Samuel Jackson Barnett (December 14, 1873 – May 22, 1956) 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 Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. Barnett was born in

Woodson County, Kansas Woodson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. Its county seat is Yates Center. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 3,115. The county was named after Daniel Woodson, a five-time acting governor of the Kansas ...

, the son of a minister. In 1894, he received a B.A. in physics from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

and received his Ph.D. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1898. From 1898 to 1918 he taught at several universities: Colorado College, Stanford University, Tulane University, and Ohio State University. In 1903 he published his book ''Elements of Electromagnetic Theory'', which he dedicated to his friend Professor Francis H. Smith at the University of Virginia. From 1918 to 1926 he worked at the

Carnegie Institution for Science The Carnegie Institution for Science, also known as Carnegie Science and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, is an organization established to fund and perform scientific research in the United States. This institution is headquartered in W ...

in Washington, DC. In 1926 he was a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles. Barnett worked mainly on

electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...

, and discovered the

Barnett effect The Barnett effect is the magnetization of an uncharged body when spun on its axis. It was discovered by American physicist Samuel Jackson Barnett, Samuel Barnett in 1915. An uncharged object rotating with angular velocity tends to spontaneously ...

. His wife, Mrs. Lelia Jefferson Harvie Barnett, was a scientific co-collaborator, and together they worked in a magnetic metal-free lab at the California Institute of Technology from 1924 to 1953. He was elected a Fellow of 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 ...

in 1921. Barnett died in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, about a month after the death of his wife, Lelia Jefferson Harvie Barnett. They had no children, but their adopted daughter, Ann, also died shortly after Barnett's retirement from the university.

Works

* Elements of electro-magnetic theory, 1903 * Theories of magnetism, 1923 * Le Magnetisme, 1940

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnett, Samuel Jackson 1873 births 1956 deaths American physicists Cornell University alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Woodson County, Kansas University of California, Los Angeles faculty University of Denver alumni