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This discovery of electron spin proved to be a landmark in understanding the nature of atoms. The late I. I. Rabi, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, said it ''will always be a mystery to me'' why the two men never won a Nobel Prize.
Although he became an American citizen, like Dr. [Samuel A. Goudsmit], he returned to the Netherlands in the post-war period for appointments in the Universities of Leiden and Amsterdam. In 1959 Dr. Uhlenbeck, who retained a strong Dutch accent, served as president of the American Physical Society and a year later he joined Rockefeller University as professor. He retired in 1974. 'A Superb Teacher'
''He was a superb teacher,'' said Dr. Abraham Pais at Rockefeller University. ''I never heard a man who could lecture with such clarity.''
LEAD: George E. Uhlenbeck, co-discoverer of the electron's spin and a former president of the American Physical Society, died in his sleep Monday at his home in Boulder, Colo. He was 87 years old.
George E. Uhlenbeck, co-discoverer of the electron's spin and a former president of the American Physical Society, died in his sleep Monday at his home in Boulder, Colo. He was 87 years old.
His death was announced by the Rockefeller University, where he taught for many years. The cause of death was not given, although he earlier suffered a stroke and was in failing health.
Dr. Uhlenbeck was an expert on the theory of atomic structure and quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, the kinetic theory of matter and nuclear physics.
He and Samuel A. Goudsmit, while graduate students in in the Netherlands and both still in their 20's, guessed the explanation of what seemed a small anomaly in the spectrum produced by heating hydrogen. They theorized that it could be explained if the electron in a hydrogen atom was spinning. They confirmed their theory, which is now universally accepted. Nobel Proved Elusive
This discovery of electron spin proved to be a landmark in understanding the nature of atoms. The late I. I. Rabi, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, said it ''will always be a mystery to me'' why the two men never won a Nobel Prize.
Both were born Dutch citizens: George Eugene Uhlenbeck in Jakarta (then Batavia, in the Dutch East Indies), and Dr. Goudsmit at the Hague in the Netherlands. It was while seeking doctorates at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands that they discovered the electron spin.
Both then went to the University of Michigan in 1927 as instructors in physics. In 1935 Dr. Uhlenbeck, a tall, slender and courtly man, returned to the Netherlands, as a professor at the State University in Utrecht.
In 1939 he returned to the University of Michigan as professor of theoretical physics, and from 1943 to 1945 he worked at the Radiation Laboratory that was developing radar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Although he became an American citizen, like Dr. Goudsmit, he returned to the Netherlands in the post-war period for appointments in the Universities of Leiden and Amsterdam. In 1959 Dr. Uhlenbeck, who retained a strong Dutch accent, served as president of the American Physical Society and a year later he joined Rockefeller University as professor. He retired in 1974. 'A Superb Teacher'
''He was a superb teacher,'' said Dr. Abraham Pais at Rockefeller University. ''I never heard a man who could lecture with such clarity.''
Among Dr. Uhlenbeck's many honors were the National Medal of Science in 1977 and the Wolf Prize, of which he was co-recipient in 1979. In 1977, he was made Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau, the highest nonmilitary honor given by the Netherlands to noncitizens.
Dr. Uhlenbeck is survived by his wife, Else; a son, Olke, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and two brothers, both in the Netherlands: Eugenius Marius, a retired professor of linguistics, and Willem Jan, a retired businessman.
Copyright New York Times Company Nov 2, 1988