, James Edward, 1926-

Advised by Morse at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), "Propagation of sound in attenuating ducts containing absorptive strips."

Zirin, Harold.

Advised by Morse at Harvard University, "The radiative opacity of stellar matter."

Colleagues

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Benedek, George Bernard, 1928-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Bertsch, George F.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Birgeneau, Robert J. (Robert Joseph), 1942-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Bitter, Francis, 1902-1967

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Bleakney, Walker, 1901-1992

Both employed at Princeton University.

Bradbury, Norris, 1909-1997

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Princeton University.

Burstein, Elias, 1917-2017

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Callen, Herbert B.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Chodorow, Marvin

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Coppi, B.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Davidson, Ronald C.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Davis, Raymond, 1914-2006

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Deutsch, Martin, 1917-2002

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Drell, Sidney D. (Sidney David), 1926-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Dresselhaus, M. S.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Eisenhart, Luther Pfahler, 1876-1965

Both employed at Princeton University.

Enge, Harald A.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Friedman, Jerome I. (Jerome Isaac), 1930-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Galt, John Kirtland, 1920-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Glimm, James

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Goldstone, Jeffrey

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Guth, Alan H.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Hansen, W. W. (William Webster), 1909-1949

Both employed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Haroche, S.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Herring, William Conyers, 1914-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Jackiw, Roman W.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Jackson, John David, 1925-2016

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Javan, Ali, 1926-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Joannopoulos, J. D. (John D.), 1947-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kastner, Marc A.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kendall, Henry W. (Henry Way), 1926-1999

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Keyes, Frederick G. (Frederick George), 1885-1976

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Killian, T. J. (Thomas Joseph), 1905-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Klein, Martin J.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kleppner, Daniel

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kraushaar, William L.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lax, Benjamin

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lee, P. A. (Patrick A.), 1946-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lieb, Elliott H.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)

Both employed at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Low, Francis E. (Francis Eugene), 1921-2007

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Morrison, Philip

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Orowan, E. (Egon), 1902-1989

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Phillips, William D. (William Daniel), 1948-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Porkolab, Miklos

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Rasmussen, Norman C.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Read, Nicholas

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Rossi, Bruno, 1905-1993

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Schulz, George J., 1925-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Shenstone, A. G. (Allen Goodrich)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Shull, Clifford Glenwood

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Smyth, Henry De Wolf, 1898-1986

Both employed at Princeton University.

Spruch, Larry

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Stanley, H. Eugene (Harry Eugene), 1941-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Stratton, Julius Adams, 1901-1994

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Ting, S. C. C. (Samuel Chao-chung), 1936-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Townes, Charles H.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Van de Graaf, Robert Jemison, 1901-1967

Both employed at Princeton University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Weinberg, Steven, 1933-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Weiss, Rainer

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Additional

Beranek, Leo L. (Leo Leroy), 1914-2016

Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005

Blackett, P. M. S. (Patrick Maynard Stuart), Baron Blackett, 1897-1974

Bragg, William Henry, 1862-1942

Brillouin, Léon, 1889-1969

Broglie, Louis de, 1892-1987

Cockcroft, John, Sir, 1897-1967

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

Davisson, Clinton Joseph, 1881-1958

Dirac, P. A. M. (Paul Adrien Maurice), 1902-1984

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

Fisher, Leon H. (Leon Harold), 1918-

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

Hunt, Frederick V.

Kelly, Harry C.

Kip, Arthur F.

Koch, Herman William, 1920-

Menzel, Donald H. (Donald Howard), 1901-1976

Roe, Anne, 1904-1991

Rutherford, Ernest, 1871-1937

Shockley, William, 1910-1989

Szilard, Leo

Welton, Theodore Allen, 1918-

Institutions

Major Positions

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Assistant Professor of Physics; Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Director, Underwater Sound Laboratory; Director, Operations Research Center; Director, Computation Center; and Professor Emeritus.

Princeton University. Department of Physics

Obtained MA (1927) and PhD (1929). Instructor in Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Acoustical Society of America

President.

