Norman Ramsey Jr.
Norman Foster Ramsey Jr. | |
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Norman Foster Ramsey Jr. (August 27, 1915 – November 4, 2011) was an American physicist who was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of the separated oscillatory field method (see Ramsey interferometry), which had important applications in the construction of atomic clocks. A physics professor at Harvard University for most of his career, Ramsey also held several posts with such government and international agencies as NATO and the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Among his other accomplishments are helping to found the United States Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Fermilab.
Early life
Norman Foster Ramsey Jr. was born in
Ramsey's parents hoped that he would go to West Point, but at 15, he was too young to be admitted. He was awarded a scholarship to the
A term paper Ramsey wrote for Goldhaber on
World War II
Radiation laboratory
In 1940, he married Elinor Jameson of
Initially, Ramsey was in Rabi's magnetron group. When Rabi became a division head, Ramsey became the group leader.
Manhattan Project
In 1943, Ramsey was approached by
The first thing he had to do was determine the characteristics of the aircraft that would be used. There were only two
Plans for the delivery of the weapons in combat were assigned to the Weapons Committee, which was chaired by Ramsey and answerable to
Research
At the end of the war, Ramsey returned to Columbia as a professor and research scientist.
Ramsey's research in the immediate post-war years looked at measuring fundamental properties of atoms and molecules by use of molecular beams. On moving to Harvard, his objective was to carry out accurate molecular-beam magnetic-resonance experiments, based on the techniques developed by Rabi. However, the accuracy of the measurements depended on the uniformity of the magnetic field, and Ramsey found that it was difficult to create sufficiently uniform magnetic fields. He developed the separated oscillatory field method in 1949 as a means of achieving the accuracy he wanted.[1]
Ramsey and his PhD student
In collaboration with the
Later life
Ramsey eventually became the
His first wife, Elinor, died in 1983, after which he married Ellie Welch of Brookline, Massachusetts. Ramsey died on November 4, 2011. He was survived by his wife Ellie, his four daughters from his first marriage, and his stepdaughter and stepson from his second marriage.[7][24]
Bibliography
- Ramsey, N. F.; Birge, R. W.; Kruse, U. E.. "Proton–Proton Scattering at 105 MeV and 75 MeV", Harvard University, United States Department of Energy (through predecessor agency the United States Atomic Energy Commission), (January 31, 1951).
- Ramsey, N. F.; Cone, A. A.; Chen, K. W.; Dunning, J. R. Jr.; Hartwig, G.; Walker, J. K.; Wilson, R. "Inelastic Scattering Of Electrons By Protons", Department of Physics at Harvard University, United States Department of Energy (through predecessor agency the United States Atomic Energy Commission), (December 1966).
- Greene, G. L.; Ramsey, N. F.; Mampe, W.; Pendlebury, J. M.; Smith, K.; Dress, W. B.; Miller, P. D.; Perrin, P. "Determination of the Neutron Magnetic Moment", Sussex University, United States Department of Energy, (June 1981).
- Ramsey, N. F. "Molecular Beams", Oxford University Press (First edition 1956, Reprinted 1986).
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Norman F. Ramsey – Autobiography". The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
- ^ Cullum 1950, p. 101.
- ^ Cullum 1930, pp. 669–670.
- ^ Cullum 1940, pp. 167–168.
- ^ a b "Norman F. Ramsey". Soylent Communications. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f "Norman F. Ramsey, an oral history conducted in 1991 by John Bryant". IEEE History Center. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ^ a b c Tucker, Anthony (November 18, 2011). "Norman Ramsey obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
- ^ "Isidor Isaac Rabi". Nobel Media. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
- .
- PMID 22158235.
- ^ Conant 2002, pp. 209–213.
- ^ Conant 2002, p. 204.
- ^ Rigden 1987, pp. 135–135.
- ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, p. 59.
- ^ a b c Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 378–379.
- ^ Groves 1962, p. 254.
- ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 380–382.
- ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, p. 248.
- ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 387–388.
- ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 392–393.
- ^ National Geographic. Archived from the originalon November 12, 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
- ^ "Nobel Prize press release". The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
- ^ a b "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1989". The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
- ^ New York Times. November 6, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
- American Academy of Achievement.
- ^ "Norman Foster Ramsey". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
- ^ "Norman F. Ramsey". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
- ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
- ^ "48 Nobel Winning Scientists Endorse Kerry-June 21, 2004". George Washington University. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
References
- OCLC 48966735.
- Cullum, George W. (1930). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point New York Since Its Establishment in 1802: Supplement Volume VII 1920–1930. Chicago: R. R. Donnelly and Sons, The Lakeside Press. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
- Cullum, George W. (1940). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point New York Since Its Establishment in 1802: Supplement Volume VIII 1930–1940. Chicago: R. R. Donnelly and Sons, The Lakeside Press. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
- Cullum, George W. (1950). Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the US Military Academy at West Point New York Since Its Establishment in 1802: Supplement Volume IX 1940–1950. Chicago: R. R. Donnelly and Sons, The Lakeside Press. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
- OCLC 537684.
- OCLC 26764320.
- OCLC 14931559.
External links
- Group photograph taken at Lasers '93 including (right to left) Norman F. Ramsey, Marlan Scully, and F. J. Duarte.
- Norman Ramsey, an oral history conducted in 1995 by Andrew Goldstein, IEEE History Center, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
- Papers relating to the Manhattan Project, 1945–1946, collected by Norman Ramsey. Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology, Smithsonian Libraries, from SIRIS
- Norman F. Ramsey on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1989 Experiments with Separated Oscillatory Fields and Hydrogen Masers