| Richard Tolman |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT RICHARD C. TOLMAN | |
| 1881 births | |
| 1948 deaths | |
| cosmologists | |
| manhattan project people | |
| theoretical physicists | |
| technocracy movement | |
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Born in West Newton , Massachusetts , elder brother of behavioral psychologist Edward Chace Tolman , Richard C. Tolman studied Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology , receiving his Bachelor's Degree in 1903 and Ph.D. in 1910 . Tolman joined the California Institute Of Technology in 1922 , where he became professor of Physical Chemistry and mathematical physics, and later dean of the graduate school. An early student there was Linus Pauling , to whom he taught the then pre Wave-mechanics Quantum Theory . An expert on statistical mechanics, Tolman wrote a textbook on the subject in 1927 against the background of the old quantum theory. In 1938 this was followed by a completely new work, which covered in detail the application of statistical mechanics to both classical and quantum systems. It became the standard work on the subject for many years, and is still of interest today. Tolman also became increasingly interested in the application of Thermodynamics to relativistic systems, and Cosmology . Work in that field included establishing the Oscillatory Universe hypothesis; and showing in 1934 that Black Body radiation in an expanding universe cools but remains thermal - a vital result for the properties of the Cosmic Microwave Background . During the Second World War , he served as scientific advisor to General Leslie Groves on the Manhattan Project , and at the time of his death was chief advisor to Bernard Baruch , the U.S. representative to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission . Each year the Tolman Medal , named for Richard Tolman, is awarded by the southern California section of the American Chemical Society "in recognition of outstanding contributions to chemistry." REFERENCES
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