In 1936, at age 31, Carl David Anderson became the second youngest Nobel laureate for his discovery of antimatter when he observed positrons in a cloud chamber.
He is responsible for developing rocket power weapons that were used in World War II.
He was born in New York City in 1905 and was educated in Los Angeles. He served for many years as a physics professor at California Institute of Technology. Prior to Oppenheimer, Anderson was offered the job of heading the Los Alamos atomic bomb program but could not assume the role because of family obligations.
He was a pioneer in studying cosmic rays at high altitudes, first atop Pike's Peak, then after the war in a specially equipped B-29.
Contents:
- Early Years as a Curious Child
- Undergraduate Student Days at Caltech
- Graduate Student Days at Caltech
- The Discovery of the Positron with the Magnet Cloud Chamber
- Antimatter
- Research on Pikes Peak
- Research in the Tropics
- Return to Caltech and the Discovery of New Fundamental Particles
- The Nobel Prize
- A Close Encounter with the Atomic Bomb
- World War II — Caltech Rocket Launching Development
- Return to Scientific Research
- Non-Scientific, Post-War Activities
- An Invitation to the White House by President Kennedy
- Princess Margaret Visits Caltech
- Popularization of the Beauty and Limits of Science
Readership: General.
“He was a creative scientist, and he created a new world for all of us — the world of 'antimatter'. It was Anderson who took the first step into an enhancement of our knowledge of the physical universe. He stands among the great scientists of all time.”
William Fowler
Nobel Laureate, 1983