Frederick Seitz | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Frederick Seitz andH.A. Kramers | |
| 4th President of theRockefeller University | |
| In office 1968–1978 | |
| Preceded by | Detlev Bronk |
| Succeeded by | Joshua Lederberg |
| 17th President of theNational Academy of Sciences | |
| In office 1962–1969 | |
| Preceded by | Detlev Bronk |
| Succeeded by | Philip Handler |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1911-07-04)July 4, 1911 San Francisco,California, U.S. |
| Died | March 2, 2008(2008-03-02) (aged 96) New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Education | Stanford University (BS) Princeton University (PhD) |
| Scientific career | |
| Known for | Wigner–Seitz unit cell |
| Awards | National Medal of Science(1973) Vannevar Bush Award(1983) |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Illinois Rockefeller University |
| Thesis | A matrix-algebraic development of the crystallographic groups (1934) |
| Doctoral advisor | Eugene Wigner |
| Doctoral students | Franco Bassani Ronald Fuchs Jack Goldman Walter A. Harrison [de] James Stark Koehler |
Frederick Seitz[pronunciation?] (July 4, 1911 – March 2, 2008) was an American physicist, a pioneer ofsolid state physics, andclimate change denier. Seitz was the 4th president ofRockefeller University from 1968 to 1978, and the 17th president of theNational Academy of Sciences from 1962 to 1969. Seitz was the recipient of the National Medal of Science, NASA's Distinguished Public Service Award, and other honors.
He founded the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and several other material research laboratories across the United States.[1][2] Seitz was also the founding chairman of theGeorge C. Marshall Institute.[3]
Seitz was born in San Francisco on July 4, 1911. His mother was also from San Francisco and his father, after whom he was named, was born in Germany.[4] Seitz graduated fromLick-Wilmerding High School in the middle of his senior year, and went on to study physics atStanford University obtaining his bachelor's degree in three years,[1] graduating in 1932.[5] He married Elizabeth K. Marshall on May 18, 1935.[6]
Seitz died March 2, 2008, in New York.[7][8]He was survived by a son, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.[7]
Seitz moved toPrinceton University to studymetals underEugene Wigner,[1] gaining his PhD in 1934.[7][9] He and Wigner pioneered one of the firstquantum theories of crystals, and developed concepts insolid-state physics such as theWigner–Seitz unit cell[1] used in the study ofcrystalline material insolid-state physics.
After graduate studies, Seitz continued to work on solid state physics, publishingThe Modern Theory of Solids in 1940, motivated by a desire to "write a cohesive account of the various aspects of solid-state physics in order to give the field the kind of unity it deserved".The Modern Theory of Solids helped unify and understand the relations between the fields ofmetallurgy,ceramics, andelectronics. He was also a consultant on manyWorld War II-related projects inmetallurgy,radiation damage to solids and electronics amongst others. He, along withHillard Huntington, made the first calculation of theenergies of formation and migration ofvacancies andinterstitials incopper, inspiring many works onpoint defects in metals.[1] The scope of his published work ranged widely, also covering "spectroscopy,luminescence, plastic deformation, irradiation effects, physics of metals, self-diffusion, point defects inmetals andinsulators, and science policy".[1]
Early in his academic career, Seitz served on the faculty of theUniversity of Rochester (1935–37)[5] and after an interlude as a research physicist atGeneral Electric Laboratories (1937–39)[5] he was at theUniversity of Pennsylvania (1939–1942) and then theCarnegie Institute of Technology (1942–49).[5]
From 1946 to 1947, Seitz was director of the training program in atomic energy atOak Ridge National Laboratory. He was appointed professor of physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in 1949, becoming chairman of the department in 1957 and dean and vice-president for research in 1964. Seitz also served as an advisor toNATO.[7] From 1962 to 1969 Seitz served as president of theUnited States National Academy of Sciences (NAS), in a full-time capacity from 1965.[10] As NAS president he initiated theUniversities Research Association, which contracted with theAtomic Energy Commission to construct the world's largestparticle accelerator at the time,Fermilab.[1]
He was the president ofRockefeller University from 1968 to 1978 during which he helped to launch new research programs inmolecular biology,cell biology, andneuroscience as well as creating a joint MD-PhD program withCornell University.[7] He retired from Rockefeller University in 1979, when he was made President Emeritus.
