Editing Irving Langmuir (section)

===Later years===
Following [[World War I]] Langmuir contributed to atomic theory and the understanding of atomic structure by defining the modern concept of [[valence shell]]s and [[isotope]]s.

Langmuir was president of the [[Institute of Radio Engineers]] in 1923.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Irving_Langmuir |title=Irving Langmuir |work=IEEE Global History Network |publisher=IEEE |access-date=August 9, 2011}}</ref>

Based on his work at General Electric, [[John Bradshaw Taylor|John B. Taylor]] developed a detector ionizing beams of alkali metals,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Taylor|first=John|title=The Reflection of Beams of the Alkali Metals from Crystals|journal=Physical Review|year=1930|volume=35|issue=4|pages=375–380|doi=10.1103/PhysRev.35.375|bibcode = 1930PhRv...35..375T }}</ref> called nowadays the [[Langmuir-Taylor detector]]. In 1927, he was one of the participants of the fifth [[Solvay Conference]] on Physics that took place at the International Solvay Institute for Physics in Belgium.

He joined [[Katharine B. Blodgett]] to study thin films and surface adsorption. They introduced the concept of a [[monolayer]] (a layer of material one molecule thick) and the two-dimensional physics which describe such a surface. In 1932 he received the [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] "for his discoveries and investigations in [[surface chemistry]]."
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Langmuirtime.jpeg|thumb|''[[Time Magazine]]'', 28 August 1950]] -->
In 1938, Langmuir's scientific interests began to turn to [[atmospheric science]] and [[meteorology]]. One of his first ventures, although tangentially related, was a refutation of the claim of entomologist [[Charles Henry Tyler Townsend|Charles H. T. Townsend]] that the [[deer botfly]] flew at speeds of over 800 miles per hour. Langmuir estimated the fly's speed at 25 miles per hour.

After observing [[windrow]]s of drifting seaweed in the [[Sargasso Sea]] he discovered a wind-driven surface circulation in the sea. It is now called the [[Langmuir circulation]].

[[Image:Irving Langmuir House 2008.jpg|thumb|right|Langmuir's house in Schenectady]]

During [[World War II]], Langmuir and Research Associate [[Vincent Schaefer|Vincent J Schaefer]] worked on improving naval [[sonar]] for submarine detection, and later to develop protective smoke screens and methods for [[deicing]] aircraft wings. This research led him to theorize and then demonstrate in the laboratory and in the atmosphere, that the introduction of ice nuclei [[dry ice]] and [[silver iodide]] into a sufficiently moist cloud of low temperature ([[supercooled water]]) could induce precipitation ([[cloud seeding]]); though in frequent practice, particularly in Australia and the People's Republic of China, the efficiency of this technique remains controversial today.

In 1953 Langmuir coined the term "[[pathological science]]", describing research conducted with accordance to the [[scientific method]], but tainted by unconscious bias or subjective effects. This is in contrast to [[pseudoscience]], which has no pretense of following the scientific method. In his original speech, he presented [[Extra-sensory perception|ESP]] and [[flying saucers]] as examples of pathological science; since then, the label has been applied to [[polywater]] and [[cold fusion]].

[[Irving Langmuir House|His house]] in Schenectady, was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1976.