I am privileged to have been coauthor with Doug
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| Дата: | 2005 |
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| Формат: | Стаття |
| Мова: | English |
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Інститут фізики конденсованих систем НАН України
2005
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| Назва видання: | Condensed Matter Physics |
| Онлайн доступ: | http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/119543 |
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| Назва журналу: | Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine |
| Цитувати: | I am privileged to have been coauthor with Doug / F. Abraham // Condensed Matter Physics. — 2005. — Т. 8, № 2(42). — С. 241-242. — Бібліогр.: 2 назв. — англ. |
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irk-123456789-1195432017-06-08T03:03:24Z I am privileged to have been coauthor with Doug Abraham, F. 2005 Article I am privileged to have been coauthor with Doug / F. Abraham // Condensed Matter Physics. — 2005. — Т. 8, № 2(42). — С. 241-242. — Бібліогр.: 2 назв. — англ. 1607-324X DOI:10.5488/CMP.8.2.241 http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/119543 en Condensed Matter Physics Інститут фізики конденсованих систем НАН України |
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Abraham, F. I am privileged to have been coauthor with Doug Condensed Matter Physics |
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Інститут фізики конденсованих систем НАН України |
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2005 |
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http://dspace.nbuv.gov.ua/handle/123456789/119543 |
| citation_txt |
I am privileged to have been coauthor with Doug / F. Abraham // Condensed Matter Physics. — 2005. — Т. 8, № 2(42). — С. 241-242. — Бібліогр.: 2 назв. — англ. |
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Condensed Matter Physics, 2005, Vol. 8, No. 2(42), pp. 241–242
I am privileged to have been coauthor
with Doug
F.Abraham
IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, CA 95120, USA
Received August 7, 2004, in final form April 15, 2005
When I first met Doug, he was already famous. John Barker and Doug had
joined the San Jose IBM Research Division in 1969. I had already been with IBM
for three years but at the IBM Palo Alto Scientific Center, a small activity created
by the Data Processing Division to help establish stronger ties between IBM and
U.S. universities. Stanford University was our neighbor, and I started collaborations
on nucleation theory. I decided that I would try computer simulation to address
certain issues about liquid droplets. It didn’t take long for me to discover that the
two world’s experts on liquids were sitting in San Jose which is 40 miles away. Of
course I’m referring to their recent breakthrough with the invention of the Barker-
Henderson perturbation theory of the liquid state [1]: Doug joined John Barker in
1966 at CSIRO in Melbourne and the Barker-Henderson Perturbation Theory for
the Liquid State was announced at a Faraday Discussion in Exeter in 1967, and its
success is well-known history.
I think that it is fair to say that Doug’s love was, and probably still is, the
mathematical approach to solving a physical problem. My immediate need was to do
simulation, so I hooked up with John who was an expert in Monte Carlo simulation.
I wanted to be next to these two fellows so I joined the San Jose Research Lab in
the early 70’s. Actually, Doug soon took a one year sabbatical to the IBM Watson
Research Laboratory in New York and, much to my surprise, did some beautiful
simulation studies on the structure of glasses. Upon Doug’s returning to San Jose,
we convinced management that they needed a statistical mechanics group and I was
selected as manager by default. Doug and John would have nothing to do with being
a manager. However, they made it very clear to me that my major responsibility
was to protect them from the “outside interference” of the IBM world, while making
sure that they received the proper recognition for their contributions. I believe that
I did a fairly good job.
I am privileged to have co-authored one paper with Doug. It was the 1976 HAB
(Henderson, Abraham, Barker) solution for a fluid against a wall [2]1. I made a sug-
1This paper has been reprinted in volume 100 of Molecular Physics in 2002 as one of the most
cited paper published in this journal (Eds.)
c© F.Abraham 241
F.Abraham
gestion and, the next day, Doug had the mathematical solution; less than a day’s
work because of Doug’s mathematical skill and physical insights. After the HAB
theory of the solid-liquid interface, Doug branched into the general field of elec-
trochemistry and established collaborative friendships throughout the world, most
notably in Mexico, Australia, Germany, Puerto Rico, Canada, Poland, Ukraine, Ar-
gentina, Hong Kong, and many other places.
One of the early concerns of the IBM management was Doug’s presence at the
Lab: actually the lack of it. Doug likes to visit interesting centers of science, irre-
spective of where they may be located in the world, so I had a significant challenge. I
simply listed his papers, invitations and honors. Nothing more was questioned. John
Barker once told me, “Doug is the only person I know who has been everywhere
twice”. Doug’s lunchtime stories were always very special. I must admit that having
lunch with scientists can be rather uninspiring. Doug’s stories were the exception
and included his early childhood relocations from his birth place, Calgary, to Toron-
to and Vancouver early in World War II, his schooling where history was his favorite
subject and not much else, his near failure of senior high school math that convi-
nced him to change his study habits, and his summer jobs as a seaman and then a
miner. Relevant to Doug’s life-long professional interests were an early thermody-
namics course given by Professor J.B. Warren, where he learned that there was no
theory for liquids, and inspiring lectures by Henry Eyring while visiting University
of British Columbia during Doug’s undergraduate years. This led to Doug getting
his PhD at University of Utah under Eyring in significant structure theory. Doug
describes this work as forgettable. While at Utah, Doug took a break by performing
a mission to South Africa for his church. This is where Doug met his future lovely
bride, Rose-Marie leading to three beautiful daughters Barbara, Sharon and Dianne
and eight grandchildren.
Doug left IBM in 1992 (at the time, as Doug puts it, when IBM decided to
self-destruct), and joined the faculty of the Metropolitan University (Mexico City)
in 1993. In 1995 he took a position at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah
where he remains active and involved with visiting scientists, collaborators, and
graduate students till the present day. In closing, I am sure that I am expressing
the feeling of all Doug’s friends around the world when I say: “It is more than a
privilege and honor to know and to have worked with Doug Henderson. Through his
wit, talent and caring, Doug has made our lives uniquely richer both intellectually
and spiritually”.
References
1. Barker J.A., Henderson D., J. Chem. Phys., 1967, 47, 4714.
2. Henderson D., Abraham F., Barker, J. Mol. Phys., 1976, 31, No. 4, 1291–1295;
reprinted 2002, 100, No. 1, 129–132.
242
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