Egon Orowan

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

August 2, 1902 – August 3, 1989

Physicist and Metallurgist

Awarded Bingham Medal 1959

Dr. Egon Orowan was a Hungarian born physicist, as well as metallurgist. He was influenced heavily by his father who was a mechanical engineer which got him interested in science and he was encouraged to pursue a career in engineering from a young age. He obtained a diploma in 1929 from the Technical University of Berlin and received his PhD in mechanical engineering from the same school in 1932, where he studied crystal plasticity and the cleavage of mica (which was the focus of his doctoral thesis) under his advisor, Richard Becker.

Orowan’s first published paper was not about his thesis work but focused on the crystal plasticity work carried out with Becker. However, Orowan’s second published paper [2] and his first published as a sole author was a response to F. Zwicky’s paper [1] on the Structure of Real Crystals. In the paper, he writes about how Zwicky and his conclusions are wrong. This turned into multiple subsequent papers being published between the two arguing why the other was wrong. This was a very bold path for Orowan to follow as a young scientist so early in his career.

Orowan continued his work on crystal plasticity throughout his moves to different institutions. He worked for two years as a Research Associate at the University of Birmingham from 1937-1939, eight years in the Cavendish Lab at the University of Cambridge from 1939-1947 (where he also received his MA in 1948), and eventually ended up at MIT where he worked from 1950-1968. He is known primarily for being one of the three key scientists (the others being Sir Geoffrey I. Taylor and Michael Polanyi), responsible for the introduction of theories of crystal deformation and dislocation dynamics. Other focuses of his research activities included industrial topics like munitions production, as well as fundamental studies of brittle & ductile fracture, and fatigue. Many of these latter studies were also applied to geological problems.

[1] Zwicky, F. Phys. Rev. 1932, 40, 63. Go to link.

[2] Orowan, E. Bemerkung zu den Arbeiten von F Zwicky über die Struktur der Realkristalle. Zeits. f. Physik 79, 573-582.

Sources

Nabarro, F.R.N.; Argon, A.S. Egon Orowan 1901-1989. Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences; National Academies Press: Washington, D.C., 1996; pp 261-319. Go to link.

Soderberg, C. Richard. Presentation of the Bingham Medal to Egon Orowan. Transactions of The Society of Rheology 1960, 4(1), 3-5. Go to link.

Photo Credit

AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives.