Clarence Melvin Zener (December 1, 1905 – July 2, 1993) was the American physicist who in 1934[1] was the first to describe the property concerning the breakdown of electrical insulators.
[2] Zener was a theoretical physicist with a background in mathematics who conducted research in a wide range of subjects including: superconductivity, metallurgy, ferromagnetism, elasticity, fracture mechanics, diffusion, and geometric programming.
In 1957 he received the Bingham Medal for his work in rheology, in 1959 the John Price Wetherill Medal from The Franklin Institute, in 1965 the Albert Souveur Achievement Award, in 1974 the Gold Medal[3] from American Society for Metals, in 1982 the Von Hippel Award[4] from the Materials Research Society, and in 1985 received the ICIFUAS (International Conference on Internal Friction and Ultrasonic Attenuation in Solids) Prize for the discovery of the Zener effect, pioneering studies of anelasticity in metals[5] and prediction and observation of thermoelastic damping.
[8] Here he developed his system of Geometric programming, which he used to solve engineering problems using adjustable parameters, defined by mathematical functions.
In recognition of this, he once commented, after having dined with physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer: "when it came to fundamental physics, it was clear there was no point in competing with a person like that.