Practical alchemy : a memoir / Walter A. Harrison.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harrison, Walter A. (Walter Ashley), 1930- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Harrison, Walter A. (Walter Ashley), 1930-.

Harrison, Walter A.

Physicists--United States--Biography.

Physicists.

United States.

Alchemy.

Genre:

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

vii, 176 pages : illustrations (some colour) ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Singapore ; Hackensack, NJ : World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd, [2019]

Summary:

Writing a memoir was not only an interesting experience for this Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University, but it also provided him an opportunity to revisit his past with his sons. The author graduated from Cornell in 1953 in Engineering Physics and received his PhD in Physics in 1956 at the University of Illinois. He was then at the General Electric Research Laboratory until 1965, when he moved to Stanford. He has seen his life transform from a physics student to husband, father, author, professor, scoutmaster, von Humboldt scholar, and sometimes musician. His published books include Pseudopotentials, Solid State Theory, Elementary Electronic Structure, and Applied Quantum Mechanics. Here he draws a parallel with the ancient alchemical goal of transforming lead into gold. The reader will find this engaging memoir rich in anecdotes and stories that constitute the various transformations resulting in what may be called a "golden experience".

Contents:

Chapter I Growing up in Toledo p. 1

Chapter II Undergrad at Cornell p. 13

Chapter III Graduate at Illinois p. 27

Chapter IV GE in Schenectady p. 39

Chapter V Settling at Stanford p. 67

Chapter VI Boys Growing Up p. 99

Chapter VII Sabbaticals and Germany p. 121

Chapter VIII Empty Nest p. 135

Chapter IX Retired p. 151.

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9813278315

9789813278318

9813277572

9789813277571

OCLC:

1057377693

Publisher Number:

99980048015