Francis Goddard Slack was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

. He was a physics teacher, researcher, and administrator in academia who was renowned for placing equal emphasis on teaching and on research.

Education

Slack received his B.S.

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree from the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

 in 1918. Thereupon, he entered the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, where he was trained and commissioned as a pilot; he did not see combat in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, as the war ended before his graduation from pilot training. In 1921, he entered Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

; he received his Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 degree in physics in 1926. Between his entry and graduation from Columbia, Slack spent a period of study and research with Arnold Sommerfeld

Arnold Sommerfeld

Arnold Johannes Wilhelm Sommerfeld was a German theoretical physicist who pioneered developments in atomic and quantum physics, and also educated and groomed a large number of students for the new era of theoretical physics...

 at his Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Career

Slack remained at Columbia for a period after receipt of his doctorate. In 1928, he became an associate professor of physics at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

, where his focus was on strengthening both teaching and research. At Vanderbilt, he organized and equipped an advanced laboratory in which students could learn the fundamentals of electrical measurement in the performance of the famous experiments which measuered the fundamental constants such as the charge of the electron

Elementary charge

The elementary charge, usually denoted as e, is the electric charge carried by a single proton, or equivalently, the absolute value of the electric charge carried by a single electron. This elementary charge is a fundamental physical constant. To avoid confusion over its sign, e is sometimes called...

 (q), the electron’s Mass-to-charge ratio

Mass-to-charge ratio

The mass-to-charge ratio ratio is a physical quantity that is widely used in the electrodynamics of charged particles, e.g. in electron optics and ion optics. It appears in the scientific fields of lithography, electron microscopy, cathode ray tubes, accelerator physics, nuclear physics, Auger...

 (m/q), and Planck’s constant

Planck constant

The Planck constant , also called Planck's constant, is a physical constant reflecting the sizes of energy quanta in quantum mechanics. It is named after Max Planck, one of the founders of quantum theory, who discovered it in 1899...

 (h).

In 1939, Slack was appointed Professor of Physics and head of the Vanderbilt Department of Physics. He advocated and practiced equal emphasis on teaching and on research in his academic career as a physics teacher, researcher, and administrator. While at Vanderbilt, Slack maintained ties with his alma mater Columbia University.

In December 1938, the German chemists Otto Hahn

Otto Hahn

Otto Hahn FRS was a German chemist and Nobel laureate, a pioneer in the fields of radioactivity and radiochemistry. He is regarded as "the father of nuclear chemistry". Hahn was a courageous opposer of Jewish persecution by the Nazis and after World War II he became a passionate campaigner...

 and Fritz Strassmann

Fritz Strassmann

Friedrich Wilhelm "Fritz" Strassmann was a German chemist who, with Otto Hahn in 1938, identified barium in the residue after bombarding uranium with neutrons, which led to the interpretation of their results as being from nuclear fission...

 sent a manuscript to Naturwissenschaften

Die Naturwissenschaften

Naturwissenschaften is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer on behalf of several learned societies.- History :...

reporting they had detected the element barium

Barium

Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in Group 2, a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. Barium is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with air. Its oxide is historically known as baryta but it reacts with...

 after bombarding uranium

Uranium

Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...

 with neutrons; simultaneously, they communicated these results to Lise Meitner

Lise Meitner

Lise Meitner FRS was an Austrian-born, later Swedish, physicist who worked on radioactivity and nuclear physics. Meitner was part of the team that discovered nuclear fission, an achievement for which her colleague Otto Hahn was awarded the Nobel Prize...

. Meitner, and her nephew Otto Robert Frisch

Otto Robert Frisch

Otto Robert Frisch , Austrian-British physicist. With his collaborator Rudolf Peierls he designed the first theoretical mechanism for the detonation of an atomic bomb in 1940.- Overview :...

, correctly interpreted these results as being nuclear fission

Nuclear fission

In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...

. Frisch confirmed this experimentally on 13 January 1939. In 1944, Hahn received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the discovery of nuclear fission. Some historians have documented the history of the discovery of nuclear fission and believe Meitner should have been awarded the Nobel Prize with Hahn.

Even before it was published, Meitner’s and Frisch’s interpretation of the work of Hahn and Strassmann crossed the Atlantic Ocean with Niels Bohr

Niels Bohr

Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...

