Alfred O. C. Nier

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Alfred O. C. Nier
St. Paul, Minnesota
DiedMay 16, 1994(1994-05-16) (aged 82)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
NationalityAmerican
AwardsWilliam Bowie Medal (1992)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysicist
InstitutionsUniversity of Minnesota

Alfred Otto Carl Nier (May 28, 1911 – May 16, 1994) was an American physicist who pioneered the development of mass spectrometry.[1] He was the first to use mass spectrometry to isolate uranium-235 which was used to demonstrate that 235U could undergo fission and developed the sector mass spectrometer configuration now known as Nier-Johnson geometry.[2]

Early life and education

He was born in

immigrant parents had little education or financial resources but their determination for his development meant that he was able to attend the nearby University of Minnesota. Though he graduated in electrical engineering in 1931, the lack of engineering jobs during the Great Depression encouraged him to take up graduate study in physics
.

Career

Harvard

In 1936, his spectroscopic skills won him a fellowship and substantial grant at Harvard University.[3] His work there led to the 1938 publication of measurements of the relative abundance of the isotopes of uranium, measurements that were used by Fritz Houtermans and Arthur Holmes in the 1940s to estimate the age of the Earth.[4]

The Manhattan Project

Nier returned to Minnesota in 1938 to be near his ageing parents. In 1940, on the request of

atomic bomb.[3]

From 1943 to 1945, Nier worked with

Manhattan, New York City on the design and development of efficient and effective mass spectrographs for use in the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb in World War II.[3] During the war most of the spectrographs used for monitoring uranium separations were designed by Nier.[7]

Later work

After the war, he returned to Minnesota where he worked on

space science and noble gases.[3] Nier designed the miniature mass spectrometers used by the Viking Landers to sample the atmosphere of Mars.[7]

Death

Active to the end of his life, he died on May 16, 1994, two weeks after being paralysed in a motor accident.[1][3]

Honors

Nier was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences,[8] the American Philosophical Society,[9] the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[10] and a foreign scientific member of the Max Planck Society.[8]

The

Meteoritical Society and recognizes outstanding research in meteoritics and closely allied fields by young scientists.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b Hilchey, Tim (May 19, 1994). "Alfred Nier, 82. Physicist Helped Foster A-Bomb". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  2. ISSN 0031-899X
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e Reynolds (1998).
  4. ^ Lewis, Cheryl (2000). The Dating Game. Cambridge University Press. pp. 202–208.
    ISBN 9780521893121
    .
  5. ^ "Nier Mass Spectrograph". National Museum of American History. 2010-01-01. Archived from the original on 2021-12-08. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  6. ISBN 978-1-61234-815-5
    .
  7. ^ a b Arblaster (2004).
  8. ^ a b Mauersberger (1999).
  9. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  10. ^ "Alfred Otto Carl Nier". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  11. ^ "Mars Nomenclature: Crater, craters". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS: Astrogeology Research Program. Retrieved 2007-08-16.
  12. doi:10.1111/j.1945-5100.1995.tb01142.x
    .
  13. ^ "Awards - the Meteoritical Society". Archived from the original on 2013-07-06. Retrieved 2014-12-21.

Further reading

External links

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