After Seitz published a paper on the darkening of crystals,DuPont asked him in 1939 for help with a problem they were having with the stability ofchrome yellow. He became "deeply involved" in their research efforts.[11] Among other things, he investigated the possible use of non-toxicsilicon carbide as a white pigment.[12] Seitz was a director ofTexas Instruments (1971–1982) and ofAkzona Corporation (1973–1982).[13]
Shortly before his 1979 retirement fromRockefeller University, Seitz began working as a permanent consultant for theR.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, advising their medical research program[14] until 1988.[7] Reynolds had previously provided "very generous" support for biomedical work at Rockefeller.[15] Seitz later wrote that "The money was all spent on basic science, medical science," and pointed to Reynolds-funded research onmad cow disease andtuberculosis.[7] Nonetheless, later academic studies of tobacco industry influence concluded that Seitz, who helped allocate $45m of Reynolds' research funding,[16] "played a key role... in helping the tobacco industry produce uncertainty concerning the health impacts of smoking."[17] According to a tobacco industry memo from 1989, Seitz was described by an employee ofPhilip Morris International as "quite elderly and not sufficiently rational to offer advice."[18]
In 1984 Seitz was the founding chairman of theGeorge C. Marshall Institute,[19][20] and was its chairman until 2001.[21][22] The Institute was founded to argue for President Reagan'sStrategic Defense Initiative,[23] but "in the 1990s it branched out to become one of the leadingthink tanks trying to debunk the science of climate change."[24][25] A 1990 report co-authored with Institute co-foundersRobert Jastrow andWilliam Nierenberg "centrally informed theBush administration's position on human-induced climate change".[26] The Institute also promotedenvironmental skepticism more generally. In 1994, the Institute published a paper by Seitz titledGlobal warming and ozone hole controversies: A challenge to scientific judgment. Seitz questioned the view thatCFCs "are the greatest threat to theozone layer".[27] In the same paper, commenting on the dangers of secondary inhalation of tobacco smoke, he concluded "there is no good scientific evidence that passive inhalation is truly dangerous under normal circumstances."[28]
Seitz was a central figure amongstglobal warming deniers.[7][29] He was the highest-ranking scientist among a band of doubters who, beginning in the early 1990s, resolutely disputed suggestions that global warming was serious threat.[30] Seitz argued that the science behind global warming was inconclusive and "certainly didn't warrant imposing mandatory limits on greenhouse-gas emissions".[30] In 2001 Seitz and Jastrow questioned whetherglobal warming isanthropogenic.[31]
Seitz signed the 1995Leipzig Declaration and, in an open letter inviting scientists to sign theOregon Institute of Science and Medicine'sglobal warming petition, called for the United States to reject theKyoto Protocol.[7] The letter was accompanied by a 12-page article on climate change which followed a style and format nearly identical to that of a contribution toProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a scientific journal,[32] even including a date of publication ("October 26") and volume number ("Vol. 13: 149–164 1999"), but was not actually a publication of the National Academy of Science (NAS). In response theUnited States National Academy of Sciences took what theNew York Times called "the extraordinary step of refuting the position of one [of] its former presidents."[7][33][34] The NAS also made it clear that "The petition does not reflect the conclusions of expert reports of the Academy."[33]
Seitz worked extensively withFred Singer during his consultancy career for tobacco and oil corporations in matters of health and climate change, respectively.[35]
Seitz wrote a range of scientific books in his field, includingThe Modern Theory of Solids (1940) andThe Physics of Metals (1943). Later he co-authored books such as theTheory of Lattice Dynamics in the Harmonic Approximation (1971) andSolid State Physics.[36] The latter, begun in 1955, withDavid Turnbull, reached 60 volumes by 2008, with Seitz remaining an active editor until volume 38 in 1984.[1]Solid State Physics continues to be published by Elsevier.[37] After his retirement he co-authored a book onglobal warming, published via theGeorge C. Marshall Institute he chaired. He published his autobiography in 1994. Other works included biographies of American physicistFrancis Wheeler Loomis (1991) and Canadian inventorReginald Fessenden (1999), a history ofsilicon, and a history of the US National Academy of Sciences (2007).
