Fritz Wolfgang London (March 7, 1900–March 30, 1954) was a German-born American theoretical physicist. His fundamental contributions to the theories of chemical bonding and of intermolecular forces (London dispersion forces) are today considered classic and are discussed in standard textbooks of physical chemistry.
With his brother Heinz, he made a significant contribution to understanding electromagnetic properties of superconductors (see London...
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Fritz Wolfgang London (March 7, 1900–March 30, 1954) was a German-born American theoretical physicist. His fundamental contributions to the theories of chemical bonding and of intermolecular forces (London dispersion forces) are today considered classic and are discussed in standard textbooks of physical chemistry.
With his brother Heinz, he made a significant contribution to understanding electromagnetic properties of superconductors (see London equations).
London was born in Breslau, Silesia, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland) in 1900. After Hitler's Nazi Party passed the 1933 racial laws, London lost his position at the University of Berlin. He took visiting positions in England and France, and eventually emigrated to the United States in 1939. In 1945, he became a naturalized citizen. London was in his later life a professor at Duke University. He was awarded the Lorentz Medal in 1953. He died in Durham, North Carolina in 1954.
London's early work with Walter Heitler on chemical...
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