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Percy Williams Bridgman

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Percy Williams Bridgman
Bridgman in 1946
Born(1882-04-21)April 21, 1882
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedAugust 20, 1961(1961-08-20) (aged 79)
Randolph, New Hampshire, U.S.
EducationHarvard University
(grad. 1904, 1905, 1908)
Known for
Spouse
Olive Ware
​
(m. 1912)​
Children2
RelativesEdmund Asa Ware
(father-in-law)
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsHarvard University
Thesis Mercury Resistance as a Pressure Gauge[1]  (1908)
Wallace Clement Sabine[1]
Doctoral students
Writing career
GenrePhilosophy of science
Notable worksThe Logic of Modern Physics (1927)

Percy Williams Bridgman (April 21, 1882 – August 20, 1961)[2] was an American physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1946 for his work on the physics of high pressures. He also wrote extensively on the scientific method and on other aspects of the philosophy of science.[3][4][5] The Bridgman effect, the Bridgman–Stockbarger technique, and the high-pressure mineral bridgmanite are named after him.

Early life and education

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Percy Williams Bridgman was born on April 21, 1882, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and grew up in nearby Auburndale.[6] His parents were both born in New England. His father, Raymond Landon Bridgman, was "profoundly religious and idealistic" and worked as a newspaper reporter assigned to state politics. His mother, Mary Ann Maria Williams, was described as "more conventional, sprightly, and competitive."[6]

Bridgman attended both elementary and high school in Auburndale, where he excelled at competitions in the classroom, on the playground, and while playing chess. Described as both shy and proud, his home life consisted of family music, card games, and domestic and garden chores. The family was deeply religious; reading the Bible each morning and attending a Congregational Church.[6] However, Bridgman later became an atheist.[7]

In 1900, Bridgman entered Harvard University, where he received his A.B. in 1904, his A.M. in 1905, and his Ph.D. in 1908.[8]

Career and research

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From 1910 until his retirement, Bridgman taught at Harvard University, becoming a full professor in 1919. In 1905, he began investigating the properties of matter under high pressure. A machinery malfunction led him to modify his pressure apparatus; the result was a new sealing device enabling him to create pressures eventually exceeding 100,000 kgf/cm2 (10 GPa; 100,000 atmospheres). This was a huge improvement over previous machinery, which could achieve pressures of only 3,000 kgf/cm2 (0.3 GPa).[9] This new apparatus led to an abundance of new findings, including a study of the compressibility, electric and thermal conductivity, tensile strength and viscosity of more than 100 different compounds.[citation needed] Bridgman is also known for his studies of electrical conduction in metals and properties of crystals. He developed the Bridgman seal and is the eponym for Bridgman's thermodynamic equations, which were used to further his research.

Bridgman made many improvements to his high-pressure apparatus over the years, and unsuccessfully attempted the synthesis of diamond many times.[10] The high-pressure torsion apparatus developed by Bridgman [11] significantly contributed to the development of severe plastic deformation field decades later.[12]

His philosophy of science book The Logic of Modern Physics (1927) advocated operationalism and coined the term operational definition. In 1938 he participated in the International Committee composed to organise the International Congresses for the Unity of Science.[13] He was also one of the 11 signatories to the Russell–Einstein Manifesto.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Manhattan Project, was an undergraduate student of Bridgman's. Of his teaching abilities, Oppenheimer said that, "I found Bridgman a wonderful teacher because he never really was quite reconciled to things being the way they were and he always thought them out."[14]

Personal life and death

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Bridgman with wife and Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden in Stockholm in 1946

Bridgman married Olive Ware (1882-1972), of Hartford, Connecticut, in 1912. Ware's father, Edmund Asa Ware, was the founder and first president of Atlanta University. The couple had two children and were married for nearly 50 years, living most of that time in Cambridge. The family also had a summer home in Randolph, New Hampshire, where Bridgman was known as a skilled mountain climber.[6]

Bridgman was a "penetrating analytical thinker" with a "fertile mechanical imagination" and exceptional manual dexterity. He was a skilled plumber and carpenter, known to shun the assistance of professionals in these matters. He was also fond of music and played the piano, and took pride in his flower and vegetable gardens.[6]

Bridgman committed suicide by gunshot after suffering from metastatic cancer for some time. His suicide note was a mere two sentences; "It isn't decent for society to make a man do this thing himself. Probably this is the last day I will be able to do it myself."[15][16] Bridgman's words have been quoted by many in the assisted suicide debate.[17][18]

Recognition

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Memberships

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Year Organization Type Ref.
1912 United States American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member [19]
1916 United States American Philosophical Society Member [20]
1918 United States National Academy of Sciences Member [21]
1949 United Kingdom Royal Society Foreign Member [22]

