William francis giauque biography of christopher cross

He was recognized in , for his studies in the properties of matter , at temperatures close to absolute zero. He spent virtually all of his educational and professional career at the University of California, Berkeley. His father William Tecumseh Giauque was an American citizen, and so William Francis Giauque was conferred American citizenship, despite being born in Canada, [ 2 ] allowing him to attend public grammar schools in Michigan.

William Francis Giauque was a Canadian-born American chemist and Nobel laureate.

After completing a two-year business course at the Niagara Falls Collegiate Institute, he searched for work in the field of electrical engineering, and eventually found employment at the Hooker Electrochemical Company in Niagara Falls, New York. He decided to become a chemical engineer through his experience there. After two years of employment, he entered the College of Chemistry of the University of California, Berkeley , where he received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Goewey Fellow — He received the Ph.

Although he began university study with an interest in becoming an engineer, he soon developed an interest in research under the influence of Professor Gilbert N. Due to his outstanding performance as a student, he became an instructor of chemistry at Berkeley in and after passing through various grades of professorship, he became a full professor of chemistry in He retired in He became interested in the third law of thermodynamics as a field of research during his experimental research for his Ph.

The principal objective of his researches was to demonstrate through range of appropriate tests that the third law of thermodynamics is a basic natural law. His work with D. MacDougall between and successfully employed them. He developed a magnetic refrigeration device of his own design in order to achieve this outcome, getting closer to absolute zero than many scientists had thought possible.

This trailblazing work, apart from proving one of the fundamental laws of nature led to stronger steel, better gasoline and more efficient processes in a range of industries.