Robert Andrews Milliken, a brief biography of which will be presented to your attention in the article, was born on March 22, 1868, in the city of Morrison, which is located in Illinois. His father, Silas Franklin Millikan, was a clergyman in the Congregational Church, his mother, Mary Jane Millikan, worked for a long time as Dean of Olive College, which is located in Michigan. In addition to Robert, the family also had two more boys and three girls.
Childhood and adolescence
Which country was Robert Millikan a citizen of? Until the age of seven, the future Nobel Prize winner lived in his native Morrison, but his parents decided to move, the choice fell on the city of Makuoket (Iowa). It was a very small town located near the Mississippi River. He remained a US citizen. There, Robert graduated from high school, after which he immediately decided to go to college. He chose Oberlin, located in Ohio. Most likely, this college was advised by the mother, because once she herself graduated from it.
During his studies, Robert studied many different sciences, but was most interested in mathematics and the ancient Greek language. There he took a short course in physics, which lasted only twelve weeks. After which he said that this course did not give him anything, and it was a waste of time. Soon, Milliken was made an offer to conduct physics courses himself at a preparatory school, which was located at the college. Robert agreed, because he was paid for this work, and in this position he spent two years.
In 1891, he received a bachelor's degree, and already in 1893 he became a master. The college management decided to support a young, but promising guy, and sent documents to Columbia University, enclosing them with summaries of his studies. After that, Robert Andrews Millikan was not only accepted, but also received a scholarship.
Step into a big life
Upon arrival at Columbia University, Robert began work with his new mentor, physicist-inventor Michael Pyupin. But Milliken was not limited to one university, and so he decided to spend the summer at the University of Chicago, working with the famous physicist Albert Michelson. These events, apparently, very much influenced Robert and his views, it was at this time that he decided for himself to connect his life with physics, research and experiments.
Already in 1895 he managed to defend a dissertation on the topic of polarization of light and received a doctorate. A year later, Millikan went on a trip to Europe. He traveled to Berlin, Paris and many other cities. He was also able to meet many famous scientists and researchers, for example, Henri Becquerel. This experience greatly influenced the young scientist and further strengthened his desire to continue to engage in physics and other scientific activities.
Homecoming
In 1896, Robert Andrews Millikan returned to his homeland, to the United States of America. After a short rest, the scientist decided to work at the University of Chicago with Michelson, becoming his assistant. For the next twelve years he diluted his scientific activity with the writing of textbooks in physics. And this was a very important step, because before the release of Milliken's textbooks, all the books were simple translations of other textbooks from German and French. And now it was written from scratch by an American scientist for American students. They spread throughout the country and remained standard textbooks for over fifty years! This step was really important for the scientist himself and for the entire country's training system.
In 1907, Robert became an assistant professor, and already in 1910 he managed to become a full-fledged professor of physics.
Robert Millikan: discoveries and experiments
In 1908, Robert decided to stop his work on textbooks, apparently, the thirst for discovery and the desire to get answers to all questions prevailed over him. He began to devote more and more of his time to original research. More precisely, Milliken, like thousands of other physicists of those times, was very interested in the electron, which was discovered recently. More specifically, he was interested in the magnitude of the charge, because no one could measure it accurately. Attempts to do this were made by one English scientist - Wilson. However, his work was unsuccessful, since all the results were only an approximate number, not an exact one.
Robert Andrews Millikan tried to calculate how the electron field affects the cloud of ethers, but not specifically on the drop. Over time, many scientists came to the conclusion that different electrons have completely different charges. Then Milliken got the idea to conduct his own experiment and find out whether different electrons really have different charges or not. At that moment, Robert created the charged drop method. This was an ideal example of a beautiful experiment, as well as one of his great achievements, for which he received the Nobel Prize.
At first, Robert Millikan, whose photo you can see in the article, decided that it was necessary to improve the experimental setup used by Wilson. Firstly, another battery was built, which, in turn, was a more powerful prototype and created an electric field much stronger than before. Secondly, it was possible to isolate several charged drops of water that were between the metal plates. When the field was activated, the drop began to slowly move up, when the field was turned off - the drop began to slowly fall down, succumbing to gravity. By activating and deactivating the field, Robert studied every drop for forty-five seconds, after which it evaporated.
