Ernest Merritt

Biography

Abstract

Ernest Merritt was Emeritus Professor of Physics at Cornell University (1935-1948). He was the co-founder and co-editor of The Physical Review. He was also a charter member, and the first secretary, of the American Physical Society. His major research contribution was the extended series of investigations he did with Edward Leamington Nichols on the luminescent properties of over 100 materials: phosphorescence and fluorescence at low and moderate temperatures, the decays and recoveries, etc.

Important Dates

April 28, 1865Birth, Indianapolis (Ind.).

1881 – 1882Studied at Purdue University, West Lafayette (Ind.).

1886Obtained ME, Cornell University, Ithaca (N.Y.).

1889 – 1948Instructor in Physics (1889-1892); Assistant Professor of Physics (1892-1903); Professor of Physics (1903-1935); Dean, Graduate School (1909-1914); Head, Department of Physics (1919-1935); and Emeritus Professor of Physics (1935-1948), Cornell University, Ithaca (N.Y.).

1893 – 1894Studied with Max Planck, University of Berlin, Berlin (Germany).

1893 – 1913Co-Founder and Co-Editor, Physical Review.

1914Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1914 – 1915President, American Physical Society.

1917 – 1918Member, Scientific Staff, Naval Experiment Station, United States Navy.

June 5, 1948Death, Ithaca (N.Y.).

Occupation

Experimental physicist.

Places

Birth

Indianapolis (Ind.)

Undergraduate Education

West Lafayette (Ind.)

Graduate Education

Ithaca (N.Y.)

Berlin (Germany)

Employment

Ithaca (N.Y.)

Death

Ithaca (N.Y.)

Subjects

Fluorescence.

Journalism, Scientific.

Low temperatures.

Photography.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Buckley, Oliver Ellsworth, 1887-1959

Advised by Merritt at Cornell University, "The Hall effect and allied phenomena in silicon."

Nichols, E. L. (Edward Leamington), 1854-1937

MS advisor at Cornell University.

Planck, Max, 1858-1947

Post-doctoral advisor at University of Berlin.

Plyler, Earle Keith, 1897-1976

Advised by Merritt at Cornell University.

Colleagues

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

Both employed at Cornell University.

Barton, Henry Askew, 1898-1983

Both employed at Cornell University.

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

Both employed at Cornell University.

Coblentz, William W. (William Weber), 1873-1962

Both employed at Cornell University.

Corson, Dale R.

Both employed at Cornell University.

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

Both employed at Cornell University.

Dyson, Freeman J.

Both employed at Cornell University.

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

Both employed at Cornell University.

Greisen, Kenneth

Both employed at Cornell University.

Krumhansl, J. A. (James A.)

Both employed at Cornell University.

Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)

Both employed at Cornell University.

McDaniel, Boyce D. (Boyce Dawkins), 1917-

Both employed at Cornell University.

Montroll, E. W.

Both employed at Cornell University.

Morrison, Philip

Both employed at Cornell University.

Rossi, Bruno, 1905-1993

Both employed at Cornell University.

Slepian, Joseph, 1891-

Both employed at Cornell University.

Stewart, George Walter, 1876-1956

Both employed at Cornell University.

Tape, Gerald Frederick, 1915-2005

Both employed at Cornell University.

Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000

Both employed at Cornell University.

Additional

Bragg, William Lawrence, Sir, 1890-1971

Brakel, Henry Louis, 1876-

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

Holden, Alan

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

Webster, Arthur Gordon, 1863-1923

Wilson, Edwin Bidwell, 1879-1964

Institutions

Major Positions

Cornell University. Department of Physics

Instructor in Physics; Assistant Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Head, Department of Physics; and Emeritus Professor of Physics.

Cornell University. Graduate School

Dean.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Physical Society

President and Co-Founder and Co-Editor, Physical Review.

Cornell University. College of Engineering

Obtained ME (1886).

Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin

Studied with Max Planck (1893-1894).

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Physical Review

Co-Founder and Co-Editor.

Purdue University. Department of Physics

Student (1881-1882).

United States. Navy

Member, Scientific Staff, Naval Experiment Station.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Ernest Merritt early American Physical Society movies [video recording], 1930-1934.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Ernest Merritt papers, 1887-1950.

Carl A. Kroch Library. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

Cornell University

2B Carl A Kroch Library, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

Subject

Arthur Gordon Webster papers, 1892-1920.

Goddard Library. Archives and Special Collections

Clark University

Worcester, MA 01610-11477, USA

Arthur Gordon Webster papers, 1893-1913.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Cornell University Department of Physics records [microform], 1876-1948.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Earle Keith Plyler intellectual autobiography, 1962.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Edwin Bidwell Wilson aeronautics and aerodynamics collection, 1904-1930.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Karl Darrow correspondence relating to history of the American Physical Society, 1943-1968.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Mary Anita Ewer papers, 1922-1936.

Carl A. Kroch Library. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

Cornell University

2B Carl A Kroch Library, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

Oral history interview with Alan Holden, 1974 July 30 and 1976 June 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Henry Louis Brakel, 1965 November 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Papers of physicists and astronomers in Hoover Library, 1918-1965.

Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

West Branch, IA 52358, USA

Physical Review records, 1893-1912.

Carl A. Kroch Library. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

Cornell University

2B Carl A Kroch Library, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

Thermodynamics and cold light, 1994.

Carl A. Kroch Library. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

Cornell University

2B Carl A Kroch Library, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

Published Resources

Author

Selected topics in the field of luminescence : report of the National research council, Committee on luminescence / by Ernest Merritt, Edward L. Nichols and C.D. Child.

Subject

"Ernest George Merritt: 1865-1948", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

Ernest George Merritt Physics Today obituary.