Lars
Onsager,
the son of a barrister, was born in Oslo, Norway,
on 27th November, 1903. He graduated from Norwegian Institute of Technology
(1926-28) before studying with Peter Debye at Zurich University. Over
the next few years Onsager developed his theory of electrolytes.
In 1928 Onsager moved to the United States where he studied at John
Hopkins University and Brown University. His thesis on reversible
processes was considered incomprehensible by the chemistry, physics
and mathematics departments at Brown University before Onsager finally
got his PhD.
In 1933 Onsager moved to Harvard University
but his lectures were unpopular with students who named his courses
as "Stadistical Mechanics" and "Advanced Norwegian".
His research was much more successful and he eventually found a firm
statistical basis for the theory of liquid crystals. Onsager, who
became a naturalized American citizen in 1945, won the Nobel Prize
for Chemistry in 1968. Lars Onsager died in 1976.
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