Willis Lamb

@University Of California, Berkeley, Family and Childhood ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Willis Eugene Lamb Jr Cancer Celebrities American University Of California, Berkeley Scientists Physicists Willis Eugene Lamb Jr. was an American physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering a minute difference in the energy levels of a hydrogen atom. His findings led to a reassessment of the basic concept related to the application of the quantum theory to electromagnetism. This deviation in the energy level of an electron orbiting round the nucleus of a hydrogen atom came to be known as ‘the Lamb shift’. The discovery greatly affected the concept of quantum theory related to matter. He shared the Nobel Prize with German-American physicist, Ploykarp Kusch who had also come to the same conclusions while doing the experiment independently. In 1939, at the age of 26, he predicted an effect which was proven 20 years later as the ‘Mossbauer Effect’ also known as the ‘Lamb-Dicke-Mossbauer Effect’. His research covered subjects like theory of the interactions between matter and neutrons, range of fission fragments, theories of nuclear structure, fluctuations in cosmic ray showers, theories of beta decay, pair production, order-disorder problems, quadrupole interactions in molecules and diamagnetic corrections for nuclear resonance. He also studied the design of magnetron oscillators, theory of electrodynamic energy level displacements, theory of the microwave spectroscope and the fine structure of hydrogen, helium and deuterium atoms.

Personal Details

Birthday: July 12, 1913 Died on: May 15, 2008 Nationality: American Famous: University Of California, Berkeley, Scientists, Physicists Siblings: Perry Known as: Willis Eugene Lamb Jr. Universities: University Of California, Berkeley University of California Berkeley Information Detail Birthday July 12, 1913 Died on May 15, 2008 Nationality American Famous University Of California, Berkeley, Scientists, Physicists Siblings Perry Known as Willis Eugene Lamb Jr. Universities University Of California, Berkeley University of California Berkeley Notable Alumnis University Of California Berkeley Discoveries / Inventions Lamb Shift Laser Theory Quantum Optics Birth Place Los Angeles, California, U.S. Gender Male Father Willis Eugene Lamb Mother Marie Helen Metcalfe Sun Sign Cancer Born in Los Angeles, California, U.S. Famous as Physicist Died at Age 94

Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Willis Lamb born at Unsplash Birth Place

He married Ursula Schaefer, a German student of history associated with the ‘University of Arizona’, in 1939. Unsplash Personal Life

After the death of Ursula in 1996, he married Bruria Kaufman, an Israeli physicist whom he had met in Columbia in 1941, in the same year and divorced her later. Unsplash Personal Life

His third marriage was with Elsie Wattson on January 26, 2008 whom he had met 27 years ago. He did not have any children from any of these marriages. Unsplash Personal Life

Willis E. Lamb was born in Los Angeles, California, USA on July 12, 1913. His father, Willis Eugene was a telephone engineer and his mother was Marie Helen Metcalfe. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He had a younger brother named Perry. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

His initially studied for three years in Oakland, California and then joined a public school in Los Angeles. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He graduated from the ‘Los Angeles High School’ with mathematics, physics and chemistry as his major subjects. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

He enrolled at the ‘University of California’ in Berkeley in 1930 and received a B.S. bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the university in 1934. Unsplash Childhood & Early Life

Willis E. Lamb joined the faculty of the physics department in ‘Columbia University’ in 1938 as an ‘Instructor in Physics’. He became an ‘Associate’ in 1943, an ‘Assistant Professor’ in 1945, an ‘Associate Professor’ in 1947 and a full Professor in 1948. Unsplash Career

During the Second World War he worked at the ‘Columbia University Radiation Laboratory’ from 1943 to 1951 on how to make sources for radar which could produce shorter microwaves at higher frequencies. This work helped him win the Nobel Prize later. Unsplash Career

In April,1947, he carried out an experiment with which he was able to discover the shift in the energy levels of a hydrogen atom which later came to be known as ‘the Lamb shift’. Unsplash Career

He taught atomic spectroscopy as a ‘Professor of Physics’ at the ‘University of Stanford’ from 1951 to 1956. Unsplash Career

He also served as a ‘Morris Loeb Lecturer’ at the ‘Harvard University’ from 1953 to 1954. Unsplash Career

Williams E. Lamb wrote a series of papers which were published in the journal ‘Physical Review’ from 1947 to 1953. These papers were regarded as classics by atomic scientists all over the world. Unsplash Major Works

Information	Detail
Birthday	July 12, 1913
Died on	May 15, 2008
Nationality	American
Famous	University Of California, Berkeley, Scientists, Physicists
Siblings	Perry
Known as	Willis Eugene Lamb Jr.
Universities	University Of California, Berkeley University of California Berkeley
Notable Alumnis	University Of California Berkeley
Discoveries / Inventions	Lamb Shift Laser Theory Quantum Optics
Birth Place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Gender	Male
Father	Willis Eugene Lamb
Mother	Marie Helen Metcalfe
Sun Sign	Cancer
Born in	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Famous as	Physicist
Died at Age	94

Willis Lamb

American

Jul 12, 1913

Biography

Personal Details

Los Angeles, California, U.S.