Joseph Edward Mayer (February 5, 1904 – October 15, 1983) was an American chemist who formulated the
Mayer expansion in
statistical field theory.
He was professor of chemistry at the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
from 1960 to 1972, and previously at
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
,
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 ...
and the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
. He was married to
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
-winning physicist
Maria Goeppert Mayer from 1930 until her death in 1972. He went to work with
James Franck in
Göttingen, Germany, in 1929, where he met Maria, a student of
Max Born
Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German-British theoretical physicist who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics, and supervised the work of a ...
. He was a member of the United States
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
(1946), the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
(1958), and 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 ...
(1970).
Joseph Mayer was president of the
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 ...
from 1973 to 1975.
Scientific contributions
He developed the cluster expansion method and
Mayer-McMillan solution theory.
See also
*
Mayer f-function
References
Further reading
*
External links
Joseph Mayer PapersMSS 0047
Special Collections & Archives UC San Diego Library.
–
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayer, Joseph Edward
20th-century American chemists
University of California, San Diego faculty
University of Chicago faculty
Scientists from New York City
1904 births
1983 deaths
The Journal of Chemical Physics editors
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Presidents of the American Physical Society