Mark Waldo Zemansky (May 5, 1900 – December 29, 1981Bederson, Benjamin
"The Physical Tourist: Physics and New York City"
Phys. perspect. 5 (2003) 87–121 © Birkha¨ user Verlag, Basel, 2003. Cf. p.106 &c.) was an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. He was a professor of physics at the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

for decades and is best known for co-authoring '' University Physics'', an introductory physics textbook, with

Francis Sears Francis Weston Sears (October 1, 1898 – November 12, 1975) was an American physicist. He was a professor of physics at MIT for 35 years before moving to Dartmouth College in 1956. At Dartmouth, Sears was the Appleton Professor of Physics. He is ...

. The book, first published in 1949, is often referred to as "''Sears and Zemansky''", although Hugh Young became a coauthor in 1973.

Early life

Zemansky grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn where his mother, Bessie Cohen Zemansky (1868–1946), helped to found a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

temple, and his father, Dr. Abraham Philip Zemansky (d. 1932), an 1874 graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of New York, was one of the first attending physicians at Lebanon Hospital located in

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York (later merged as Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center). His twin brother, Abraham Philip Zemansky Jr. (

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irvin ...

, '23), died in 1928 at age 28 of

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

after a mastoid operation.

Academic career

Zemansky graduated from

in 1921 and received a Ph.D. from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1927. His Ph.D. research and thesis was done under the supervision of Harold Worthington Webb (1884–1974) and his thesis was entitled "The Diffusion of Imprisoned Resonance Radiation In Mercury Vapor". It was published in the journal ''

Physical Review ''Physical Review'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The journal was established in 1893 by Edward Nichols. It publishes original research as well as scientific and literature reviews on all aspects of physics. It is published by the Ame ...

'' in 1927. In 1925, he joined the faculty of City College of New York.Cf. Hofstadter, et al. obituary Zemansky was a National Research Council fellow, at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

from 1928 to 1930, then at the

Kaiser Wilhelm Institute The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science () was a German scientific institution established in the German Empire in 1911. Its functions were taken over by the Max Planck Society. The Kaiser Wilhelm Society was an umbrella organi ...

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of ...

from 1930 to 1931. The research he did during that time was in radiation and collision processes of gaseous atoms. In 1934, he co-authored with Allan C. G. Mitchell, son of the astronomer Samuel Alfred Mitchell, a seminal treatise entitled "Resonance Radiation and Excited Atoms". Nearly thirty years later, with enhanced interest in resonance phenomena set off by the invention of the laser and the discovery of the Mössbauer effect, the book would be reprinted in 1961. In the early 1940s, he was involved in helping scientists get out of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and into the United States; in 1941, Zemansky and

Rudolf Ladenburg Rudolf Walter Ladenburg (June 6, 1882 in Kiel – April 6, 1952 in Princeton, New Jersey) was a German atomic physicist. He emigrated from Germany as early as 1932 and became a Brackett Research Professor at Princeton University. When the wave of ...

helped Fritz Reiche and his family get out of Germany and into the United States securing them aid and academic positions.Bederson, Benjamin
"In Appreciation: and the Emergency Committee in Aid of Displaced Foreign Scholars"
Phys. perspect. 7 (2005) 453–472. Cf.pp.459-460, 470 on Zemansky. From 1946 to 1956, he was associated with the Cryogenic Laboratory of Columbia University where he collaborated with Henry A. Boorse, an expert on low-temperature physics, on the measurement of heat capacities of superconducting metals and other researches. During this time he was involved in helping

Chien-Shiung Wu Chien-Shiung Wu ( zh, t=吳健雄, p=Wú Jiànxióng, w=Wu2 Chien4-Hsiung2; May 31, 1912 – February 16, 1997) was a Chinese-American particle physics, particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nucle ...

to arrange for her groundbreaking experiment, in which the violation of parity conservation in

weak interaction In nuclear physics and particle physics, the weak interaction, weak force or the weak nuclear force, is one of the four known fundamental interactions, with the others being electromagnetism, the strong interaction, and gravitation. It is th ...

s was established, to be carried out at the low-temperature laboratories of the

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sc ...

. Zemansky taught for over four decades at the City College of New York until 1967 when he became a Professor Emeritus of Physics. As chairman of the physics department from 1956 to 1959, he brought it into the modern era. From 1963 to 1966 he was the first executive officer of the City University's new doctoral program in physics. He was active in the

American Association of Physics Teachers The American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) was founded in 1930 for the purpose of "dissemination of knowledge of physics, particularly by way of teaching." There are more than 10,000 members in over 30 countries. AAPT publications includ ...

and was its president in 1951 and its executive secretary from 1967 to 1970.

Death

Zemansky died at his home in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

on December 29, 1981, of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

complications, and was survived by his wife Adele and son Herbert.

Personal life

Zemansky, his wife Adele, and their family resided in Teaneck, New Jersey until the time of his death. They had two sons, Philip Zeman (1939–1979), and Herbert Zeman (b. 1944), a physicist and inventor of medical devices who graduated from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

in 1965 (A.B. Physics) then

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1972 (M.S., Ph.D. Physics).

Awards

* 1956 — Oersted Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers

Selected books

* Mitchell, Allan C. G.; Zemansky, Mark W. (1934). ''Resonance Radiation and Excited Atoms'', Cambridge

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University Press * Zemansky, Mark W. (1937). ''Heat and Thermodynamics: an Intermediate Textbook for Students of Physics, Chemistry, and Engineering'' New York : McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. ** Zemansky, Mark W. and Dittman, Richard. (1997). ''Heat and Thermodynamics: an Intermediate Textbook'' (edition: 7). McGraw-Hill. * Sears, Francis; Zemansky, Mark. (1947–1948). ''College Physics'', 2 volumes, Cambridge, Mass. : Addison-Wesley Press ** * Zemansky, Mark W. (1964)
''Temperatures Very Low and Very High''
Princeton, N.J., Published for the Commission on College Physics by D. Van Nostrand Company Inc. (reprinted by Dover Publications Inc., New York, NY, in 1981)
alternative copy of entire book online
-

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

)

References

Sources

* Hofstadter, Robert; Lustig, Harry; Semat, Henry
"Obituary: Mark W. Zemansky"
Phys. Today 35(3), 73 (1982); doi: 10.1063/1.2914982

External links

Photos of Mark Zamansky
- The Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, part of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives at the American Institute of Physics. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zemansky, Mark 1900 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American physicists Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni City College of New York alumni City College of New York faculty American male non-fiction writers American textbook writers Jewish American physicists American twins 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American Jews Fellows of the American Physical Society Presidents of the American Association of Physics Teachers