Arno Allan Penzias
| Arno Allan Penzias | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | April 26, 1933 Munich, Germany |
| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Bell Labs |
| Alma mater | CCNY Columbia University |
| Known for | Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation |
| Notable awards | Nobel Prize in Physics (1978) |
Arno Allan Penzias (born 26 April 1933) is an American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics.
Penzias was born in Munich, Germany. At age six he was among the Jewish children evacuated to Britain as part of the Kindertransport rescue operation. Six months later his parents also fled Nazi Germany for the U.S., and the family settled in the Garment District of New York City in 1940. In 1946, Penzias became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1951 and received a bachelor's degree from the City College of New York in 1954. From Columbia University, he received his Master's degree in 1958 and his Ph.D. in 1962.
He went on to work at Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey where, with Robert Woodrow Wilson, he worked on ultra-sensitive cryogenic microwave receiver, intended for radio astronomy observations. In 1964, on building their most sensitive antenna/receiver system, the pair encountered radio noise which they could not explain. It was far less energetic than the radiation given off by the Milky Way, and it was isotropic, so they assumed their instrument was subject to interference by terrestrial sources. They tried, and then rejected, the hypothesis that the radio noise emanated from New York City. An examination of the microwave horn antenna showed it was full of pigeon droppings (which Penzias described as "white dielectric material"). After the pair removed the guano buildup, and the pigeons were shot (each physicist says the other ordered the deed), the noise remained. Having rejected all sources of interference, the pair published a paper announcing their findings. This was later identified by Robert Dicke [1] as the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the radio remnant of the Big Bang. This allowed astronomers to confirm the Big Bang, and to correct many of their previous assumptions about it.
Penzias and Wilson received the 1978 Nobel Prize, sharing it with Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (Kapitsa's work was unrelated to Penzias and Wilson's). The two had received the Henry Draper Medal the previous year. Penzias is also the recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.
Penzias has been a resident of Highland Park, New Jersey.[2] He currently serves as a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates.
Notes
- ↑ Lehrer, Jonah (21 December 2009). "The Neuroscience of Screwing up". Wired (magazine). http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/fail_accept_defeat/3/. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
- ↑ Horner, Shirley (3 October 1993). "About Books". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5DD1031F930A35753C1A965958260. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
References
- Wilson, R. W.; Penzias, A. A. (1967). "Isotropy of Cosmic Background Radiation at 4080 Megahertz". Science 156 (3778): 1100–1101. doi:10.1126/science.156.3778.1100. PMID 17774056.
- Penzias, A. A.; Wilson, R. W. (1970). "Microwave Noise from Rainstorms". Science 169 (3945): 583–584. doi:10.1126/science.169.3945.583. PMID 17746031.
- Penzias, Arno A. (1979). "The Origin of the Elements". Science 205 (4406): 549–554. doi:10.1126/science.205.4406.549. PMID 17729659.
- Penzias, Arno A. (1980). "Nuclear Processing and Isotopes in the Galaxy". Science 208 (4445): 663–669. doi:10.1126/science.208.4445.663. PMID 17771085.
External links
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Book:Nobel Prize in Physics
Category:Nobel laureates in Physics
Portal:Physics