Leonard Isaac Schiff was born in

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States census, making it the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, tenth-largest city in the state, and the second- ...

, on March 29, 1915 and died on January 21, 1971, in

Stanford, California Stanford is a census-designated place (CDP) in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States. It is the home of Stanford University, after which it was named. The CDP's population was 21,150 at the United States Census, ...

. He was a

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 ...

best known for his book ''Quantum Mechanics'', originally published in 1949 (a second edition appeared in 1955 and a third in 1968).

Education

Leonard Schiff entered

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

at age 14. Schiff received his B.S. & M.S. (working under L. H. Thomas) from

and his doctorate from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

in 1937 under

Philip M. Morse Philip McCord Morse (August 6, 1903 – 5 September 1985), was an American physicist, administrator and pioneer of operations research (OR) in World War II. He is considered to be the father of operations research in the U.S. Biography Morse gr ...

with thesis ''Theory of the Collision of Light Elements''.

Career

Schiff was a theoretical physicist who, after completing his doctorate, worked as a research associate for two years at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

and the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

. From 1940 to 1945 he was a faculty member at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

. From 1945 to 1947, he worked at

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in ...

and joined the

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

faculty at

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 1947. In 1948, Schiff became one of the initial directors of

Varian Associates Varian Associates was one of the first high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1948 by Russell H. and Sigurd F. Varian, William Webster Hansen, and Edward Ginzton to sell the klystron, the first vacuum tube which could amp ...

who provided technical support to the company, along with

Edward Ginzton Edward Leonard Ginzton (December 27, 1915 – August 13, 1998) was a Ukrainian- American engineer. Education Ginzton completed his B.S. (1936) and M.S. (1937) in Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and his ...

William Hansen William Hansen may refer to: Politics * William C. Hansen (1891–1983), American educator and politician * William D. Hansen, American businessman and politician * William O. Hansen (1860–1930), American politician * Bill Hansen (politician) ...

, and Marvin Chodorow. In 1959 and 1960 Schiff and fellow physicist George Pugh wrote papers which advocated using orbiting gyroscopes to test

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...

. Schiff teamed with fellow Stanford faculty Bob Cannon and Bill Fairbank to conduct research that provided part of the foundation for the

Gravity Probe B Gravity Probe B (GP-B) was a satellite-based experiment whose objective was to test two previously-unverified predictions of general relativity: the geodetic effect and frame-dragging. This was to be accomplished by measuring, very precisely, t ...

(GP-B) to test

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

's theory of relativity. He was the first chairman of the Faculty Senate at Stanford.

Family

Leonard Schiff was the son of Edward and Mathilda Schiff and was of

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Lithuania, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe ** Lithuanian language ** Lithuanians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to Lithuania and the immediate geographical region ** L ...

Jewish descent. He married Francis Ballard in 1941. They were the parents of two children: Leonard Schiff and Ellen Schiff. His wife was a cousin of Artemus Ginzton, the wife of Schiff's friend and colleague

Recognition

Schiff became a Fellow 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 ...

in 1939. He was elected to membership in the

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 ...

in 1957. In 1966, he received the

Oersted Medal The Oersted Medal recognizes notable contributions to the teaching of physics. Established in 1936, it is awarded by the American Association of Physics Teachers. The award is named for Hans Christian Ørsted. It is the Association's most presti ...

of 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 ...

. Also, he received the Dinkelspiel Award for Excellence in Teaching at

. Schiff Hall, an undergraduate dormitory at Stanford, is named for him.

References

External links

Read "Biographical Memoirs: Volume 54" at NAP.edu
National Academies Press Biography - Leonard Schiff
Schiff (Leonard I.) Papers
Guide to the Leonard I. Schiff Papers, 1948–1971
Quantum Mechanics and Leonard Schiff
stanford.edu {{DEFAULTSORT:Schiff, Leonard I. 1915 births 1971 deaths Stanford University Department of Physics faculty Ohio State University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Jewish American scientists 20th-century American physicists American relativity theorists 20th-century American Jews