Background

William Frederick Meggers was born on July 13, 1888, in Clintonville, Wisconsin, United States to which his parents, John Meggers and the former Bertha Bork, had emigrated from Pomerania in 1872.

Education

William Frederick Meggers had to combine his early schooling with working on the family farm. He graduated from Clintonville High School as valedictorian in 1906 and attended Ripon College on a scholarship, where he was greatly inspired by Professor William Barber who taught physics there from 1906 to 1946. He majored in physics, received his Bachelor's degree in 1910, and spent the following year as Barber's first graduate assistant. He then began earning credits toward a Master's degree at the University of Wisconsin. He earned a Master's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1916. He earned his doctorate at Johns Hopkins University in 1917.

Career

While studying at Ripon College William Frederick Meggers earned extra money by organizing an orchestra in which he played the violin, trombone, and trumpet. In 1912 he became an instructor in physics at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh. While there, he learned of Bohr's explanation of the hydrogen spectrum, an event that impressed him greatly. Shortly thereafter, in 1914, Meggers passed a civil service examination and was appointed laboratory assistant to Keivin Burns, sole spectroscopist at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in Washington, D. C. From that time on, Meggers carried out, over a period of half a century, a systematic program of research in optical spectroscopy which led to significant improvements in wavelength standards, accurate descriptions and quantum interpretations of atomic spectra and their applications in the identification of chemical elements, and precise measurements of spectral-line intensities.

During World War I, Meggers measured the standard wavelength with the use of Fabry-Perot étalons, photographed spectra beyond the visible red, demonstrated the use of red-sensitized emulsions for aerial photography, made many atmospheric indices of refraction measurements, and performed many spectrochemical analyses. In 1920, Meggers became chief of the Spectroscopy Section of the National Bureau of Standards, a position which he held until his retirement in 1958.

Working on more than 70 spectra, Meggers was the first to unravel the complex atomic energy levels and electron configurations of the rare-earth elements. His early efforts to extend spectrographic records led, finally, to the opening up of a new octave in the near-infrared to spectroscopic study, adding data on 45 elements. By making thousands of measurements with Fabry-Perot étalons, he greatly improved the secondary standards of wavelength, measuring those from an iron arc relative to the primary standard (red radiation from cadmium). He later provided an improved primary standard derived from a mercury isotope source of his own design (widely known as the Meggers lamp), and superior secondary standards from wavelengths emitted by an electrodeless lamp containing thorium iodide (with R. W. Stanley).

Meggers demonstrated the usefulness of spectrochemistry for the analysis of metals and alloys, for testing proof gold, and in the detection of crime. His paper on "Practical Spectrographic Analysis" (1922; with C. C. Kiess and F. J. Stimson) is generally credited with reviving interest in chemical spectroscopy. His many years of service to Chemical Abstracts led to the publication, with B. F. Scribner, of An Index to the Literature on Spectro-Chemical Analysis, 1920-1939 (Philadelphia: American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), 1941; Part II, 1940-1945, ASTM, 1947; Part III, 1946-1950, ASTM, 1954; Part IV, 1951-1955, ASTM, 1959). With both Scribner and C. H. Corliss, he published extensive tables detailing spectral-line intensities of great value in spectrochemical analysis, of which he can be considered one of the "founding fathers."

Achievements

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  William Frederick Meggers is often referred to as the "dean of American spectroscopists," is most well-known for his extensive research in physical optics, spectrochemical analysis, and spectroscopic wavelength standards, and for his contributions to the related fields of atomic and nuclear physics, astrophysics, and technical/scientific photography. Meggers' scientific papers number over 200 and the honors which were bestowed upon him for his outstanding work are numerous. Among them are the Ives medal (1947) and the Mees medal (1964) of the Optical Society of America (OSA), a Gold Medal from the United States Department of Commerce (1949), medals from the University of Liege (1951) and the Society of Applied Spectroscopy (1952), and the Cresson medal of the Franklin Institute (1953). The crater Meggers on the Moon is named in his honor.
  
