Martin J. Klein

Dates

June 25, 1924 – March 28, 2009

Authorized Form of Name

Klein, Martin J.

Additional Forms of Names

Klein, Martin Jesse, 1924-2009

Biography

Abstract

Martin J. Klein was Eugene Higgins Professor Emeritus of Physics and History of Science at Yale University (1967-2009). Other institutional affiliations included Case Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research interests included the history of modern physics and theoretical physics.

Important Dates

June 25, 1924Birth, New York (N.Y.).

1942Obtained AB, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1944Obtained AM, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1944 – 1945Physicist, Underwater Sound Research Laboratory, United States Navy.

1945 – 1946Member, Operations Research Group, United States Navy.

1946 – 1949Research Associate in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1948Obtained PhD in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1949 – 1967Instructor to Professor of Physics, Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve University), Cleveland (Ohio).

1952 – 1953National Research Fellow, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

1958 – 1959Guggenheim Fellow, Lorentz Institute (Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden).

1967 – 2009Professor of Physics (1967-1973); Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and History of Science (1973-2000); and Eugene Higgins Professor Emeritus of Physics and History of Science (2000-2009), Yale University, New Haven (Conn.).

1972Member, Institute for Advanced Study.

1974Van der Waals Professor and Zeeman Professor, University of Amsterdam.

1977Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1989 – 1990Visiting Professor, Harvard University.

March 28, 2009Death, Chapel Hill (N.C.).

Occupation

Historian of physics and physicist.

Places

Subjects

Physics -- History.

Physics -- Study and teaching.

Quantum theory.

Statistical thermodynamics.

Theoretical physics.

Relationships

People

Family

Klein, Abby

Daughter of Linda Booz Klein.

Klein, Adolph

Father.

Klein, Linda Booz

Second wife. Divorced.

Klein, Mary

Mother.

Klein, Miriam Levin

First wife. Divorced.

Klein, Nancy

Daughter of Miriam Levin Klein.

Klein, Rona

Daughter of Miriam Levin Klein.

Klein, Sarah

Daughter of Miriam Levin Klein.

Warnow-Blewett, Joan, 1931-

Third wife.

Colleagues

Adair, Robert K., 1924-

Both employed at Yale University.

Bardeen, James Maxwell, 1939-

Both employed at Yale University.

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

Both employed at Yale University.

Bitter, Francis, 1902-1967

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Breit, Gregory, 1899-1981

Both employed at Yale University.

Bromley, D. Allan (David Allan), 1926-2005

Both employed at Yale University.

Callen, Herbert B.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Casten, R.

Both employed at Yale University.

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Deutsch, Martin, 1917-2002

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Feshbach, Herman

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Fleury, Paul A.

Both employed at Yale University.

Galt, John Kirtland, 1920-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Girvin, Steven M.

Both employed at Yale University.

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Haroche, S.

Both employed at Yale University.

Hohenberg, Pierre C.

Both employed at Yale University.

Holt, R. J. (Roy J.)

Both employed at Yale University.

Hughes, Vernon W.

Both employed at Yale University.

Iachello, F.

Both employed at Yale University.

Jackson, John David, 1925-2016

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Jain, Jainendra K.

Both employed at Yale University.

Kraushaar, William L.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lamb, Willis E. (Willis Eugene), 1913-2008

Both employed at Yale University.

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

Both employed at Yale University.

Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Read, Nicholas

Both employed at Yale University.

Rossi, Bruno, 1905-1993

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Sandweiss, Jack H.

Both employed at Yale University.

Shankland, Robert S., 1908-

Both employed at Case Institute of Technology.

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Spruch, Larry

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Stratton, Julius Adams, 1901-1994

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Van de Graaf, Robert Jemison, 1901-1967

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Additional

Burgers, J. M. (Johannes Martinus), 1895-1981

Uhlenbeck, George Eugène, 1900-1988

Institutions

Major Positions

Case Western Reserve University. Department of Physics

Instructor to Professor of Physics.

Harvard University. Department of Physics

Visiting Professor.

Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.)

Member.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD in Physics (1948). Research Associate in Physics.

Universiteit van Amsterdam

Van der Waals Professor and Zeeman Professor.

Yale University. Physics Department

Professor of Physics; Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and History of Science; and Eugene Higgins Professor Emeritus of Physics and History of Science.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Institute of Physics

Columbia University. Department of Physics

Obtained AB (1942) and AM (1944).

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies

National Research Fellow.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden

Guggenheim Fellow, Lorentz Institute.

United States. Navy

Member, Operations Research Group and Physicist, Underwater Sound Research Laboratory.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Bicentennial session on the history of pioneering American physicists [sound recording] / 1976 April 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Gibbs Symposium records, 1964-1989.

Manuscripts and Archives

Yale University Library

Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, 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

Joint session of the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers [sound recording] : History of physics ; 1974 February 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Joint symposium of the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers on history and philosophy of physics [sound recording], 1969 February 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Martin J. Klein papers, 1951-2004.

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Yale University Library

Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA

Martin J. Klein's Nuclear physics course notes, 1946-1947.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Johannes Martinus Burgers, 1962 June 9.