Clarence Zener
| Clarence Zener | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Clarence Melvin Zener December 1, 1905 Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | July 2, 1993 (aged 87) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | |
| Employer | |
| Known for | Zener diode, Geometric programming |
Clarence Melvin Zener (December 1, 1905 – July 2, 1993) was the American physicist who first (1934) described the property concerning the breakdown of electrical insulators. These findings were later exploited by Bell Labs in the development of the Zener diode, which was duly named after him. Zener was a theoretical physicist with a background in mathematics who conducted research in a wide range of subjects including: superconductivity, metallurgy, ferromagnetism, elasticity, fracture mechanics, diffusion, and geometric programming.
Zener was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and earned his PhD in physics under Edwin Kemble at Harvard in 1929. His thesis was entitled Quantum Mechanics of the Formation of Certain Types of Diatomic Molecules. In 1957 he received the Bingham Medal for his work in rheology and in 1959 received the John Price Wetherill Medal from The Franklin Institute. A notable doctoral student of Zener's was John B. Goodenough and Arthur S. Nowick held a postdoctoral appointment under Zener.
Zener was known both for his dislike of experimental work and for preferring to work on practical problems within the arena of applied physics, in which he was very insightful. Although he had a reputation of being very successful in these endeavors, he apparently considered himself as being less qualified to work on purely theoretical physics problems. In recognition of this, he once commented that after dining with physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer: "when it came to fundamental physics, it was clear there was no point in competing with a person like that."
...
Wikipedia