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Van Vleck and magnetism

OCT 01, 1968
Through his work on crystal field theory, paramagnetism, resonance spectroscopy and quantum theory, one man turned magnetism into a field too large for any one man.
Philip W. Anderson

A FEW YEARS AGO there would have been little need to distinguish between the two halves of my title: John H. Van Vleck and magnetism, as a field of theoretical physics, were practically synonymous. Now the field has expanded so much that no one man can overwhelm all of its branches in the way Van did when my generation was being introduced to it. While I can safely assume that all physicists know some parts of Van’s career in magnetism, I suspect few appreciate the whole of it.

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References

  1. 1. Van Vleck, Quantum Principles and Line Spectra, National Research Council, Washington (1926).

  2. 2. Van Vleck, Theory of Electric and Magnetic Susceptibilities, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1932).

More about the authors

Philip W. Anderson, Cambridge and Bell Telephone Laboratories.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 21, Number 10

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