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Plasma Physicists

History

The British chemist William Crookes was the first person to identify ionized gases in a laboratory. In 1879, he gave a lecture on what he called “radiant matter” to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The American chemist, physicist, and engineer Irving Langmuir and his colleagues conducted extensive research on ionized gases in the 1920s. He was the first person to use the term “plasma” when describing ionized gases in 1927, although its usage did not immediately become popular with scientists. In the following decades, research into radio waves and the discovery of the ionosphere (the natural “plasma roof” above the atmosphere); the study of the universe, especially the sun; and the development of the atomic bomb fueled extensive research in plasma physics. In 1959, the American Physical Society established its Division of Plasma Physics in order to educate the world about plasmas and their uses. It has 2,500 members. Today, plasma physicists play a major role in conducting research on natural plasmas and discovering new uses for artificial plasmas.