| Leo James Rainwater | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 9, 1917 Council, Idaho |
| Died | May 31, 1986 (aged 68) |
| Institutions | Columbia University Manhattan Project |
| Alma mater | Columbia University Caltech |
| Notable awards | Nobel Prize in Physics (1975) Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award (1963) |
Leo James Rainwater (December 9, 1917 – May 31, 1986) was an American physicist who shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1975 for his part in determining the asymmetrical shapes of certain atomic nuclei.[1]
Rainwater was born on December 9, 1917 in Council, Idaho, but later moved to Hanford, California, after the death of his father to the great influenza epidemic of 1918. He received his bachelor's degree from California Institute of Technology in 1939 as a physics major, then went on to earn a PhD at Columbia University in 1946.
During World War II, he worked on the atomic bomb project. In 1949, he began developing his theory that, contrary to what was then believed, not all atomic nuclei are spherical. His ideas were later tested and confirmed by Bohr's and Mottelson's experiments. Rainwater also contributed to the scientific understanding of X-rays and participated in the United States Atomic Energy Commission and naval research projects. He joined the physics faculty at Columbia in 1946, where he reached the rank of full professor in 1952. He was named Pupin Professor of Physics in 1982. Rainwater also received the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award for Physics in 1963.
Rainwater died on May 31, 1986.
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