Walter Lewin
Walter H.G. Lewin | |
|---|---|
 A 2003 photo of Lewin | |
| Born | 1936 |
| Nationality |  Dutch |
| Alma mater | Delft University of Technology |
| Awards | NASA Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (1978) Alexander von Humboldt Award (1984 and 1991) Guggenheim Fellowship (1984) MIT Science Council Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (1984), W. Buechner Teaching Prize (1988) Evertt Moore Baker Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2003) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | MIT |
Walter H. G. Lewin is currently a professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics in 1965 at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
Walter Lewin came to MIT in January 1966 with the intent of spending one year in a post-doctoral position, but he never left. He joined an x-ray astronomy group at MIT and conducted all-sky balloon surveys with George W. Clark. Through the late seventies, there were about twenty successful balloon flights. These balloon surveys led to the discovery of five new x-ray sources, which doubled the number known at the time. Furthermore, some of these x-ray sources were found to be varying, and some were x-ray flares. The rockets used by other researchers could not have discovered that the x-ray sources varied because they were only in the air for a few minutes, whereas the balloons could be in the air for many hours. The surveys also resulted in the discovery of GX 1+4, which was the first slowly rotating X-ray pulsar found.
Walter Lewin received the "2003 Everett Moore Baker Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching" award. Some of his lectures are available online in video format.
Lectures
Many of the Walter Lewin Lectures on Physics at MIT have been shown for over six years on UWTV in Seattle, reaching an audience of about four million people. Lewin personally responded to hundreds of e-mail requests that he received per year from UWTV viewers. For fifteen years he was on MIT Cable TV, with programs aired 24 hours per day helping freshmen with their weekly homework assignments. Lewin also teaches video courses on Newtonian Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Vibrations and Waves, which can be viewed from the MIT OpenCourseWare web site. His MIT lectures for science teachers and for middle school students can be viewed on MIT World.
Selected publications
- Lewin, Walter H.G. (204-10-27). "X-ray Bursts". Space Science Reviews. 62 (3–4): 223–389. doi:10.1007/BF00196124.
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- D. Pooley, W.H.G. Lewin, S.F. Anderson, H. Baumgardt, A.V. Filippenko, B.M. Gaensler, L. Homer, P. Hut, V.M. Kaspi, B. Margon, S. McMillan, S. Portegies Zwart, M. van der Klis, & F. Verbunt (2003). "Dynamical Formation of Close Binary Systems in Globular Clusters". Astrophysical Journal. 591: L131–L134. doi:10.1086/377074.
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- J. Miller, A. Fabian, R. Wijnands, R. Remillard, P. Wojdowski, N. Schulz, T. Di Matteo, H. Marshall, C. Canizares, & W. Lewin (2002). "Resolving the Composite Fe K-alpha Emission Line in the Galactic Black Hole Cygnus X-1 with Chandra". Astrophysical Journal. 578: 348–356. doi:10.1086/342466.
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- D. Pooley, W. Lewin, L. Homer, S. Anderson, B. Gaensler, B. Margon, F. Verbunt, J. Miller, D. Fox, V. Kaspi & M. v.d. Klis (2002). "Optical Identifications of Multiple Faint X-ray Sources in the Globular Cluster NGC~6752: Evidence for Numerous Cataclysmic Variables". Astrophysical Journal. 569: 405.
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- C. Kouveliotou, J. van Paradijs, G. J. Fishman, M. S. Briggs, J. Kommers, B. A. Harmon, C. A. Meegan, W. H. G. Lewin (1996). "Discovery of a New Type of Burster from the Galactic Center Region". Nature. 379: 799.
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- M. v.d. Klis, J. Swank, W. Zhang, K. Jahoda, E. Morgan, W. Lewin, B. Vaughan, & J. van Paradijs (1996). "Discovery of Sub millisecond Quasi-periodic Oscillations in the X-ray Flux of Scorpius X-1". Astrophysical Journal. 469.
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- W.H.G. Lewin, G.W. Clark and W.B. Smith (1968). "Observation of an X-Ray Flare from Sco X-1". Astrophysical Journal (Letters). 152: L55.
See also
External links
- Walter Lewin's page at MIT
- MIT Physics Department website
- Walter Lewin's Physics I Course Page with Video Lectures
- Walter Lewin's Physics II Course Page with Video Lectures
- Walter Lewin's Physics III Course Page with Video Lectures
- The Elegant Universe PBS Video featuring Walter Lewin
- Rimer, Sara (2007-12-19). "At 71, Physics Professor Is a Web Star". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-19.