Charles Kittel

Charles Kittel (July 18, 1916 – May 15, 2019) was an American physicist. He was a Professor at University of California, Berkeley from 1951 and was Professor Emeritus from 1978 until his death.

Life and work
Charles Kittel was born in New York City in 1916. He studied at the University of Cambridge, England, where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1938. He published his thesis, under Gregory Breit, in 1941 at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) between 1945 and 1947. During World War II, he joined the Submarine Operations Research Group (SORG). He served in the United States Navy as a naval attache. From 1947 to 1951, he worked for Bell Laboratories, New Jersey, USA, especially on ferromagnetism.

From 1951 to 1978, he worked at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught and did research in the field of theoretical solid-state physics, a part of condensed-matter physics. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1945, 1956 and 1963. Many well-known postdoctoral fellows worked with him, including James C. Phillips and Pierre-Gilles de Gennes.

Among other achievements, Kittel is credited with the theoretical discovery of the RKKY interaction (the first K standing for Kittel) and the Kittel magnon mode in ferromagnets.

Physics students worldwide study his classic text Introduction to Solid State Physics, now in its 8th edition. He was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, elected in 1957.

Kittel died on May 15, 2019 at the age of 102.

Awards

 * Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize, 1957
 * Berkeley Distinguished Teacher Award, 1970
 * Oersted Medal, American Association of Physics Teachers, 1979

Works

 * Introduction to Solid State Physics, 1st ed. 1953 - 8th ed. 2005, ISBN 0-471-41526-X
 * Quantum Theory of Solids, 1963, ISBN 0-471-49025-3 and (with C. Y. Fong) 1987, ISBN 0-471-62412-8
 * Thermal Physics, 2nd ed. 1980, ISBN 0-7167-1088-9, and (with H. Kroemer) 1980.
 * Berkeley Physics Course. Mechanics. Vol. 1, with Walter Knight and Malvin A. Ruderman
 * Elementary Statistical Physics, 1958.