Awards

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Year Organization Award Citation Ref.
1917 United States American Academy of Arts and Sciences Rumford Prize "For his thermodynamic research at extremely high pressures." [23]
1932 United States Franklin Institute Elliott Cresson Medal "For work in high pressure." [24]
1933 United States National Academy of Sciences Comstock Prize in Physics "For his investigations leading to increased understanding of the electrical constitution of matter." [25]
1946 Sweden Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Nobel Prize in Physics "For the invention of an apparatus to produce extremely high pressures, and for the discoveries he made therewith in the field of high pressure physics." [26]
1951 United States Society of Rheology Bingham Medal — [27]

Honorary degrees

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Year University Degree Ref.
1950 United States Princeton University Doctor of Science [28]
1951 United States Yale University Doctor of Science [29]

Commemoration

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The Percy W. Bridgman House, in Massachusetts, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark designated in 1975.[30]

In 2014, the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association approved the name bridgmanite for perovskite-structured (Mg,Fe)SiO3,[31][32] the Earth's most abundant mineral,[33] in honor of his high-pressure research.

Bibliography

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  • — (1922). Dimensional Analysis. New Haven: Yale University Press. OCLC 840631.
  • — (1925). A Condensed Collection of Thermodynamics Formulas. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. OCLC 594940689.
  • — (1927). The Logic of Modern Physics. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 17522325.[34] Online excerpt.
  • — (1934). The Thermodynamics of Electrical Phenomena in Metals. New York: Macmillan.
  • — (1936). The Nature of Physical Theory. Dover. OCLC 1298653.
  • — (1938). The Intelligent Individual and Society. New York: MacMillan. OCLC 1488461.
  • — (1941). The Nature of Thermodynamics. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780844605128. OCLC 4614803. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  • — (1949). The Physics of High Pressure. London: G. Bell. OCLC 8122603.
  • — (1950). Reflections of a Physicist. New York: Philosophical Library. OCLC 583047.[35]
  • — (1952). Studies in large plastic flow and fracture: with special emphasis on the effects of hydrostatic pressure. Metallurgy and metallurgical engineering series. New York: McGraw-Hill. OCLC 7435297.
  • — (1959). The Way Things Are. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674948303. OCLC 40803473. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  • — (1961) [First published separately in 1925 and 1934]. Thermodynamics of Electrical Phenomena in Metals and a Condensed Collection of Thermodynamic Formulas. New Haven: Macmillan. OCLC 610252150.
  • — (1962). A Sophisticate's Primer of Relativity. Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press. OCLC 530615.
  • — (1964). Collected experimental papers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. OCLC 372237.

