Luis W. Alvarez was an
American
experimental physicist and
inventor, who was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968. The
American Journal of Physics commented, "Luis Alvarez (1911–1988) was one of the most brilliant and productive experimental physicists of the twentieth century." After receiving his
PhD from the
University of Chicago in 1936, Alvarez went to work for
Ernest Lawrence at the
Radiation Laboratory at the
University of California, Berkeley. Alvarez devised a set of experiments to observe K-
electron capture in
radioactive nuclei, predicted by the
beta decay theory but never observed. He produced 3
H
using the
cyclotron and measured its lifetime. In collaboration with
Felix Bloch, he measured the
magnetic moment of the neutron. In 1940 Alvarez joined the
MIT Radiation Laboratory, where he contributed to a number of
World War II
radar projects, from early improvements to
Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) radar beacons, now called
transponders, to a system known as VIXEN for preventing enemy submarines from realizing that they had been found by the new airborne microwave radars. The radar system for which Alvarez is best known and which has played a major role in aviation, most particularly in the post war
Berlin airlift, was
Ground Controlled Approach (GCA). Alvarez spent a few months at the
University of Chicago working on
nuclear reactors for
Enrico Fermi before coming to
Los Alamos to work for
J. Robert Oppenheimer on the
Manhattan project. Alvarez worked on the design of
explosive lenses, and the development of
exploding-bridgewire detonators. As a member of
Project Alberta, he observed the
Trinity nuclear test from a
B-29 Superfortress, and later the
bombing of Hiroshima from the B-29
The Great Artiste. After the war Alvarez was involved in the design of a
liquid hydrogen
bubble chamber that allowed his team to take millions of photographs of particle interactions, develop complex computer systems to measure and analyze these interactions, and discover entire families of new particles and
resonance states. This work resulted in his being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1968. He was involved in a project to X-Ray the
Egyptian pyramids to search for unknown chambers. He analyzed film footage of the
Kennedy assassination, and, with his son geologist
Walter Alvarez, proposed the
Alvarez hypothesis, namely that the
extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs was the result of an asteroid impact.
Luis W. Alvarez was an
American
experimental physicist and
inventor, who was awarded the
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968. The
American Journal of Physics commented, "Luis Alvarez (1911–1988) was one of the most brilliant and productive experimental physicists of the twentieth century." After receiving his
PhD from the
University of Chicago in 1936, Alvarez went to work for
Ernest Lawrence at the
Radiation Laboratory at the
University of California, Berkeley. Alvarez devised a set of experiments to observe K-
electron capture in
radioactive nuclei, predicted by the
beta decay theory but never observed. He produced 3
H
using the
cyclotron and measured its lifetime. In collaboration with
Felix Bloch, he measured the
magnetic moment of the neutron. In 1940 Alvarez joined the
MIT Radiation Laboratory, where he contributed to a number of
World War II
radar projects, from early improvements to
Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) radar beacons, now called
transponders, to a system known as VIXEN for preventing enemy submarines from realizing that they had been found by the new airborne microwave radars. The radar system for which Alvarez is best known and which has played a major role in aviation, most particularly in the post war
Berlin airlift, was
Ground Controlled Approach (GCA). Alvarez spent a few months at the
University of Chicago working on
nuclear reactors for
Enrico Fermi before coming to
Los Alamos to work for
J. Robert Oppenheimer on the
Manhattan project. Alvarez worked on the design of
explosive lenses, and the development of
exploding-bridgewire detonators. As a member of
Project Alberta, he observed the
Trinity nuclear test from a
B-29 Superfortress, and later the
bombing of Hiroshima from the B-29
The Great Artiste. After the war Alvarez was involved in the design of a
liquid hydrogen
bubble chamber that allowed his team to take millions of photographs of particle interactions, develop complex computer systems to measure and analyze these interactions, and discover entire families of new particles and
resonance states. This work resulted in his being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1968. He was involved in a project to X-Ray the
Egyptian pyramids to search for unknown chambers. He analyzed film footage of the
Kennedy assassination, and, with his son geologist
Walter Alvarez, proposed the
Alvarez hypothesis, namely that the
extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs was the result of an asteroid impact.