Robert Hofstadter
| Robert Hofstadter | |
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| Born | February 5, 1915 New York City, New York |
| Died | November 17, 1990 (aged 75) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Stanford University University of Pennsylvania |
| Alma mater | City College of New York Princeton University |
| Known for | Electron scattering Atomic nuclei |
| Notable awards | Nobel Prize in Physics (1961) |
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Robert Hofstadter (February 5, 1915 – November 17, 1990) was an American physicist. He was the joint winner of the 1961 Nobel Prize in Physics (together with Rudolf Mössbauer) "for his pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his consequent discoveries concerning the structure of nucleons."[1][2]
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[edit] Biography
Born in New York City, he entered City College of New York, and graduated with a B.S. degree magna cum laude in 1935 at the age of 20, and was awarded the Kenyon Prize in Mathematics and Physics. He also received a Charles A. Coffin Foundation Fellowship from the General Electric Company, which enabled him to attend graduate school at Princeton University, where he earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 1938. He did his post-doctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania before joining Stanford University. Hofstadter taught at Stanford University from 1950 to 1985.
In 1942 he married Nancy Givan, a native of Baltimore.[3] They had three children: Laura, Molly - who was disabled and not able to communicate,[4] and Pulitzer Prize-winner Douglas Hofstadter.[5] Robert Hofstadter's Erdős number is 5.[6]
[edit] Opus
[edit] Coining of the fermi (unit) and 1961 Nobel Lecture
Robert Hofstadter coined the term fermi (unit), symbol fm,[7][8][9] in honor of the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi (1901–1954), one of the founders of nuclear physics, in Hofstadter's 1956 paper published in the Reviews of Modern Physics journal, "Electron Scattering and Nuclear Structure".[10] The term is widely used by nuclear and particle physicists. When Hofstadter was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Physics, it subsequently appears in the text of his 1961 Nobel Lecture, "The electron-scattering method and its application to the structure of nuclei and nucleons" (December 11, 1961).[11]
[edit] Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and EGRET Telescope
In his last few years, Hofstadter became interested in astrophysics and applied his knowledge of scintillators to the design of the EGRET gamma-ray telescope of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory named for fellow Nobel Laureate in Physics (1927) Arthur Holly Compton. Stanford University's Department of Physics credits Hofstadter with being "one of the principal scientists who developed the Compton Observatory."[12]
[edit] Awards and Honors
- 1961 Nobel Prize in Physics, joint winner with Rudolf Mössbauer, "for his [Hofstadter's] pioneering studies of electron scattering in atomic nuclei and for his consequent discoveries concerning the structure of nucleons."[13][14]
- Stanford University has an annual lecture series named after Hofstadter, the Robert Hofstadter Memorial Lectures, which consists of two lectures each year, one oriented toward the general public and the other oriented toward scientists.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ R. W. McAllister & Robert Hofstadter, "Elastic Scattering of 188 MeV Electrons from Proton and the Alpha Particle," Physical Review, V102, p. 851 (1956).
- ^ Robert Hofstadter, "The Electron Scattering Method & its Application to the Structure of Nuclei and Nucleons," Nobel Lectures, Physics 1942-1962, pp. 560-581, Elsevier Pub. Co., Amsterdam-London-New York (Dec 1961).
- ^ 2007 obituary to Nancy Givan from Stanford university.
- ^ Doug Hofstadter's dedication to 'I am a strange loop'.
- ^ National Academy of Sciences biography
- ^ Some Famous People with Finite Erdös Numbers
- ^ http://metricsystemconversion.info/fermi-to-femtometer-fm.html?func=detail
- ^ http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictF.html
- ^ http://www.hep.phys.soton.ac.uk/hepwww/staff/D.Ross/phys3002/diffraction.pdf
- ^ Hofstadter, Robert, Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, California, "Electron Scattering and Nuclear Structure," Rev. Mod. Phys. 28, 214–254 (1956) © 1956 The American Physical Society
- ^ Hofstadter, Robert, "The electron-scattering method and its application to the structure of nuclei and nucleons," Nobel Lecture (December 11, 1961)
- ^ http://www.stanford.edu/dept/physics/events/hofstadter2004.html
- ^ R. W. McAllister & Robert Hofstadter, "Elastic Scattering of 188 MeV Electrons from Proton and the Alpha Particle," Physical Review, V102, p. 851 (1956).
- ^ Robert Hofstadter, "The Electron Scattering Method & its Application to the Structure of Nuclei and Nucleons," Nobel Lectures, Physics 1942-1962, pp. 560-581, Elsevier Pub. Co., Amsterdam-London-New York (Dec 1961).
[edit] External links
- Hofstadter, Robert, "The electron-scattering method and its application to the structure of nuclei and nucleons," Nobel Lecture (December 11, 1961) in PDF format
- Hofstadter, Robert, 1961 Nobel Prize in Physics Banquet Speech at Nobel Prize official website
- Robert Hofstadter Memorial Lectures, annually presented at the Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences, Department of Physics and as of March 2011 listed under individual years' calendars in the Department's official pages at the Stanford University website
- Obituary in New York Times: Dr. Robert Hofstadter Dies at 75
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- 1915 births
- 1990 deaths
- City University of New York alumni
- Experimental physicists
- Guggenheim Fellows
- National Medal of Science laureates
- Nobel laureates in Physics
- American Nobel laureates
- American nuclear physicists
- People from New York City
- Princeton University alumni
- Stanford University faculty
- University of Pennsylvania staff
