1900-1976

American physicist who pioneered the development and application of quantum mechanics to atoms, molecules, and the solid state. Slater, Niels Bohr, and Hendrik Kramers collaborated on the idea that light consists of probability waves (1924). This became a central tenet of quantum mechanics. Slater determinants are well known, as is the Slater orbital—an extremely useful atomic orbit approximation. Slater was an outstanding teacher and administrator while at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and published many influential physics textbooks.