Already in 1909, the scientist was able to understand that the charge of a drop always remains whole and a multiple of its fundamental value. This result was very convincing evidence that the electron is a fundamental particle with the same mass and the same charge. Of course, during the experiment, the scientist faced a lot of problems, but the patient and thoughtful solution to each of them bore fruit. For example, over time, Millikan came to the conclusion that it is better to replace water with oil, so the observation time increased from forty-five seconds to four and a half hours. This made it possible to better understand the processes, as well as eliminate errors and inaccuracies in measurements.
Already in 1913, Robert was able to show the world his conclusion in this matter. The result of his research was in demand for seventy years, and only recently with the help of the most modern equipment and technology, scientists were able to make small adjustments.
Other physics studies
Even at the time when Millikan was working on textbooks, he simultaneously conducted some experiments, for example, studies of the photoelectric effect. The essence of the experiment was that this effect allowed electrons to be pushed out of the metal using light. Back in 1905, the famous scientist Albert Einstein tried to figure out this issue, resorting to using his hypothesis that light was created from particles, which he called photons. True, his hypothesis was just a generalization of the idea of another scientist, Max Planck. But at that time, Einstein's hypothesis was contradictory, and the community of scientists did not believe in it.
A brief biography of Robert Millikan contains information that in 1912 he decided to independently test the ideas of Albert Einstein. For this, a lot of effort and money was expended. For example, a new experimental setup was created, the purpose of which was to exclude factors affecting accurate results and remove errors. At the end of the experiment, Robert Millikan was extremely surprised by the result, because the ratio that Einstein put forward was correct. And further more, with the help of these results it became possible to more accurately determine the value of the Planck constant. The data collected by the scientist saw the world already in 1914, which greatly influenced the train of thought of other physicists.
Nobel Prize
As the biography of Robert Millikan testifies, in 1923 he received the Nobel Prize. During a lecture at the presentation of the award, he said that science walks on two legs, that is, theory and experiment. This statement was very correct, because Milliken spoke these words, relying on his own scientific experience. But the discoveries described above are far from all that Robert has done in his life. During the time spent in Chicago, the scientist was able to conduct many experiments and research.
Activities after receiving the Nobel Prize
Among his important works can also be attributed research on the electromagnetic spectrum, work on Brownian motion. The results of his work brought him worldwide recognition in the scientific community, and his authority became very significant. A little later, the results of his work attracted industrialists. For example, he was invited to advise Western Electric. They were interested in the opinion of the scientist regarding vacuum devices. Also, until 1926, Millikan worked as an expert in the patent office. Over time, the famous astronomer George Hale invited Robert to work in Washington, where the latter received the post of head of research at the National Council. It was a serious organization created under the direction of the National Academy of Sciences.
Another scientist had to serve in the army during the First World War, as he was a US citizen and was drafted. Milliken was sent to the communications troops, his duty was to establish contact and coordinate the actions of scientists and engineers. He mainly worked in the field of communications of submarines. For the army, this was simply a critical issue, because submarines at the beginning of the 20th century were a very serious threat to the enemy army.
The life of a scientist after the war
After the war ended, Robert returned to the University of Chicago, which had already become native, but not for long. The leadership of the California Institute of Technology made a serious proposal to the scientist. More specifically, Robert Milliken led the electronic laboratory in physics. The budget at that time was huge, and it amounted to more than $ 90,000 a year. While working at the institute, he eventually became its president. His goal was to make KalTech the most powerful and advanced institution in the world. The best professors from all over the country were brought to work in the electronic physics laboratory of Robert Millikan and the most talented students were brought up. At the California Institute of Technology, the scientist stayed until the end of his days. He worked in the scientific field all his life.
Robert's family life
Robert married in 1902 to Greta Blanchard. She was a graduate of the University of Chicago, where, like Milliken, she studied the language of Ancient Greece. They gave birth to three boys. They all followed in the footsteps of their father and also engaged in scientific activities.
The last days of the great scientist
Robert Andrews Millikan died on December 19, 1953, in the city of San Marino, California, United States of America.
Heritage
Robert Millikan was one of the most prominent scientists of his time. His study guides have served schoolchildren and students for over 50 years! The discoveries made by Robert are relevant even today.
Robert Millikan: Interesting Facts
- The International Astronomical Union named a crater on the moon in honor of Millikan.
- All three sons of the scientist achieved success in science.
- Robert was a very religious person and never denied God.
- He was a Knight of the Legion of Honor.
- 25 universities chose him as an honorary doctor.
- Robert was a member of 21 one academy.