physics

Milton Kerker

Milton Kerker is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Milton Kerker rather than just read about it. In short: Milton Kerker (September 25, 1920 — May 2, 2016) was an American physical chemist and former professor at department of chemistry at Clarkson University. He is best known for his work on aerosol, interface and colloid science, as well as for pioneering surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

Key takeaways

Milton Kerker belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Milton Kerker to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Milton Kerker from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Milton Kerker (September 25, 1920 — May 2, 2016) was an American physical chemist and former professor at department of chemistry at Clarkson University. He is best known for his work on aerosol, interface and colloid science, as well as for pioneering surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Kerker effect in optics is named after him.

Biography Kerker was born on September 25, 1920, in Utica, New York. He received his A.B. in chemistry from Columbia University in 1941. From 1942 to 1945, he was a member of United States Army and received Bronze Star Medal for his service. He married his wife, Reva Stemerman, in 1946. Graduating from Columbia University with a PhD in chemistry in 1949, he joined Clarkson University as a professor in the same year. He acted as the chair of the department of chemistry from 1960 to 1964, as well as the dean of science from 1964 to 1966 and from 1981 to 1985. He retired from Clarkson University in 1991. Serving as the editor of Journal of Colloid and Interface Science from 1965 to 1992, he was also granted fellowships by Optical Society, American Chemical Society and Ford Foundation. Kerker died on May 2, 2016, in Thousand Oaks, California, U.S., and was survived by his wife and four children. He was a contributor to Midstream magazine and Jewish Theological Seminary of America, as well as Isis journal. Kerker's work encompassed aerosol and colloid science, as well as their relation to light scattering by small particles. He is known for authoring the 1969 textbook on the subject, The Scattering of Light and Other Electromagnetic Radiation. Regarded as a pioneer of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), he has worked on the mathematical models in the field. In 1986, Kerker also coauthored the article on light scattering by hypothetical magnetic spheres, which hypothesized a distinct absence of backscattering for small particles with equal relative permittivities and permeabilities. While being largely unnoticed at the time of its publication, the work has since attracted attention with the advent of metamaterials and nanophotonics; the associated phenomenon, named as Kerker effect, was later verified experimentally.

Selected publications Books Kerker, Milton (1969). The Scattering of Light and Other Electromagnetic Radiation. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-12-404550-7. Journal articles Aden, Arthur L.; Kerker, Milton (1951). "Scattering of electromagnetic waves from two concentric spheres". Journal of Applied Physics. 22 (10): 1242–1246. Bibcode:1951JAP....22.1242A. doi:10.1063/1.1699834. Kerker, Milton (1975). "Invisible bodies". Journal of the Optical Society of America. 65 (4): 376–379. doi:10.1364/JOSA.65.000376. Chew, H.; McNulty, P. J.; Kerker, M. (1976). "Model for Raman and fluorescent scattering by molecules embedded in small particles". Physical Review A. 13 (1): 396. Bibcode:1976PhRvA..13..396C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.13.396. Kerker, M.; Wang, D.-S.; Chew, H. (1980). "Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) by molecules adsorbed at spherical particles". Applied Optics. 19 (19): 3373–3388. Bibcode:1980ApOpt..19.3373K. doi:10.1364/AO.19.003373. PMID 20234623. Wang, D.-S.; Kerker, M. (1981). "Enhanced Raman scattering by molecules adsorbed at the surface of colloidal spheroids". Physical Review B. 24 (4): 1777. Bibcode:1981PhRvB..24.1777W. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.24.1777. Kerker, M.; Wang, D.-S.; Giles, C. L. (1983). "Electromagnetic scattering by magnetic spheres". Journal of the Optical Society of America. 73 (6): 765–767. Bibcode:1983JOSA...73..765K. doi:10.1364/JOSA.73.000765.

See also List of textbooks in electromagnetism

References

External links The Scattering of Light and Other Electromagnetic Radiation

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Milton Kerker

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Milton Kerker claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Milton Kerker before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Milton Kerker ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Milton Kerker

In research: Milton Kerker appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Milton Kerker in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Milton Kerker is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1920 births, 2016 deaths, 20th-century American Jews, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Milton Kerker outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Milton Kerker in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Milton Kerker means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Milton Kerker out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Milton Kerker in simple terms?

Why does Milton Kerker matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Milton Kerker?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Milton Kerker.