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Gerhard Herzberg: An Illustrious Life in Science (NRC Press Biography)

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Gerhard Herzberg: An Illustrious Life in Science

1. Introduction.

This essay is a review of a book by the same name. It is posted on Amazon.com. As such this essay is public knowledge and can be shared. There are several page numbers noted below that refer to pages in that book.

1.1 Leadership - This report is about leadership, both scientific and administrative. It is about the type of leadership this country needs now and also well into the future, but the type that is in very short supply. And it is about the lack of attention that the general public pays to scientists such as Gerhard Herzberg, and topics such as leadership supply and development.

1.2 The incredible bond between Herzberg and Spinks - I have known about Gerhard Herzberg (GH) for many years due to his connection with the University of Saskatchewan (UofS), one of my alma matters. A Dr. J. W. T. Spinks (JWT) was head of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, and Dean of Graduate Studies when I started there in 1951. JWT had come to the UofS in 1930 at the age of 22. He spent the next 3 years preparing lectures, organizing a research program and getting to know many new people, and getting to know and love his new city, province and country. However, by 1933 conditions in SK became so bad that all unmarried professors were given one year off on $500. He headed to The Technische Hochschole Darmstadt (THD) in Darmstadt (See page 22) where he studied under GH, and the incredible bond between these two scientists was formed.

JWT returned to SK in 1934. Shortly after that GH contacted him for help in finding a new position, which were now getting very hard to locate. JWT convinced the president of the UofS, and other key leaders in Canada to act. In a province that was essentially bankrupt, they found away to make him an offer. GH and his wife, Luise, escaped from Nazi Germany, and headed to North America.

2. GH's trip to New York and places west - GH left Germany on August 22nd 1935, heading to Saskatoon, where he served this university for ten years. I initially thought he came by boat to Halifax, followed by a ~3,000 mile train ride across Canada. However, his boat took him to New York City. There he was met by a James Cury, his first post doctoral fellow in Darmstadt, now working at Columbia University. Cury passed on $ advances from the UofS and from his wife's sister. While surely not very large this money made it possible for his wife to visit her sister in Chattanooga, while GH made 11 rapid trips as outlined below.
(1) New York, Columbia U. Met with Isidor Rabi of atomic-beam fame and Harold Urey, Nobel Laureate in 1934 for the discovery of heavy hydrogen.
(2) Boston, MIT. Was shown the activity in the new field of electronic computers.
(3) Montreal, McGill U. Met with Stuart Foster and discussed his work on the Stark Effect. He also met E Steacie, a key chemist, who played an important role in GH's career many years later.
(4) Princeton, NJ. Princeton U. Met with Edward Condon of the Franck-Condon principle.
(5) Baltimore, Johns Hopkins U. Reviewed the grating ruling engine of Robert W. Wood, but missed him as well as a James Franck.
(6) Washington, DC. Toured the National Bureau of Standards laboratory.
(7) Pittsburgh, PA. Carnegie Institute of Technology. Met with Ernest Berl, a former Colleague at THD.
(8) Columbus, OH. Ohio State University. No contacts were at home.
(9) Ann Arbor and the U. of MI. Met with H. M. Randall and D. Dennison. This was the most enjoyable meeting as it almost all focused on spectroscopy.
(10) Urbana, IL. U. of Illinois. Met with F.M. Loomis, who he had corresponded with him for many years about gratings and spectrographs.
(11) Chicago, IL. U. of Chicago. Tried to meet with R. Mulliken. Was not there.

At the end of these trips he would be reunited with his wife. He also noted he was able to make these trips as hotel costs ran from $1.00 to $1.75 per night. Next morning he awaited his wife's arrival from Chattanooga.

They shortly left Chicago for Minneapolis on the "Hiawatha", the fastest train in North America. It took five hours to cover 800 kms, essentially 100 mph. The trains to Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon did not even make half this speed. These trips were not as dull as one might have expected as GH and his wife were fascinated by the vast wheat fields, and the farm homes and barns with tall "silos." However, they became increasingly concerned as these trains often stopped at places with only a few houses. They began to worry what Saskatoon would be like. They arrived in splendid sunshine on September 16th, 1935, and were delighted to find Saskatoon was an attractive, small city, decked out in beautiful fall colors. And GH's old student, friend and boarder, John Spinks, was there to greet them. The Herzbergs were penniless. Elsewhere it was reported that the Herzbergs had all of $2.50 left.

3. Ten Great Years in Saskatoon and at the University of Saskatchewan.

3.1 Saskatoon - GH and his wife adapted very rapidly to his new surroundings. On the second day they viewed a grand exhibition of the northern lights, the first of many astronomical and astrophysical events they would experience. They were also not daunted by inputs of -40 ºC winter temperatures. Indeed, on page 124, there are pictures of them decked out in full winter gear. They learned that this city was named after the Indian name Mis-sask-quah-too-min, meaning "carpet of flowers." Elsewhere it has been reported that this city was named after a rather superb berry that grew in abundance all over this area.