See also

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References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 "Percy Williams Bridgman". Mathematics Genealogy Project. North Dakota State University. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
  2. ↑ Newitt, D. M. (1962). "Percy Williams Bridgman 1882–1961". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 8: 26–40. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1962.0003.
  3. ↑ "Percy W. Bridgman". Physics Today. 14 (10): 78. 1961. doi:10.1063/1.3057180.
  4. ↑ Bridgman, P. (1914). "A Complete Collection of Thermodynamic Formulas". Physical Review. 3 (4): 273–281. Bibcode:1914PhRv....3..273B. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.3.273.
  5. ↑ Bridgman, P. W. (1956). "Probability, Logic, and ESP". Science. 123 (3184): 15–17. Bibcode:1956Sci...123...15B. doi:10.1126/science.123.3184.15. PMID 13281470.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Kemble, Edwin C.; Birch, Francis (1970). Percy Williams Bridgman – 1882–1961 (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. pp. 25, 26, 27.
  7. ↑ Ray Monk (2013). Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center. Random House LLC. ISBN 9780385504133. In many ways they were opposites; Kemble, the theorist, was a devout Christian, while Bridgman, the experimentalist, was a strident atheist.
  8. ↑ "Percy W. Bridgman – Biographical". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on April 17, 2026. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  9. ↑ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1946".
  10. ↑ Hazen, Robert (1999), The Diamond Makers, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-65474-2
  11. ↑ Kaveh Edalati, Zenji Horita (2016). "A review on high-pressure torsion (HPT) from 1935 to 1988". Materials Science and Engineering: A. 0921–5093: 325–352. doi:10.1016/j.msea.2015.11.074.
  12. ↑ Edalati, K.; Bachmaier, A.; Beloshenko, V.A.; Beygelzimer, Y.; Blank, V.D.; Botta, W.J.; Bryła, K.; Čížek, J.; Divinski, S.; Enikeev, N.A.; Estrin, Y.; Faraji, G.; Figueiredo, R.B.; Fuji, M.; Furuta, T.; Grosdidier, T.; Gubicza, J.; Hohenwarter, A.; Horita, Z.; Huot, J.; Ikoma, Y.; Janeček, M.; Kawasaki, M.; Krǎl, P.; Kuramoto, S.; Langdon, T.G.; Leiva, D.R.; Levitas, V.I.; Mazilkin, A.; Mito, M.; Miyamoto, H.; Nishizaki, T.; Pippan, R.; Popov, V.V.; Popova, E.N.; Purcek, G.; Renk, O.; Révész, A.; Sauvage, X.; Sklenicka, V.; Skrotzki, W.; Straumal, B.B.; Suwas, S.; Toth, L.S.; Tsuji, N.; Valiev, R.Z.; Wilde, G.; Zehetbauer, M.J.; Zhu, X. (April 2022). "Nanomaterials by severe plastic deformation: review of historical developments and recent advances". Materials Research Letters. 10 (4): 163–256. doi:10.1080/21663831.2022.2029779. hdl:10831/114422. S2CID 246959065.
  13. ↑ Neurath, Otto (1938). "Unified Science as Encyclopedic Integration". International Encyclopedia of Unified Science. 1 (1): 1–27.
  14. ↑ Bird, Kai (2006). American Prometheus: the triumph and tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (1st Vintage books ed.). New York: Vintage. ISBN 978-0-307-42473-0. OCLC 695567255.
  15. ↑ Holton, Gerald (February 1, 1962). "Percy Williams Bridgman". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 18 (2): 22–23. Bibcode:1962BuAtS..18b..22H. doi:10.1080/00963402.1962.11454315. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
  16. ↑ Nuland, Sherwin B. (1995). How we die : reflections on life's final chapter. New York: Vintage Books. p. 152-153. ISBN 0-679-74244-1.
  17. ↑ Ayn Rand Institute discussion on assisted suicide. Aynrand.org; retrieved January 28, 2012.
  18. ↑ Euthanasia Research and Guidance Organization. Assistedsuicide.org (June 13, 2003); retrieved 2012-01-28.
  19. ↑ "Percy Williams Bridgman". www.amacad.org. Archived from the original on February 7, 2026. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  20. ↑ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Percy W. Bridgman". www.nasonline.org. Archived from the original on February 13, 2026. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  22. ↑ "Search Results". catalogues.royalsociety.org. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Rumford Prize Recipients". www.amacad.org. Archived from the original on October 11, 2025. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  24. ↑ "Percy Williams Bridgman". Franklin Institute. Archived from the original on March 31, 2025. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Comstock Prize in Physics". www.nasonline.org. Archived from the original on December 29, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  26. ↑ "Nobel Prize in Physics 1946". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2008.
  27. ↑ "Bingham Medalists". www.rheology.org. Archived from the original on July 13, 2010.
  28. ↑ "Honorary degrees Awarded". Princeton University. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
  29. ↑ "Honorary Degrees Since 1702". Yale University. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  30. ↑ James Sheire (February 1975), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Percy Bridgman House/Bridgman House-Buckingham School (PDF), National Park Service, retrieved June 22, 2009 and Accompanying one photo, exterior, from 1975 (519 KB)
  31. ↑ Page on bridgmanite, mindat.org; retrieved June 3, 2014.
  32. ↑ Tschauner, O., Ma, C., Beckett, J.R., Prescher, C., Prakapenka, V.B., Rossman, G.R. (2014) Discovery of bridgmanite, the most abundant mineral in Earth, in a shocked meteorite. Science: 346: 1110-1112. doi:10.1126/science.1259369
  33. ↑ Murakami, M.; Sinogeikiin S.V.; Hellwig H.; Bass J.D.; Li J. (2007). "Sound velocity of MgSiO3 perovskite to Mbar pressure". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 256 (1–2). Elsevier: 47–54. Bibcode:2007E&PSL.256...47M. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2007.01.011.
  34. ↑ Kovarik, A. F. (1929). "Review: The Logic of Modern Physics by P. W. Bridgman" (PDF). Bull. Amer. Math. Soc. 35 (3): 412–413. doi:10.1090/s0002-9904-1929-04767-0.
  35. ↑ Riepe, D. (1950). "Book Review: Reflections of a Physicist, by P. W. Bridgman". Popular Astronomy. 58: 367–368. Bibcode:1950PA.....58..367R.

Further reading

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  • Walter, Maila L., 1991. Science and Cultural Crisis: An Intellectual Biography of Percy Williams Bridgman (1882–1961). Stanford Univ. Press.
  • McMillan, Paul F (2005), "Pressing on: the legacy of Percy W. Bridgman.", Nature Materials, vol. 4, no. 10 (published October 2005), pp. 715–718, Bibcode:2005NatMa...4..715M, doi:10.1038/nmat1488, PMID 16195758, S2CID 2785280
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