# Irving Langmuir

American chemist and physicist
Irving Langmuir

Irving Langmuir (31 January 188116 August 1957) was an American chemist and physicist. His most noted publication was the famous 1919 article "The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules" in which, building on Gilbert N. Lewis's cubical atom theory and Walther Kossel's chemical bonding theory, he outlined his "concentric theory of atomic structure".

## QuotesEdit

• In general, the rate of evaporation (m) of a substance in a high vacuum is related to the pressure (p) of the saturated vapor by the equation ${\displaystyle m={\sqrt {\frac {M}{2\pi RT}}}p.}$  Red phosphorus and some other substances probably form exceptions to this rule.
• Irving Langmuir, "The Constitution and Fundamental Properties of Solids and Liquids. Part I. Solids.", Journal of the American Chemical Society, September 5, 1916
• To me, [it's] extremely interesting that men, perfectly honest, enthusiastic over their work, can so completely fool themselves.
• 1953 talk, transcribed in: Irving Langmuir (October 1989). "Pathological Science". Physics Today (42): 36-48.