Milton Burton

Milton Burton
Born(1902-03-04)March 4, 1902
Stapleton, New York, USA
DiedNovember 10, 1985(1985-11-10) (aged 83)
Mishawaka, Indiana, USA
EducationNew York University
Scientific career
InstitutionsNew York University
University of Chicago
University of Notre Dame
Doctoral advisorFrancis Owen Rice

Milton Burton (March 4, 1902 – November 10, 1985) was an American chemist, a pioneer in the field of radiation chemistry and radiobiology.[1] He founded the Radiation Laboratory at University of Notre Dame in 1949 and served as its director from 1963 to 1971. He proposed the G value for describing the chemical yield in radiolytic reactions.[2] He is often referred to as the godfather of radiation chemistry.[3][4][5]

Education and career

Burton studied at New York University, obtaining his B.S. in 1922, M.S. in 1923 and Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1925, supervised by Francis Owen Rice. The textbook he cowrote with Gerhard K. Rollefson, Photochemistry and The Mechanism Of Chemical Reactions, first published in 1939, was an influential work for a generation of scientists and one of the first to integrate quantum mechanics into the description of photochemistry.[6] After working for a decade in the industry, Burton joined the faculty at New York University in 1935. He took part in the Manhattan Project between 1942 and 1943 while working at the Metallurgical Laboratory, at the time headed by Arthur Compton, at the University of Chicago.[7] He joined the faculty of the department of chemistry at University of Notre Dame in 1945 and remained until his retirement in 1971.

Burton helped found the Radiation Research Society in 1952 as the most influential representative on the chemistry side.[4]

Bibliography

  • Rollefson, G. K; Burton, Milton (1939). Photochemistry and the mechanism of chemical reactions. New York: Prentice-Hall. OCLC 5988145.
  • Burton, Milton; U.S. Atomic Energy Commission; University of Notre Dame (1950). Elementary chemical processes in radiobiological reactions. Oak Ridge, Tenn.: United States Atomic Energy Commission, Technical Information Service. OCLC 795006006.
  • Burton, Milton (1960). Comparative effects of radiation. New York: Wiley. OCLC 1131564779.
  • Burton, Milton (1963). "Energie-"Dissipation" in der Strahlenchemie". Energie-"Dissipation" in der Strahlenchemie. Mehrzentren-Termination (in German). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. pp. 7–26. doi:10.1007/978-3-663-02396-8_1. ISBN 978-3-663-00483-7. Retrieved 2022-05-05.

See also

References

  1. ^ "MILTON BURTON". Chicago Tribune. 19 November 1985. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
  2. ^ Burton, Milton (1947). "Radiation Chemistry". The Journal of Physical and Colloid Chemistry. 51 (2): 611–625. doi:10.1021/j150452a029. ISSN 0092-7023. PMID 20286440.
  3. ^ Burton, Milton (1969-02-10). "RADIATION CHEMISTRY: A god fatherly look at its history and its relation to liquids". Chemical & Engineering News Archive. 47 (6): 86–98. doi:10.1021/cen-v047n006.p086. ISSN 0009-2347.
  4. ^ a b Magee, John L. (1988). "Introduction". International Journal of Radiation Applications and Instrumentation, Part C. 32 (1): 1–2. doi:10.1016/1359-0197(88)90004-5.
  5. ^ Mozumder, A. (2011-12-01). "Radiation Chemistry: Background, Current Status and Outlook". The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. 2 (23): 2994–2995. doi:10.1021/jz2012758. ISSN 1948-7185.
  6. ^ Magee, John L. (1986-03-01). "Milton Burton 1902-1985". Radiation Research. 105 (3): 427–429. JSTOR 3576698.
  7. ^ "Milton Burton". Atomic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2022-05-05.