Gilbert Newton Lewis was born October 23, 1875, in Weymouth Landing, Massachusetts. He was home schooled until the age of nine. The family moved to Nebraska in 1884 where Lewis attended public school in Lincoln. He entered the University of Nebraska at age 15. In 1894, he transferred from the University of Nebraska to Harvard University, which coincided with his father beginning a job at Merchants Trust Company in Boston. Some people believe the family relocation was precipitated by Lewis's disenchantment with the University of Nebraska.
At Harvard, Lewis earned a BS in chemistry in 1896. After graduation, he taught for one year at Phillips Andover Academy. He re-entered Harvard to begin work on a PhD in chemistry. Lewis studied under T W Richards who stressed experimental techniques and careful measurement. Lewis received his PhD in 1899, at age 24.
From 1900 to 1901, Lewis lived in Germany, working for Wilhelm Ostwald in Leipzig and Walter Nernst in Gottingen. Doing postgraduate work in Germany was common at that time.
When he returned to the United States, Lewis gained an appointment at Harvard, where he was an instructor. During 1904, he worked in the Philippines as the Superintendent of the Bureau of Weights. In 1905, Lewis was appointed Professor of Physics and Chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology under A A Noyes, working in thermodynamics. Lewis handled some supervisory work in the laboratory. His administrative skills were noticed, and in 1912, he was offered the post of Chairman of the Department of Chemistry and later Dean of the Department of Chemistry at the University of California in Berkeley. This is also the year he married Mary Sheldon, the daughter of a Harvard professor.
Berkeley was not known for chemistry, and California was a long way from the next closest chemistry department. Lewis used this opportunity to recreate the department into his vision of how things should be. He instituted changes in the teaching methodology, attracted the brightest chemistry students, and became a leader in the movement that raised the status and influence of chemists in the United States. He stressed studying fundamentals over finding practical applications. He believed the college should teach and do research. He spent his time with the best students. Students had a great deal of freedom to think and pursue research. Open discussions and sharing information and resources were encouraged. Lewis's body of work included major contributions to:
- thermodynamics (confirmed the Third Law)
- bonding theory (shared electron pairs)
- the role of isotopes (predicted the natural occurrence of heavy water)
- the interaction of light with matter (coined the word, photon)
Lewis is well known to today's chemistry students through the Lewis
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