Ernest Lawrence

@Scientists, Birthday and Personal Life ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Ernst Lawrence was an American nuclear scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for his invention of the cyclotron American University Of Chicago University Of Minnesota Yale University Scientists Physicists Leo Celebrities Ernst Lawrence was an American nuclear scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for his invention of the cyclotron. Although he started his college education with chemistry he soon changed to physics and ultimately earned his PhD in physics from the University of Yale. While working as an associate professor at the University of California, 28 year old Lawrence developed a circular particle accelerator, later termed cyclotron. The invention, not only earned him Nobel Prize, but also the full professorship at the age of 29 and directorship at the Radiation Laboratory at 35. Although he received the patent for his new invention, he never accepted any royalty from it. Instead, he concentrated on developing larger and more powerful cyclotrons and helped others to build them. Once the World War II started, he got involved in number of defense projects. He was inducted into the Manhattan Project, and the Uranium-235 required for making the Hiroshima bomb came mostly from his laboratory at Berkeley. He also advocated strongly for manufacturing the Hydrogen bomb. At the same time, he was equally interested in developing nuclear medicine and collaborated with this brother in this.

Personal Details

Birthday: August 8, 1901 Died on: August 27, 1958 Nationality: American Famous: University Of Chicago, University Of Minnesota, Yale University, Scientists, Physicists Siblings: John H. Lawrence Known as: Ernest Orlando Lawrence, Ernest O. Lawrence Universities: University Of Chicago,University Of Minnesota,Yale University Yale University University of South Dakota University of Minnesota University of Chicago St. Olaf College Information Detail Birthday August 8, 1901 Died on August 27, 1958 Nationality American Famous University Of Chicago, University Of Minnesota, Yale University, Scientists, Physicists Siblings John H. Lawrence Known as Ernest Orlando Lawrence, Ernest O. Lawrence Universities University Of Chicago,University Of Minnesota,Yale University Yale University University of South Dakota University of Minnesota University of Chicago St. Olaf College Notable Alumnis University Of Chicago University Of Minnesota Yale University Founder / Co-Founder Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Birth Place Canton Gender Male Father Carl Gustavus Lawrence Mother Gunda Lawrence Sun Sign Leo Born in Canton Famous as Physicist Died at Age 57

Canton

Ernest Lawrence born at Unsplash Birth Place

In 1932, Ernst Lawrence married Mary Kimberly (Molly) Blummer. He first met her in 1926, while he was working as National Research Fellow at the University of Yale. Her father was the Dean of Yale School of Medicine. Unsplash Personal Life

Since she was only sixteen years old then, they could not get married immediately. Meanwhile, he shifted to California and got involved in his experiments. Ultimately, they got engaged in 1931 and got married the next year. The couple had six children: Eric, Margaret, Mary, Robert, Barbara, and Susan. Unsplash Personal Life

At the end of his life Lawrence was inflicted with chronic ulcerative colitis. He was also overworked. In spite of that when President Dwight D. Eisenhower asked him to go to Geneva to help negotiate a proposed Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union he agreed. Unsplash Personal Life

Ernst Orlando Lawrence was born on August 8, 1901 in Canton, South Dakota. Both his parents, Carl Gustavus and Gunda (née Jacobson) Lawrence, were of Norwegian descent. Initially they were teachers at a Canton school. Later Carl Gustavus became Superintendent of Public Education in South Dakota. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Ernst Orlando had a younger brother named John Hundale Lawrence, who grew up to become a physician. He later became well-known for his pioneering work in the field of nuclear medicine. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

According to his mother, Ernst was ‘born grown up’. He was also incessantly curious, very persistent and full of enthusiasm. Ernst’s best friend was Merle Tuve, who later became a famous nuclear physicist. Together the two children built their own shortwave radio transmitting station. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Ernst had his early education at Canton High School. After passing out from there, he first enrolled at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and studied there for one year only. In 1919, he shifted to University of South Dakota and passed out from there in 1922 with a bachelor degree in Chemistry. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

While studying chemistry at University of Dakota, Ernst was noticed by Dean Lewis E. Akeley. He tutored Ernst in private. Under his influence, Ernst began to take interest in physics and after graduation he enrolled at the University of Minnesota with physics and received his postgraduate degree in 1923. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

In 1925, Ernst Lawrence started his career as National Research Fellow at the Yale University. In 1927, he was made an Assistant Professor at Yale. Although by this time he had received better offers from University of Washington and University of California he chose to remain at Yale. Unsplash Career

Ultimately in 1928, he shifted to the University of California, Berkley as Associate Professor of Physics. Here he continued his research on photo electricity and together with his students published a number of papers in this field. However, very soon he diverted to a very different branch. Unsplash Career

In 1929, while sitting in a library one evening he came across a design that interested him a great deal. Very soon, he, along with his two students, invented a circular particle accelerator that could speed up nuclear particles to very high velocity without using high voltage. Known as cyclotron, the device opened scope for many new developments. Unsplash Career

In 1930, he was made a full professor by the University of California. Incidentally, he was the youngest man to hold such a post. Lawrence continued with his research in nuclear physics and concentrated on building larger and more powerful cyclotrons. Unsplash Career

By 1932, his team was able to disintegrate lithium using cyclotron at Berkeley Laboratory. Subsequently heavier metals began to be disintegrated there. Moreover, using the cyclotron the scientists could accurately measure binding energies of the nuclei and also the reaction energy. These experiments paved the way for faster growth of nuclear physics. Unsplash Career

Ernst Lawrence is best known for his invention of cyclotrons. Until the invention of synchrotron in 1950, they were the most powerful particle accelerator. Even today, they are being used all over the world for production of particle beams in physics and nuclear medicine. Unsplash Major Works

In addition, Lawrence invented a method for obtaining time intervals of three billionths of a second and another method for measuring the e/m ratio of the electron. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	August 8, 1901
Died on	August 27, 1958
Nationality	American
Famous	University Of Chicago, University Of Minnesota, Yale University, Scientists, Physicists
Siblings	John H. Lawrence
Known as	Ernest Orlando Lawrence, Ernest O. Lawrence
Universities	University Of Chicago,University Of Minnesota,Yale University Yale University University of South Dakota University of Minnesota University of Chicago St. Olaf College
Notable Alumnis	University Of Chicago University Of Minnesota Yale University
Founder / Co-Founder	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Birth Place	Canton
Gender	Male
Father	Carl Gustavus Lawrence
Mother	Gunda Lawrence
Sun Sign	Leo
Born in	Canton
Famous as	Physicist
Died at Age	57

Ernest Lawrence

American

Aug 8, 1901

Biography

Personal Details

Canton