Percy Williams Bridgman

@Harvard University, Family and Childhood ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Percy Williams Bridgman was an American physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1944 Suicide American Harvard University Scientists Physicists Taurus Celebrities Percy Williams Bridgman was an American physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics for developing new techniques in the field of high-pressure physics and for his work on the effect of pressure on solids, liquids and gases. He was the designer of self-tightening joints which made it possible for scientist to carry out experiments where pressures up to 420,000 kilograms per square centimeter could be exerted with a special ‘seal’ that he had developed. Earlier scientists were able to get a maximum of only 3,000 kilograms per square centimeter of pressure during their experiments. He was the first person to enunciate the ‘theory of operationalism’ which says that all scientific concepts could be explained by a set of operations. He had a fertile imagination, intuition and a capacity for analyzing mechanical details which helped him use his dexterity in developing scientific equipment of various kinds. He was never influenced by any external means such as the demands of a society, administrative work or personal weaknesses during his experimental work throughout his career. He helped develop sound-detection systems for anti-submarine warfare during the First World War. He worked on the Manhattan Project on the compressibility of uranium and plutonium during the Second World War.

Personal Details

Birthday: April 21, 1882 Died on: August 20, 1961 Nationality: American Famous: Harvard University, Scientists, Physicists Spouses: Olive Ware Childrens: Jane Ware, Robert Ware Universities: Harvard University Harvard University Information Detail Birthday April 21, 1882 Died on August 20, 1961 Nationality American Famous Harvard University, Scientists, Physicists Spouses Olive Ware Childrens Jane Ware, Robert Ware Universities Harvard University Harvard University Notable Alumnis Harvard University Cause of death Suicide Birth Place Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Gender Male Father Raymond Landon Bridgman Mother Mary ‘Maria’ Ann Williams Sun Sign Taurus Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Famous as Physicist Died at Age 79

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Percy Williams Bridgman born at Unsplash Birth Place

He married Olive Ware in 1912 and had a daughter, Jane Ware and a son, Robert Ware from the marriage. Unsplash Personal Life

Percy Williams Bridgman committed suicide by shooting himself at his home in Randolph, New Hampshire on August 20, 1961. Unsplash Personal Life

He suffered from metastatic cancer for a long time which prompted him to take his own life. The suicide note he left behind had the words ‘It isn’t decent for a society to make a man do this thing himself. Probably this is the last day I will be able to do it myself’. Unsplash Personal Life

Percy Williams Bridgman was born in Cambridge, Massachsetts, on April 21, 1882. He was the only child of a newspaper reporter, Raymond Landon Bridgman and Mary ‘Maria’ Ann Williams who was an author of books on public affairs. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

His family was highly religious and his father wanted him to join the church but he was more interested in studying science and not religion. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

After his family moved to Newton from Cambridge he did his schooling from the ‘Newton North High School’ in Newton, Massachusetts and graduated from there in the year 1900. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He joined the ‘Harvard University’ in 1900 and received his BA degree in physics and mathematics in 1904. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He did his MA in physics from the ‘Harvard University’ in 1905 and received his PhD from the ‘Harvard University’ in 1908. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Percy Williams Bridgman started his career as a lecturer of physics at the ‘Harvard University’ in 1910 Unsplash Career

He became an assistant professor in 1913 and a full professor in 1919. Unsplash Career

He was made a ‘Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy’ in 1926 by the ‘Harvard University’. Unsplash Career

In 1927 he suggested the ‘theory of operationalism’ with which he tried to clear the ambiguities and obscurities found to be inherent in the definition of scientific ideas. He was one of the 11 signatories of the ‘Russell-Einstein Manifesto’. Unsplash Career

He became the President of the ‘American Physical Society’ in 1942. Unsplash Career

He wrote a number of books including ‘Dimensional Analysis’, ‘The Logic of Modern Physics’, ‘The Physics of High Pressure’, ‘The Thermodynamics of Electrical Phenomenon in Metals’, ‘The Nature of Physical Theory’, ‘The Intelligent Individual and Society’ and ‘The Nature of Thermodynamics’. Unsplash Major Works

He published his memoirs ‘Reflections of a Physicist’ in 1950 and the ‘Collected Experimental Papers’ were published in 7 volumes in 1964. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	April 21, 1882
Died on	August 20, 1961
Nationality	American
Famous	Harvard University, Scientists, Physicists
Spouses	Olive Ware
Childrens	Jane Ware, Robert Ware
Universities	Harvard University Harvard University
Notable Alumnis	Harvard University
Cause of death	Suicide
Birth Place	Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Gender	Male
Father	Raymond Landon Bridgman
Mother	Mary ‘Maria’ Ann Williams
Sun Sign	Taurus
Born in	Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Famous as	Physicist
Died at Age	79

Percy Williams Bridgman

American

Apr 21, 1882

Biography

Personal Details

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States