, who was to lecture at Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

. Isidor Isaac Rabi

Isidor Isaac Rabi

Isidor Isaac Rabi was a Galician-born American physicist and Nobel laureate recognized in 1944 for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance.-Early years:...

 and Willis Lamb

Willis Lamb

Willis Eugene Lamb, Jr. was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955 together with Polykarp Kusch "for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum". Lamb and Kusch were able to precisely determine certain electromagnetic properties of the electron...

, two Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 physicists working at Princeton, heard the news and carried it back to Columbia. Rabi said he told Fermi; Fermi gave credit to Lamb. It was soon clear to a number of scientists at Columbia that they should try to detect the energy released in the nuclear fission of uranium from neutron bombardment. On 25 January 1939, Slack was a member of the experimental team at Columbia University which conducted the first nuclear fission experiment in the United States, which was conducted in the basement of Pupin Hall

Pupin Hall

Pupin Physics Laboratories, also known as Pupin Hall is home to the physics and astronomy departments of the Columbia University in New York City and a National Historic Landmark...

; the other members of the team were Herbert L. Anderson

Herbert L. Anderson

Herbert Lawrence Anderson was an American nuclear physicist who contributed to the Manhattan Project. He was also a member of the team which made the first demonstration of nuclear fission in the United States, in the basement of Pupin Hall at Columbia University. He participated in the first...

, Eugene T. Booth

Eugene T. Booth

Eugene Theodore Booth was an American nuclear physicist. He was a member of the historic Columbia University team which made the first demonstration of nuclear fission in the United States. During the Manhattan Project, he worked on gaseous diffusion for isotope separation...

, John R. Dunning

John R. Dunning

John Ray Dunning was an American physicist who played key roles in the development of the atomic bomb. He specialized in neutron physics and did pioneering work in gaseous diffusion for isotope separation...

, Enrico Fermi

Enrico Fermi

Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...

, and G. Norris Glasoe

G. N. Glasoe

G. Norris Glasoe was an American nuclear physicist. He was a member of the Columbia University team which was the first in the United States to verify the European discovery of the nuclear fission of uranium via neutron bombardment. During World War II, he worked at the MIT Radiation Laboratory...

.

During the Manhattan Project

Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...

, Slack returned to Columbia to work with Dunning, who was conducting pioneering work on gaseous diffusion

Gaseous diffusion

Gaseous diffusion is a technology used to produce enriched uranium by forcing gaseous uranium hexafluoride through semi-permeable membranes. This produces a slight separation between the molecules containing uranium-235 and uranium-238 . By use of a large cascade of many stages, high separations...

 to separate uranium isotopes; others working on the project included Booth, Henry A. Boorse, Willard F. Libby

Willard Libby

Willard Frank Libby was an American physical chemist noted for his role in the 1949 development of radiocarbon dating, a process which revolutionized archaeology....

, and Alfred O. C. Nier

Alfred O. C. Nier

Alfred Otto Carl Nier was an American physicist who pioneered the development of mass spectrometry and used it in innovative ways to establish some major scientific results.-Early career:...

.

Slack was on the Editorial Advisory Board (formerly called Associate Editors) of the American Journal of Physics from 1941 to 1943.

Selected Literature

• Francis G. Slack The Duration of Radiation Excited in Hydrogen by 10.2 Volt Electron Impacts, Phys. Rev. Volume 28, Number 1, 1 - 12 (1926). Institutional citation: Phoenix Physical Laboratories, Columbia University. Received 15 April 1926.

• Francis G. Slack Die Intensitätsdissymmetrie beim Wasserstoff-Starkeffekt. (Ein Erklärung auf Grund von Schrödingers Wellenmechanik), Ann. d. Phys. Volume 82, Number 4, 576-584 (1927). Received 24 December 1926.

• Francis G. Slack Intensities in the Hydrogen Spectral Series, Phys. Rev. Volume 31, Number 4, 527 - 532 (1928). Institutional citation: Department of Physics, Columbia University. Received 20 December 1927.

• Francis G. Slack An Arrangement for Obtaining a Steady Flow of Gas at a Constant Low Pressure, Rev. Sci. Instrum. Volume 1, Issue 1, 33 (1930). Institutional citation: Department of Physics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

• Francis G. Slack The Hydrogen Atom in the Stark Effect, Phys. Rev. Volume 35, Number 10, 1170 - 1176 (1930). Institutional citation: Department of Physics, Vanderbilt University. Received 4 April 1930.