In the early 1970s, Seitz became unpopular for his support of the Vietnam war, a position which most of his colleagues on thePresident's Science Advisory Committee did not share. In the late 1970s, Seitz also parted company with his scientific colleagues on questions of nuclear preparedness. Seitz was committed to "a muscular military strengthened by the most technologically advanced weaponry", while the scientific community generally supported arms limitations talks and treaties. Seitz was also ardentlyanti-communist and his support for aggressive weapons programs was a reflection of this.[35]
In their bookMerchants of Doubt, science historiansNaomi Oreskes andErik M. Conway state that Seitz and a group of other scientists fought the scientific evidence and spread confusion on many of the most important issues of the 20th and 21st centuries like harmfulness oftobacco smoke,acid rain,CFCs,pesticides andglobal warming. Seitz said that American science had become "rigid", and his colleagues had become closed-minded and dogmatic. According to Oreskes and Conway, Seitz used normal uncertainties of scientific evidence to spread doubt about the harmfulness of tobacco smoke.[35]
Seitz was also a principal organizer of the infamousOregon Petition, where numerous signatories claimed that there was no evidence that greenhouse gases were responsible for global warming. Despite Seitz being a past President of the USNational Academy of Sciences, the NAS issued a press release stating "The petition project was a deliberate attempt to mislead scientists and to rally them in an attempt to undermine support for the Kyoto Protocol. The petition was not based on a review of the science of global climate change, nor were its signers experts in the field of climate science."[38] Journalists subsequently found that the identities of the vast majority of signatories could not be verified,[39] because the petition's organizers had no process for identity authentication. Further, the supposed scientific article that claimed to refute global warming (and which accompanied the petition) was in fact a non-peer reviewed article fromthe "Journal of theAmerican Association of Physicians and Surgeons", which was published by Arthur Robinson, the petition's co-organizer.[40] This journal advocates scientifically discredited viewpoints such as claiming that there is no connection between the HIV virus and AIDS, and is not indexed inPubMed.
Oreskes and Conway were critical of Seitz's involvement in the tobacco industry. They stated that Seitz stood against the scientific consensus that smoking was dangerous to people's health, and helped to create confusion and doubt on this issue.
Seitz was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1946.[41] He was elected to theUnited States National Academy of Sciences in 1952, serving as its President from 1962 to 1969.[10] He was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1962.[42] He received theFranklin Medal (1965). In 1973 he was awarded theNational Medal of Science "for his contributions to the modern quantum theory of the solid state of matter."[7] He also received the United States Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Distinguished Public Service Award; and the Compton Award, the highest honor of the American Institute of Physics.[7] In addition to Rockefeller University, 31 universities in the US and abroad awarded Seitz honorary degrees.[43] He was also a member of theCouncil on Foreign Relations.[43]
Seitz served on a range of boards of charitable institutions, including (as chair)John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1976–1983[13]) andWoodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation,[5] and (as trustee)American Museum of Natural History (from 1975[13]) andInstitute of International Education.[5] He was also a board member of theCenter for Strategic and International Studies.[5] Other appointments to a range of national and international agencies included serving on theDefense Science Board and serving as chair of the US delegation to the United Nations Committee on Science and Technology.[5] He also served on the board of trustees of Science Service, now known asSociety for Science & the Public, from 1971 to 1974.
In 1981, Seitz became a founding member of theWorld Cultural Council.[44]
Academic
Private sector
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)The NAS Council would like to make it clear that this petition has nothing to do with the National Academy of Sciences and that the manuscript was not published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences or in any other peer-reviewed journal.
| Professional and academic associations | ||
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| Preceded by | President of theNational Academy of Sciences 1962–1969 | Succeeded by |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of theRockefeller University 1968–1978 | Succeeded by |
