David Turnbull

Who was David Turnbull?

David Turnbull was an American physical chemist who worked in the interdisciplinary fields of materials science and applied physics. Turnbull made seminal contribution to solidification theory and glass formation. Turnbull was born in Elmira, Elmira Township, Stark County, Illinois. He graduated from high school in 1932 and then attended Monmouth College, specializing in physical chemistry. He received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry under T. E. Phipps from the University of Illinois in 1939. He was on the faculty of Case Institute of Technology from 1939 to 1946.

In 1946, he joined the General Electric research laboratory, performing research into nucleation of structural transformations occurring during the solidification of liquid metals, demonstrating that such complex processes could be quantitatively understood. Using a low-melting-point metal, mercury, Turnbull determined that the small supercoolings usually seen were the result of heterogeneous catalysts in the melt. When liquid mercury is dispersed as small droplets, large supercoolings could be achieved. The previously empirical study of metal solidification was provided a consistent scientific foundation.