Carl Barus (February 19, 1856 – September 20, 1935) was an American physicist and the maternal great-uncle of the American novelist

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...

. The Barus effect is named after him. Barus was born in

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. The son of German immigrants (the musician Carl Barus, Sr. and Sophia, ''nee'' Möllmann), Barus graduated from Woodward High School, together with

William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...

, in 1874. After high school he studied

mining engineering Mining engineering is the extraction of minerals from the ground. It is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying. A mining engineer m ...

at the Columbia School of Mines, completing a three year course in two years. he moved to

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, where he studied physics under Friedrich Kohlrausch, and graduated summa cum laude in 1879. He took the degree of Ph.D. in 1880 and would return to America, entering the service of the

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. Barus married Annie Gertrude Howes on January 20, 1887. They had two children, Maxwell and Deborah. In 1892, he was a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

, and the youngest of all members to

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. From August 1893 to January 1895 he was a physicist at the

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, working on aeronautical research. In June, 1895, he was elected Hazard professor of physics at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. In 1903 he was appointed as a dean of the Brown University Graduate Department, which he was controlling from his office in Wilson Hall. He remained the dean of the graduate school until his retirement in 1926. By that time, the department had grown large enough to become a school within the university which has been attributed to his many contributions. In 1905 he was a corresponding member of

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and the same year became a member of the First International Congress of Radiology and Electricity at

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. The same year, he became a member of the Physikalisch-Medizinische Sozietät at

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. Also, the same year he became the fourth president of

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

, and in 1906, became a member on the advisory board of physics, at the Carnegie Institution of Washington state.Biography
/ref> Barus died in Providence,

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References

External links

*
Biographical Memoir of Carl Barus 1856-1935
' (1941) by

Robert Bruce Lindsay Robert Bruce Lindsay (1 January 1900 – 2 March 1985) was an American physicist and physics professor, known for his prolific authorship of physics books in acoustics, and historical and philosophical analyses of physics. Biography R(obert ...

, presented to the

at the Autumn meeting.
Biography
from

*
Moellmann family papers
Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library
Carl Barus Papers
fro
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
;

Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Libraries and Archives is an institutional archives and library system comprising 21 branch libraries serving the various Smithsonian Institution museums and research centers. The Libraries and Archives serve Smithsonian Institution ...

Carl Barus (1856-1935)

Carl Barus Papers, 1891, 1893
1856 births 1935 deaths American people of German descent American physicists Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Scientists from Cincinnati Woodward High School (Cincinnati, Ohio) alumni Brown University faculty Presidents of the American Physical Society {{Physicist-stub