David J. Griffiths
{{about-distinguish-text|David Jeffrey Griffiths of Reed College|the late physicist David John Griffiths of Oregon State University}}{{Other people|David Griffiths}}
{{short description|American physicist and textbook author}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = David J. Griffiths
| image = David Griffiths giving autograph.jpg
| caption = Griffiths in 2014
| birth_name = David Jeffrey Griffiths
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1942|12|05}}
| birth_place = Arlington, Virginia, United States
| death_place =
| residence =
| nationality = American
| ethnicity =
| field = Particle physics
Electromagnetism
| work_institution = Reed College
| alma_mater = Harvard University
| doctoral_advisor = Sidney Coleman
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Undergraduate textbooks
| awards =
| signature = Griffiths-signature-vectorized.svg
| signature_alt =
| footnotes =
| thesis_title = Covariant Approach to Massless Field Theory in the Radiation Gauge (1970)
}}
David Jeffrey Griffiths (born December 5, 1942) is an American physicist and educator. He was on the faculty of Reed College from 1978 through 2009, becoming the Howard Vollum Professor of Science before his retirement. He wrote three highly regarded textbooks for undergraduate physics students.
Early life and education
Griffiths was born in Arlington, Virginia, the son of Winifred Mary (née Jeffrey) and Gordon Griffiths.{{Cite web |date=1937 |title=Virginia, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1901-1938 |url=https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/61212/images/47296_302022005448_1772-00521?pId=2618531 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=www.ancestry.com}}{{Cite news |title=Mary Griffiths Scientist, Teacher, Activist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-olympian-mary-griffithsscientist-t/124769875/ |access-date=2023-05-15 |newspaper=The Olympian|date=February 4, 2007 |page=18 }} Both his parents were faculty members at the University of Washington, his father in the history department{{Cite web |title=Gordon Griffiths papers - Archives West |url=https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv51150 |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=archiveswest.orbiscascade.org}} and his mother in the zoology department.
Griffiths is a graduate of The Putney School and was trained at Harvard University (B.A., 1964; M.A., 1966; Ph.D., 1970). His doctoral work, Covariant Approach to Massless Field Theory in the Radiation Gauge on theoretical particle physics,{{Cite thesis |title=Covariant Approach to Massless Field Theory in the Radiation Gauge. |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1970PhDT.........6G |date=1970-01-01 |first=David Jeffrey |last=Griffiths |bibcode=1970PhDT.........6G |degree=PhD |publisher=Harvard University}} was supervised by Sidney Coleman.
Career
Griffiths is principally known as the author of three highly regarded textbooks for undergraduate physics students: Introduction to Elementary Particles (published in 1987, second edition published 2008), Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (published in 1995, third edition published 2018), and Introduction to Electrodynamics (published in 1981, fifth edition published in 2024).
Awards and honors
Griffiths was the recipient of the 1997 Robert A. Millikan Award reserved for "those who have made outstanding scholarly contributions to physics education".{{cite journal |last=Griffiths |first=David |date=December 1997 |title=Millikan Lecture 1997: Is there a text in this class? |journal=American Journal of Physics |volume=65 |issue=12 |pages=1141–1143 |bibcode=1997AmJPh..65.1141G |doi=10.1119/1.18777 |doi-access=free }}[http://www.aapt.org/Programs/awards/millikan.cfm List of Robert A. Millikan Award Winners at the American Association of Physics Teachers website]
In 2009 Griffiths was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society, cited "For advancing the upper level physics curriculum through the writing of leading textbooks and through his contributions to the American Journal of Physics in many editorial roles and as an author."{{Cite web |title=APS Fellow Archive |url=http://aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=aps.org |language=en}}
Books
- {{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=David J. |author-link=David J. Griffiths |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/9781009397735 |title=Introduction to Electrodynamics |date=2023 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781009397735 |isbn=978-1-009-39775-9 |edition=5th}}
- {{cite book |last1=Griffiths |first1=David J. |author-link1=David J. Griffiths |last2=Schroeter |first2=Darrell F. |year=2018 |title=Introduction to Quantum Mechanics |edition=Third |title-link=Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (book) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-18963-8 |ref=none}}
- {{cite book |last=Griffiths |first=David J. |author-link=David J. Griffiths |year=2012 |title=Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Physics |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-60217-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tv8cz-kN2z0C |ref=none}}{{cite journal |last=Abernathy |first=William |date=September 2013 |title=Review of Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Physics by David Griffiths |journal=Reed Magazine |volume=92 |issue=3 |url=http://www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/september2013/articles/reediana/griffiths.html }}
The most recent edition of each book is generally regarded as a standard undergraduate text.{{cite news |date=Spring 2003 |title=Notes from the Outside Special: Meet David J. Griffiths |volume=13 |pages=4–5 |newspaper=The Dilated Times: The newsletter of the Drew University Society of Physics Students |issue=2 |url=http://www.drew.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/102/dilate13-2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202161231/http://www.drew.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/102/dilate13-2.pdf |archive-date=Dec 2, 2020}}
See also
{{Portal|Biography|Physics}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://academic.reed.edu/physics/faculty/griffiths.html Griffiths's web page]
- [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/46950 AIP Oral History Interview]
- [http://online.itp.ucsb.edu/online/utheory03/griffiths/ Lecture: The charge distribution on a conductor]
- [http://web.reed.edu/reed_magazine/nov1997/clear/index.html "... could teach physics to gerbils."]
- {{MathGenealogy|id=157868|name=David Griffiths}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY076-fEZ-s David Griffiths Lecture, Techfest 2012, IIT Bombay - YouTube]
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Category:21st-century American physicists
Category:American people of Welsh descent
Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:American particle physicists