They very quickly came to know the 100 or so faculty members, and became close friends with many of them. This led to many afternoon teas, and musical evenings at friends homes, and outings to the northern lake district--Lake Waskesiu and Emma Lake--still in their natural state, and the good hiking in the forests around them, where the silences were broken only by the sound of a loon or the splash of a fish.

Through Spinks, GH struck up a friendship with Canadian artist Ernest Lindner, and the Herzbergs were invited to the Saturday Night sessions at Lindner's home. These were attended by many from the university, as well as people from the press, school teachers, visiting dignitaries and artists. Discussions were intense and covered were philosophic, religious, scientific and about the arts. Another friend was Frederick Mendell, another Jewish refugee who settled in Saskatoon. He had ran a meat packing plant in Checkoslovakia, and soon started a very successful plant in Saskatoon. This enabled him to donate the Mendell Art Center to the city.

There was now no doubt that Canada was to be their new home, and it was time to start a family. Their first child, Paul, was born on September 23, 1936, barely a year after they arrived in Saskatoon. Their second child, Agnes Margaret, was born on December 12, 1938. A fine picture of these two kids, with their grandparents, Luise's mother and father, are shown on page 146. There is also a cartoon on page 128 entitled "Uncle Victor's greetings on the birth of Agnes." This cartoon depicted what looked like three nudists on a tree branch, with the stork bringing along number four, namely Agnes. Uncle Victor was the brother of Frau Juda who ran the house in Darmstadt where GH and his wife and JWT lived. Her brother also lived there, but confined to a wheel-chairdue due to muscular dystrophy. He sketched and was always good company, always full of humor. Other cartoons by Uncle Victor are on pages 73 and 187.

3.2 University of Saskatchewan - In 1909, Saskatoon was awarded the University of Saskatchewan. Walter Charles Murray (1866 - 1945) was selected as the founding president. Building of a first class university became his life's mission. A picture of this school in 1935 is shown on page 118. The chemistry and physics building are prominently displayed. Murray's picture is shown on page 156. Herzberg wrote to Mrs Murray: "it was Dr. Murray who gave us a secure haven and a new home when we could not stay in our own country."

Within two weeks of his arrival GH was teaching two courses, one in elementary mechanics to undergraduates and the other in atomic and molecular spectroscopy to students in the Masters Degree program. To his pleasant surprise, he found the standards at this little university to be remarkably high. Among the students in his first graduate class were William G. Schneider and Henry Taube, from neighboring farms. Both had rather distinguished careers.
### Schneider, after his masters degree, obtained a PhD in physical chemistry, from McGill University. After a three year stint at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, he joined the NRC in Ottawa, and became it's president from 1967 to 1980.
### Taube, obtained his PhD at the U. of California in Berkeley. He received the 1983 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the mechanisms of electron transfer reactions, especially metal complexes.

Earle L. Harrington headed the Physics Department from 1925. He was raised on a farm in Missouri at the universities of Missouri, Harvard and Chicago. "He was a confirmed gadgeter, and believed that students from farms made the best physicists because - - - they could construct almost anything with a piece of barbed wire, angle iron and a stick of wood." Harrington was noted for his development of new apparatus and for building the first Radon plant in Western Canada.

Soon GH was making many trips, and giving many lectures in Canada and the United States. His first trip was in June 1936, when he attended the Seattle-Victoria Meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. At this conference he met many American and Canadian astronomers, some becoming Herzberg's close friends.

His next meeting took him to an ACS session in Princeton, on molecular structure, where he presented a paper, on January, 1937. There he met the leading American astronomer, a Henry N. Russell of Princeton. He discussed with him a project of possible importance in astronomy, namely the absorption of radiation in the infrared region by water vapour in the atmosphere. GH"s point was in the Saskatoon winter, with temperatures as low as -40 ºC, the water vapour in the air would be frozen out, so that the radiation from the Sun would not be absorbed and there would be a good chance of extending our knowledge of the Sun's spectrum. Russell liked this idea and suggested that GH apply for a grant from the Penrose Fund, which Russell would support. On the basis of his presentation, GH was invited to join the Physics Department at Princeton, but for a variety of reasons, GH declined.

His next trip was at the Yerkes Observatory, at Williams Bay, WI, in June of 1938. GH again met many people of import in astronomy and astrophysics, including an old friend Edward Teller. That year he passed on trips to Pittsburgh and Berkeley because of travel costs.

The following year he was invited by the ACS to visit the universities in Minneapolis, Madison, Urbanna, Lafayette, Columbus and Ann Arbor, where he lectured on a variety of molecular topics. This trip was a good introduction to many American chemists and physicists.

In addition to all his trips GH had many things to do back at his new university. There were lectures to prepare and give, and much after class student mentoring too. He had spectra to be analyzed that he had brought with him from Darmstadt. He had much writing and revising to complete. With the help of JWT the German edition of "Atomic Spectra and Atomic Structure" was translated into English, and published in 1937.