• Francis G. Slack and William M. Breazeale Magneto-Optic Rotation by Condenser Discharge, Phys. Rev. Volume 42, Number 2, 305 - 311 (1932). Institutional citation: Department of Physics, Vanderbilt University. Received 30 June 1932.

• Francis G. Slack, Ralph L. Reeves, and James A. Peoples, Jr. The Effect of Concentration, Temperature and Wave-Length of Light upon the Verdet Constant of Cerous Chloride Solutions, Phys. Rev. Volume 46, Number 8, 724 - 727 (1934). Institutional citation: Department of Physics, Vanderbilt University. Received 20 June 1934.

• R. T. Lageman and F. G. Slack Magneto-Optical Rotation and Natural Dispersion in Gases, Phys. Rev. Volume 49, Number 11, 807 - 809 (1936). Institutional citation: Department of Physics, Vanderbilt University. Received 6 April 1936.

• Francis G. Slack The Verdet Constant of Heavy Water, Phys. Rev. Volume 46, Number 11, 945 - 947 (1934). Institutional citation: Department of Physics, Vanderbilt University. Received 1 October 1934.

• H. L. Anderson
  Herbert L. Anderson
  Herbert Lawrence Anderson was an American nuclear physicist who contributed to the Manhattan Project. He was also a member of the team which made the first demonstration of nuclear fission in the United States, in the basement of Pupin Hall at Columbia University. He participated in the first...
  
  , E. T. Booth
  Eugene T. Booth
  Eugene Theodore Booth was an American nuclear physicist. He was a member of the historic Columbia University team which made the first demonstration of nuclear fission in the United States. During the Manhattan Project, he worked on gaseous diffusion for isotope separation...
  
  , J. R. Dunning
  John R. Dunning
  John Ray Dunning was an American physicist who played key roles in the development of the atomic bomb. He specialized in neutron physics and did pioneering work in gaseous diffusion for isotope separation...
  
  , E. Fermi
  Enrico Fermi
  Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
  
  , G. N. Glasoe
  G. N. Glasoe
  G. Norris Glasoe was an American nuclear physicist. He was a member of the Columbia University team which was the first in the United States to verify the European discovery of the nuclear fission of uranium via neutron bombardment. During World War II, he worked at the MIT Radiation Laboratory...
  
  , and F. G. Slack The Fission of Uranium, Phys. Rev. Volume 55, Number 5, 511 - 512 (1939). Institutional citation: Pupin Physics Laboratories, Columbia University, New York, New York. Received 16 February 1939.

• E. T. Booth, J. R. Dunning, and F. G. Slack Delayed Neutron Emission from Uranium, Phys. Rev. Volume 55, Number 9, 876 - 876 (1939). Institutional citation: Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, New York. Received 17 April 1939.

• E. T. Booth, J. R. Dunning, and F. G. Slack Energy Distribution of Uranium Fission Fragments, Phys. Rev. Volume 55, Number 10, 981 - 981 (1939). Institutional citation: Pupin Physics Laboratories, Columbia University, New York, New York. Received 1 May 1939.

• Philip Rudnick, F. G. Slack, and John O'Connor Rotatory Power of Nickel Sulphate at Low Temperatures, Phys. Rev. Volume 58, Number 11, 1003 - 1003 (1940). Institutional citation: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. Received 7 November 1940.

• G. Forman, P. Rudnick, F. G. Slack, and N. Underwood A Two-Year Course in Basic Elementary Physics, American Journal of Physics Volume 17, Issue 1, 22-23 (1949). Institutional citation: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.

Honors

• Francis G. Slack Award – An award of the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society
  American Physical Society
  The American Physical Society is the world's second largest organization of physicists, behind the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The Society publishes more than a dozen scientific journals, including the world renowned Physical Review and Physical Review Letters, and organizes more than 20...
  
  to honor Excellence in Service to Physics in the Southeast. The award was proposed in 1998 and it was first awarded in 2000.

• Francis G. Slack Lecture Series – An annual lecture series established in 1977 in the Vanderbilt University Department of Physics and Astronomy.