Milton S. Plesset

{{Short description|American physicist (1908–1991)}}

{{Infobox scientist

|name = Milton Spinoza Plesset

|image = Plesset,Milton 1963 Kopenhagen.jpg

|caption = Copenhagen 1963

|birth_date = {{birth date|1908|2|7}}

|birth_place = Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

|death_date = {{death date and age|1991|2|19|1908|2|7}}

|death_place =

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|citizenship = United States

|ethnicity =

|field = Fluid dynamics

|work_institutions = University of Rochester
California Institute of Technology

|alma_mater = University of Pittsburgh
Yale University

|doctoral_advisor = John Archibald Wheeler

|doctoral_students = Andrea Prosperetti
Norman Zabusky

|known_for = Rayleigh–Plesset equation
Møller–Plesset perturbation theory

|awards = ASME Fluids Engineering Award[http://www.asme.org/Governance/Honors/SocietyAwards/Fluids_Award.cfm Fluids Engineering Award] by American Society of Mechanical Engineers

|influences =

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}}

Milton Spinoza Plesset (7 February 1908 – 19 February 1991) was an American applied physicist who worked in the field of fluid mechanics and nuclear energy. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1979 for his fundamental contributions to multiphase flows, bubble dynamics, and safety of nuclear reactors.{{cite book |title=Memorial Tributes By National Academy of Engineering|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WD4rAAAAYAAJ&q=Milton+S.+Plesset&pg=PA173|publisher=National Academy of Engineering |date= 2008-12-31|isbn = 9780309028899}}[http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2231&page=173 Dr. Milton S. Plesset] at National Academy of Engineering Plesset served as professor of engineering science at California Institute of Technology during 1951 to 1978. Notable scientists Andrea Prosperetti, Norman Zabusky, and Chris Whipple finished their doctoral work under Plesset's guidance. Milton Plesset, Andrea Prosperetti, and Chris Whipple were elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

He with Christian Møller are known for the Møller–Plesset perturbation theory.{{cite journal

| author = Møller C., Plesset M. S.

| year = 1934

| title = Note on an Approximation Treatment for Many-Electron Systems

| journal = Physical Review

| volume = 46 | issue = 7 | pages = 618–622

| doi = 10.1103/PhysRev.46.618

|bibcode = 1934PhRv...46..618M | url = https://authors.library.caltech.edu/1753/1/MOLpr34.pdf

}}

The Rayleigh–Plesset equation describing the dynamics of a bubble in an infinite body of fluid is also named after him.