In addition to all this writing and related activities, GH was anxious to begin experimental research. A steady stream of students join in Herzberg's research, studying the emission spectra of CO, NO, B2 and Si2. With support from Henry Russell at Princeton and others, GH was awarded $1,500 by the American Philosophical Society, to build a spectrograph for his molecular research. This opened the door for his early studies in high-resolution spectroscopy. After four years in Saskatoon, GH now had the necessary equipment and the best instrument in Canada. He first carried out the experiment he had suggested to Russell at Princeton. However this experiment was a semi flop as there was no difference in summer and winter spectra of the Sun. The reason was that there was an inversion level in the upper atmosphere at about +10 ºC, so that the water vapor there still blocked out part of the Sun's spectrum in winter. However, this work later proved to be of importance to astronomy, namely in deciding where to locate observatories. It was decided that there was no use going to colder places to observe, but rather higher places, such as Mauna Kea, in Hawaii.
When "Molecular Spectra and Molecular Structure, Spectra of Diatomic Molecules" was completed in early 1939, it was dedicated to Walter Murray. Murray was overwhelmed and wrote Herzberg, in part: "I cannot appreciate the great honor which you and Dr. Spinks have done me in dedicating this book to me. - - -. "You and Dr. Spinks have brought great honor to this university by your researches and teaching. Dr. Spinks has the added honour of having brought you to this university. Everything which he said about you has been more than justified by what you have done since coming to Saskatchewan. - - -"

There is one more activity at the UofS that needs attention and that is explosive R&D. In 1943 GH was invited to take up work on the spectroscopy of explosives by a George Wright, Professor of Chemistry at the U. of Toronto. Wright convinced E. Steacie, Chairman of the NRC Committee on Explosives, that such secret war work could be carried out in Saskatoon, even though GH was technically an "enemy agent". With the necessary red tape cleared up, GH could attend meetings organized by the U.S. Bureau of Navy Ordnance. GH met many of the country's experts on explosives, and later learned many of them worked in the Los Alamos Laboratory. GH had a bunker built at the back of the Physics Building (page 147). While this R&D was classified as "secret" it did not go unseen and certainly not unheard. Finally in order to alert those on campus of the coming boom, a GH assistant would sound the "Last Post" before each detonation. GH later reported that this R&D was challenging and interesting, but did not help end the war.

There is no doubt that GH's contributions at several meetings at The U. of Chicago impressed astronomers at The Yerkes Observatory (See page 159). What followed was an incredible amount of correspondence to cover all the red tape in Chicago, Williams Bay, Saskatoon, Ottawa and Washington. When this was finally complete, an offer was made for Herzberg to join the The U. of Chicago, with time split between work in Chicago and work at Williams and The Yerkes Observatory at Herzbergs discretion. This offer was made on September 1, 1945, almost ten years after he had arrived in Saskatoon.

4. Conclusion - This brief history of the career of GH does not capture the grandness and grace of this man. Nor does it capture the inspirational leadership that he conveyed to his students and fellow workers. I have written elsewhere that these Professors & Mentors, namely these P&M People are positive, entertaining and inspirational leaders. And no one was more entertaining than Gerhard Herzberg. On traveling, Herzberg would bring sheet music of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Verdi, and get together with friends to make music. Many of his friends were able musicians, with piano being the favorite instrument. So he had many opportunities to sing. He had superb accompanists in Toronto; Cambridge; Edinburgh; Sussex; Southampton, where the pianist played, as the pianist's wife and GH sang duets; Saas-Fee; and in France, where he sang duets with the pianist. He can be seen on page 285, in full voice, at Columbus Ohio, with Gilbert Amat and colleagues. I have a CD entitled: "ray charles genius loves company." Well GH was surely a genius, and he surely loved company. And the picture of Ray Charles on the disc jacket, is analogous to the picture of GH on the book jacket. Herzberg also loved opera. "There was one interview he especially welcomed, since it dealt with his love of music, opera and singing. He and the interviewer carried on a light-hearted exchange, with Herzberg confessing (but not with conviction): "Yes, after all is said and done, opera is my true love, not science."

Surely his love of and for science is well established by his publications: 30 books, and about 270 publications either by himself or with a co-author.

As noted above these P&M People are - - - inspirational leaders. And no one was more inspirational than Herzberg. Surely his inspirational leadership is well established by his awards: 58 Fellowships, Medals, Special Lectures and 37 Honary Degrees. Included here was a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1971, for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and the geometry of molecules and particularly free radicals. Also included here was appointment as a Member of the Queens Privy Council in 1992. This award was of interest to me, as it showed a picture (page 372) of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; Gerhard Herzberg; and the Governor General of Canada, Ramon Hnatyshyn (RH). [RH was an old friend from Victoria Public School, Nutana High School and the UofS, all in Saskatoon, including a basketball teammate at Nutana, in 1954-55.]. Finally the University of Saskatchewan honored it's two Noble Prize winners with the establishment of the Nobel Plaza (page 394), at the end of the book.

These P&M leaders have taught and mentored many PhD students, but they have also started a tree or chain of many more such leaders. Here we have example of two generations of P&M leaders, but the students of GH and JWT surely "sired" many offspring, both of a technical nature, but also of an administrative nature.

### These chains are a key source of new leaders, but a source that is in serious danger, due to lack of research $, but also due to intense political pressure to embrace specific political agendas.
###