David Turnbull | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | (1915-02-18)February 18, 1915 |
| Died | April 28, 2007(2007-04-28) (aged 92) |
| Alma mater |
|
| Known for | Solidification theory and glass formation |
| Awards | Japan Prize |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physical chemistry |
| Institutions | Harvard University |
| Thesis | An investigation of various electron emitters for a periodic deviation from the Schottky line (1939) |
| Doctoral advisor | Thomas Erwin Phipps |
| Doctoral students | |
David Turnbull (February 18, 1915 – April 28, 2007) was an American physical chemist who worked in the interdisciplinary fields ofmaterials science andapplied physics. Turnbull made seminal contributions to solidification theory andglass formation. Turnbull was born in Elmira,Elmira Township,Stark County,Illinois. He graduated from high school in 1932 and then received abachelor's degree in 1936 fromMonmouth College (Illinois), specializing inphysical chemistry. He received hisPh.D. inphysical chemistry underThomas Erwin Phipps from theUniversity of Illinois in 1939.[2][3] He was on the faculty ofCase Institute of Technology from 1939 to 1946[1][4] before eventually becoming a professor at Harvard University.
In 1946, he joined theGeneral Electric research laboratory, performing research intonucleation of structural transformations occurring during the solidification of liquid metals, demonstrating that such complex processes could be quantitatively understood. Using a low-melting-point metal,mercury, Turnbull determined that the smallsupercoolings usually seen were the result ofheterogeneous catalysts in the melt. When liquidmercury is dispersed as small droplets, largesupercoolings could be achieved. The previously empirical study of metal solidification was provided a consistent scientific foundation.[2]
Turnbull and his General Electric colleagues developedmetal alloy processing. Turner and I. S. Servi developed homogeneous nucleation theory for a solid-solid transformation, providing the technologically important basis for strengthening metallic alloys throughprecipitation hardening.[2] WithMorrel H. Cohen, he developed the free volume theory forfluid flow. In 1950, Turnbull formulated a criterion for the ease of glass formation from supercooled melts with a high viscosity by rapid solidification. Independently and simultaneously to Cohen, he predicted the formation ofmetallic glass phases from sufficiently fast cooling of an alloy melt with a deepeutectic. This was demonstrated byPol Duwez atCaltech in 1959, who produced thin micron-sized sheets of an Au-Si alloy using a very high cooling rate (approximately 106 K/s). H.S. Chen showed in 1971 that mm-sized glassy rods (so-called "bulk metallic glass," or BMG) of Pd-Cu-Si could be produced by suction casting with a cooling rate of 1000 K/s. In 1982, Turnbull then demonstrated that a bulk metallic glass could be produced in the Pd-Ni-P system with a cooling rate as low as 100 K/s.
In 1955, Turnbull andFrederick Seitz published the first edition of Solid State Physics,[5] a yearly series now published byElsevier.[6]
In 1962, Turnbull joinedHarvard University as the Gordon McKay Professor ofapplied physics, where he taught for 23 years.[3] One of hisgraduate students at Harvard described him as follows: "As a physicist, manager, psychologist and philosopher, he combines the erudition of a Renaissance scholar with the expert knowledge of a 20th century man of Science."[7] He was elected to theNational Academy of Sciences in 1968, was aFellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was awarded theJapan Prize in 1986 "for pioneering contributions to material science".[8] He received theFranklin Medal in 1990.
David Turnbull died on April 28, 2007, at the age of 92, in his home inCambridge,Massachusetts. He was survived by two sons and a daughter.[1]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: others (link)