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Institute of Physics

Chairman, Governing Board.

American Physical Society

President and Member, Council.

Bell Telephone Laboratories

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Director.

Case School of Applied Science

Obtained BS (1926).

Elsevier Science Publishers

Editor, Annals of Physics.

Harvard University. Department of Physics

Supervisor, Sound Control Laboratory.

Institute for Defense Analyses

Member, Board of Trustees.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

National Research Council (U.S.)

Chair, Committee on Mathematical Tables; Member, Committee on the Uses of Computers; and Member, Committee on Natural Resources.

National Science Foundation (U.S.)

Member, Advisory Panel on Computing Machines.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Chair, Advisory Panel on Operations Research.

Operations Research Society of America.

President.

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Chair, Advisory Panel on Operations Research.

Rand Corporation

Member, Board of Trustees.

United States. Army. Ordnance Department

Member, Science Advisory Committee.

United States. Department of Commerce

Member, Telecommunications Science Panel.

United States. Department of Defense. Weapons Systems Evaluation Group

Director of Research.

United States. National Bureau of Standards

Member, Advisory Panel to the Mathematics Division.

United States. Navy

Director, Operations Research Group and Member, Science Advisory Committee.

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development

Assistant Chief, Office of Field Service.

Universitat Munchen. Fakultat fur Physik

International Research Fellow.

University of Cambridge. Department of Physics

International Research Fellow.

University of Michigan. Department of Physics

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Joint ceremonial session of the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers [sound recording], 1973.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Memorial session for John C. Slater [sound recording], 1977 February 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Philip Morse papers, 1927-1980.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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

Phillip M. Morse autobiographical data, circa 1962.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Anne Roe papers, 1949-1971 (bulk).

Library.

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Brookhaven National Laboratory archives, 1946-1989.

Research Library.

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Upton, NY 11973, USA.

Brookhaven National Laboratory interview transcripts, 1966-1986.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Clinton J. Davisson letters to Louis de Broglie, Hans Albrecht Bethe, and Philip McCord Morse, 1927-1936.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Elizabeth P. Korn sketches, 1928-1940s.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

John Clarke Slater papers, 1908-1976.

Library.

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

MIT Office of the Chancellor records of Julius A. Stratton, 1949-1957.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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

MIT Office of the President records of Karl Taylor Compton and James Rhyne Killian, 1930-1959.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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

Oral history interview with Arthur Frederic Kip, 1982 June 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edward Uhler Condon, 1967 October 17, 18, 1968 April 27, 1973 September 11 and 12.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Frederick Vinton Hunt, 1964 December 18 and 1965 January 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harry C. Kelly, 1975 October 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Herman William Koch, 1986 September 16 to 11 October 1987.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with James Brown Fisk, 1976 June 24.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with K. Uno Ingard, 2007 July 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Leo Beranek, 2009 August 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Leon H. Fisher and Robert N. Varney, 2008 July 26.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with William Shockley, 1974 September 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Philip Morse and Leland Haworth papers [microform], 1946-1961.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Theodore Welton memories, circa 1984.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

William W. Hansen papers, 1925-1974.

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305, USA

Published Resources

Author

In at the beginnings : a physicist's life / Philip M. Morse.

In honor of Philip M. Morse. Editors Herman Feshbach and K. Uno Ingard.

Methods of theoretical physics / [by] Philip M. Morse [and] Herman Feshbach.

Nuclear, particle and many body physics. Editors: Philip M. Morse [and others].

Quantum mechanics / by Edward U. Condon ... and Philip M. Morse …

Theoretical acoustics [by] Philip M. Morse [and] K. Uno Ingard.

Thermal physics / Philip M. Morse.

Vibration and sound.

Subject

"Philip McCord Morse: 1903-1985", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

"Where Are We Going, Phil Morse? Changing Agendas and the Rhetoric of Obviousness in the Transformation of Computing at MIT," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 18 (1996): 34-41

Philip M. Morse Physics Today obituary.