N. Howell Furman

Nathaniel Howell Furman (1892–1965) was an American professor of analytical chemistry who helped develop the electrochemical uranium separation process as a member of the Manhattan Project.[1]

Background and career

Furman was born in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey in 1892. He attended Lawrenceville School,[1] where he was a model student,[2] graduating with a Master's Prize from his high school in 1909. He enrolled in Princeton University, where he received Phi Beta Kappa honors and graduated in 1913. He received an M.S. in 1915 and a Ph.D. from Princeton in 1917. Furman served in World War I in the Army Chemical Warfare Service. He returned to Princeton in 1919 to become an assistant professor, gaining promotion and tenure in 1937,[3] and finished his career in 1960 as the Russell Wellman Moore professor of chemistry.[1]

Manhattan Project

Furman helped develop an ether extraction process to extract Uranium oxide, a precursor to the fissile material used in the first atom bombs as discussed in the Smyth report.[4] He served as a special consultant to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and was an advisor to the post-War Office of Scientific Research and Development.[5] An August 8, 1945, special to the Princeton Bulletin revealed that multiple Princeton faculty, among them Albert Einstein, John Archibald Wheeler, Henry DeWolf Smyth, Hugh Stott Taylor, and Furman, had all "disappeared to Shangri-La" to work secretly on the bomb during wartime.[6]

Books published

In 1933 Furman co-wrote Elementary Quantitative Analysis, one of the first textbooks in the field of analytical chemistry for undergraduates.[7]

He co-wrote Analytical Chemistry of the Manhattan Project in 1950.[8]

Personal life

A resident of Princeton, New Jersey,[1] Furman owned a summer cottage in Charlotte, Vermont, on Lake Champlain and enjoyed sailboat racing and golf in his spare time. He had a son and a daughter—who became a chemist—with Hannah S. Hendrickson.[4]

Honors

References
  1. "Dr. N. Howell Furman, 73, Dies; Chemist Worked on Atom Bomb; Responsible for Analytical Separation of Uranium - At Princeton 41 Years". The New York Times. August 3, 1965. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  2. "High Honors for N. Howell Furman". Trenton Evening Times. April 19, 1909.
  3. "Professor Chinard Named to French Professorship". The Daily Princetonian. April 12, 1937.
  4. "Nathaniel Howell Furman". Chemical & Engineering News. 26 (34): 2492. August 23, 1948. doi:10.1021/cen-v026n034.p2492. ISSN 0009-2347.
  5. "New Chemistry Prize Awarded to Furman". The Daily Princetonian. April 23, 1948.
  6. "Drs Taylor, Furman in Chemistry; Smyth in Physics, Led Projects". The Princeton Bulletin. August 8, 1945.
  7. Smith, G. Frederick (September 1, 1933). "Elementary Quantitative Analysis (Willard, Hobart H.; Furman, N. Howell)". Journal of Chemical Education. 10 (9): 581. Bibcode:1933JChEd..10..581S. doi:10.1021/ed010p581.1. ISSN 0021-9584.
  8. "Analytical chemistry of the Manhattan Project /". lib.ugent.be. 1950. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  9. Kolthoff, I. M. (June 1967). "N. Howell Furman: A biographical note". Journal of Chemical Education. 44 (6): 328. Bibcode:1967JChEd..44..328K. doi:10.1021/ed044p328. ISSN 0021-9584.
  10. "Professor Furman '13 Chosen Leader of Chemical Society". The Daily Princetonian. December 7, 1949.
  11. Kolthoff, I. M. (June 1, 1967). "N. Howell Furman: A biographical note". Journal of Chemical Education. 44 (6): 328. Bibcode:1967JChEd..44..328K. doi:10.1021/ed044p328. ISSN 0021-9584.
  12. "Nathaniel Howell Furman". Chemical & Engineering News Archive. 26 (34): 2492. August 23, 1948. doi:10.1021/cen-v026n034.p2492. ISSN 0009-2347.
  13. "Charlotte Elizabeth Procter Fellowship | Graduate School". gradschool.princeton.edu. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
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