  In 1958, Meggers donated to the American Institute of Physics (AIP) his collection of photographs of 33 Nobel Laureates in spectroscopy and related fields. The Institute subsequently undertook the task of augmenting the collection to include photographs of all Nobel Prize-winning physicists, as well as chemists who had received the Prize for work related to physics. The "Gallery of Nobel Laureates", dedicated to the memory of William F. Meggers, is now displayed on the walls of the hallways outside the Niels Bohr Library. In addition, collections of stamps and coins valued at more than $50,000 were left by Meggers, shortly before his death on November 19, 1966, to the AIP in support of physics education through the Meggers Award.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Tables of spectral-line intensities 1961
  • Tables of spectral-line intensities: Volume 2 1961
  • Wave-length Measurements in Spectra From 5600A to 9600A 1917
  • The first spectrum of hafnium (Hf I) 1976
  • Investigations on the Platinum Metals, Vol. 7: Arc Spectra of the Platinum Metals (4500a to 9000a) 1925
  • Measuring the variation of ground resistivity with a megger 1928
  • Key to the Welch periodic chart of the atoms 1959

• Other Work

  • Tables of spectral-line intensities: Volume 4 1961

Views

A pioneer in spectrochemistry, Meggers fully realized the value of utilizing laboratory spectra for identification and quantitative analysis of commercial substances. To this end, he instituted an extensive program in which the spectra of seventy metallic elements were observed under standardized conditions, and the relative intensities of some 39,000 spectral lines were determined to provide requisite data for quantitative work.

Membership

Meggers served as vice-president in 1947-1949 and president 1949-1951 of the Optical Society of America and was a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). He was chairman of the Committee on Line Spectra of the National Research Council (NRC) in 1946-1960 and served as president of the International Joint Commission on Standard Wavelengths and Spectral Tables (also known as Commission 14) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1935, 1938, 1948, and 1952. Other scientific societies of which he was a member include the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Astronomical Society (AAS).

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  Vice-president, 1947-1949; President, 1949-1951

  Optical Society of America , United States

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  American Physical Society , United States

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  National Academy of Sciences , United States

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  American Association for the Advancement of Science , United States

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  American Astronomical Society , United States

Personality

Meggers and his wife Edith shared a love of travel and an interest in collecting and exhibiting various exotic and technological items for which they constructed "The Meggers Museum of Technology" located over their garage. He invested heavily in many collections, ranging from buttons to light bulbs to phonographs, with the belief that they had educational value. Together with their friends, they spent pleasant evenings in this museum enjoying travelogues illustrated by the splendid color slides he accumulated on his extensive travels or listening to favorite records played on the large “Regina” music box. Meggers was an excellent photographer and was a member of the Bureau orchestra in the early days.

Quotes from others about the person

• "Working with his colleagues, Carl C. Kiess and a handful of others, Meggers turned to ever more complex atoms and gave us, through his 178 published papers, one of the most extensive, significant, and reliable collections of data available to science." - Karl G. Kessler, the President of the Optical Society of America in 1969
  
  "More than any other man, Dr. Meggers came to be identified with the voluminous increase in our knowledge of atomic structure." - Karl G. Kessler, the President of the Optical Society of America in 1969

Interests

• music, violin, trombone, trumpet, collecting

• Philosophers & Thinkers

  Niels Bohr

• Sport & Clubs

  swimming

Connections

In 1920, Meggers married Edith Marie Raddant, from Shawano, Wisconsin, whom he met while she was working at NBS. They raised three children, a daughter, and two sons. Betty Jane attended college, earning a Doctor of Philosophy in anthropology and went on to work at the Smithsonian Institution. She married Clifford Evans, a fellow anthropologist, and together they worked and traveled extensively in the Amazon rainforest. Son William Jr. married and moved to California to work as an engineer in the aerospace industry; he collaborated with his father on some of the revisions to the Welch Periodic Chart of the Elements, and the Chart of Electromagnetic forces. Son John passed away shortly before his father in 1966.

Father:

John Meggers

Mother:

Bertha Bork

Wife:

Edith Marie Raddant

Daughter:

Betty Jane Meggers Evans

Son:

William Frederick Meggers, Jr.

Son:

John Charles Meggers

colleague:

Keivin Burns

colleague:

Carl Clarence Kiess

References

• Dictionary of Scientific Biography: Volumes 9 & 10
  1908