Karl Herzfeld
Karl Herzfeld | |
|---|---|
Regina Flannery and Karl, at Regina's graduation 1938 | |
| Born | February 24, 1892 |
| Died | June 3, 1978 (aged 86) |
| Nationality | Austrian-American |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna |
| Known for | Goldhammer–Herzfeld criterion |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Munich Johns Hopkins University The Catholic University of America |
| Doctoral advisor | Friedrich Hasenöhrl |
| Doctoral students | John Archibald Wheeler Walter Heitler Virginia Griffing |
Karl Ferdinand Herzfeld (February 24, 1892 – June 3, 1978) was an Austrian-American physicist and chemist. He worked on condensed matter physics, fluid dynamics and statistical mechanics. In 1927, he was the first to quantify when a substance is a metal or an insulator. The Goldhammer–Herzfeld criterion to classify metalloids is named after him. With Frank O. Rice, he studied the rate equations of the pyrolysis of acetaldehyde in 1934. Their model is known as the Rice–Herzfeld mechanism.
He also wrote on philosophy and theology. Herzfeld was married to anthropologist Regina Flannery Herzfeld.