By S. Wade Hansen
Tracy Hall was sitting in an isolated, General Electric Laboratory in Schenectady, N.Y., on Dec. 16, 1954, when he made the discovery that revolutionized the diamond world, he said.
He had created the first man-made diamond.
'We weren''t making cubic zirconium,' he said. 'We were making diamonds.'
Hall''s description of the events of that historic day is engraved on a statue depicting the discovery.
'My hands began to tremble. My heart beat rapidly. My knees weakened and no longer gave support. My eyes hit a clap of flashing light from dozens of tiny, triangular faces, and I knew that diamonds had finally been made by man,' he said.
The successful experiment led to exciting times for the Hall family.
'Scientists from around the world came to our home, and some would pull me aside and say, ''Do you know your dad''s a genius?''' said Sherlene Bartholomew, one of Hall''s daughters.
The excitement died, however, when General Electric took the credit for the discovery and spread it around throughout the department instead of recognizing Hall as the creator, Hall said.
Hall said he did not approve of the way his employers handled the situation, and he decided to leave the company.
'I think he dreamed of doing something significant, and it really broke his heart the way the whole thing turned out,' Bartholomew said.
Hall did not go without work for long, however.
The administration at BYU was so impressed with Hall they offered him a position as a chemistry professor and gave him the choice of being either the dean of the school or the director of the research department.
'I came to BYU as a full professor,' Hall said. 'I didn''t have to go through the ranks.'
He continued to conduct research during his 26 years at BYU and developed two more diamond presses that outstripped any other diamond press of the time, he said.
Hall, now retired, is still involved at BYU. He is taking English 220, Writing Personal History, from Professor Don Norton.
'The man is absolutely brilliant,' Norton said. 'He can recall exact details from his earliest years.'
Norton has an added interest in his student because he will be writing Hall''s biography.
'The family has requested we do a complete life story on him,' Norton said. 'I will be focusing more on his personal life because his scientific work is already well documented.'
Although his discovery in 1954 revolutionized the diamond industry, his most significant contributions were made in his own home, Bartholomew said.
'We want to remember him as the wonderful father he is and want anybody else who might read the book to appreciate the same,' she said.
His family is the most important aspect of his life, and he is proud of his children, but the day he created diamonds will remain one of the most exciting of his life, he said.