John William Nicholson

John William Nicholson, FRS[1] (1 November 1881 – 3 October 1955) was an English mathematician and physicist. Nicholson is noted as the first to create an atomic model that quantized angular momentum as h/2π.[2][3] Nicholson was also the first to create a nuclear and quantum theory that explains spectral line radiation as electrons descend toward the nucleus, identifying hitherto unknown solar and nebular spectral lines.[4][5] Niels Bohr quoted him in his 1913 paper of the Bohr model of the atom.[6][7]

John William Nicholson
Nicholson second from left in the automobile, 1913
Born(1881-11-01)1 November 1881
Darlington, Great Britain
Died3 October 1955(1955-10-03) (aged 73)
NationalityGreat Britain
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsMathematician

Career

Based on the results of astronomical spectroscopy of nebula he proposed in 1911 the existence of several yet undiscovered elements. Coronium with an atomic weight of 0.51282, nebulium with a weight of 1.6281 and protofluorine with a weight of 2.361.[1] Ira Sprague Bowen was able to attribute the spectroscopical lines of nebulium to doubly ionized oxygen making the new elements obsolete for their explanation.[8] Some authors have pointed out the remarkable success that Nicholson's work initially experienced in spite of being founded on concepts that were eventually shown to be incorrect.[9]

Awards and honours

Nicholson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1917.[1] In 1919, Nicholson won the Adams Prize.

Papers by John William Nicholson
  • On electrical vibrations between confocal elliptic cylinders, with special reference to short waves. Phil. Mag. 10, 225-236. (1905)
  • On the diffraction of short waves by a rigid sphere. Phil. Mag. 11, 193-205.
  • A general solution of the electromagnetic relations. Phil. Mag. 13, 259-265.
  • The scattering of sound by spheroids and disks. Phil. Mag. 14, 364-377.
  • On the reflexion of waves from a stratum of gradually varying properties, with application to sound. Proc. Roy. Soc. A, 81, 286-299. (1908)
  • Inductance in parallel wires. Nature, Loud. 77, 295.
  • The simple equivalent of an alternating current in parallel wires. Nature, Loud. 80, 247-248.
  • The inductance of two parallel wires. Phil. Mag. 17, 255-275.
  • Inductance and resistance in telephone and other circuits. Phil. Mag. 18, 417-432.
  • The scattering of light by a large conducting sphere. Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. 9, 67-80. (1910)
  • The effective resistance and inductance of a helical coil. Phil. Mag. 19, 77-91.
  • On the bending of electric waves round the earth. Phil. Mag. 19, 276-278.
  • On the bending of electric waves round a large sphere. Phil. Mag. 19, 516-537, and 20, 157-172.
  • The accelerated motion of an electrified sphere. Phil. Mag. 20, 610-618. The accelerated motion of a dielectric sphere. Phil. Mag. 20, 828-835.
  • A possible relation between uranium and actinium. Nature, Lond. 87, 515. (1911)
  • On the bending of electric waves round a large sphere. Phil. Mag. 21, 62-68, 281-295. (1912)
  • "The Constitution of the Solar Corona. II," Month. Not. Roy. Astr. Soc, 72 (1912), 677-692;
  • "The Constitution of the Solar Corona. III," ibid., 729-739.
  • On the damping of the vibrations of a dielectric sphere, and the radiation from a vibrating electron. Phil. Mag. 21, 438-446.
  • On the number of electrons concerned in metallic conduction. Phil. Mag. 22, 245-266.
  • Note on optical properties of fused metals. Phil. Mag. 22, 266-268.
  • On the bending of electric waves round a large sphere. Phil. Mag. 24, 755-765.
  • The pressure of radiation on a cylindrical obstacle. Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. 11, 104-126.
  • The scattering of light by a large conducting sphere (second paper). Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. 11, 277-284.
  • Uniform rotation, the principle of relativity, and the Michelson-Morley experiment. Phil. Mag. 24, 820-827.
  • Atomic models and X-ray spectra. Nature, Lond. 92, 583-584. (1914)
  • The constitution of atoms and molecules. Nature, Lond. 93, 268-269. (1914)
  • Sur les poids atomiques des elements des nebuleuses. C.R. Acad. Sci. Paris, 158, 1322-1323. (1914)
  • The high frequency spectra of the elements and the structure of the atom. Phil. Mag. 27, 541-564.
  • Atomic structure and the spectrum of helium. Phil. Mag. 28, 90-103. (With T. R. Merton.)
  • On the distribution of intensity in broadened spectral lines Phil. Trans. A, 216, 459-488. (With T. R. Merton.)
  • On intensity relations in the spectrum of helium. Phil. Trans. A, 220, 137-173.

References
  1. Wilson, W. (1956). "John William Nicholson 1881-1955". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 2: 209–214. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1956.0014. JSTOR 769485.
  2. J. W. Nicholson, Month. Not. Roy. Astr. Soc. lxxii. pp. 49,130, 677, 693, 729 (1912).
  3. The Atomic Theory of John William Nicholson, Russell McCormmach, Archive for History of Exact Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 2 (25.8.1966), pp. 160-184 (25 pages), Springer.
  4. John Heilbron, The path to the quantum atom, Nature, Vol 498, 6 June 2013, p.27.
  5. J.W. Nicholson, "The Constitution of the Solar Corona. II," Month. Not. Roy. Astr. Soc, 72 (1912), 677-692; "The Constitution of the Solar Corona. Ill," ibid., 729-739.
  6. On the Constitution of Atoms and Molecules Niels Bohr, Philosophical Magazine, Series 6, Volume 26 July 1913, p. 1-25
  7. Wilson, William, Biography of John William Nicholson, 1956 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbm.1956.0014
  8. Bowen, I. S. (1927). "The Origin of the Nebulium Spectrum". Nature. 120 (3022): 473. Bibcode:1927Natur.120..473B. doi:10.1038/120473a0.
    • Scerri, E.R. (2016). A Tale of Seven Scientists. New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-023299-3.
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