Abstract.
In late 1922 Arthur Holly Compton (1892–1962) discovered that an X-ray quantum of radiation undergoes a discrete change in wavelength when it experiences a billiard-ball collision with a single atomic electron, a phenomenon that became known as the Compton effect and for which he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for 1927. But for more than five years before he made his discovery, Compton had analyzed X-ray scattering in terms of classical electrodynamics. I suggest that his colleague at Washington University in St. Louis, G. E. M. Jauncey (1888–1947), helped materially to persuade him to embrace the quantum interpretation of his X-ray scattering experiments.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
RID="*"
ID="*"John Jenkin is formally retired, having spent most of his academic career at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, first in physics and then in the history of science. His Ph.D. degree was in nuclear physics, his later research in the electronic structure of materials, and more recently in the history of Australian physical science.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jenkin, J. G. E. M. Jauncey and the Compton Effect. Phys. perspect. 4, 320–332 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-002-8371-7
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00016-002-8371-7
- Key words. William Henry Bragg, (William) Lawrence Bragg, Arthur Holly Compton, G. E. M. Jauncey, Compton effect, classical electrodynamics, quantum theory, γ rays, X rays, history of physics, Washington University.