#robert hofstadter

[gregorygalloway]

Robert Hofstadter (5 February 1915 – 17 November 1990)

[gregorygalloway]

Robert Hofstadter (5 February 1915 – 17 November 1990)

[gregorygalloway]

Robert Hofstadter (5 February 1915 – 17 November 1990)

[gregorygalloway]

Robert Hofstadter (5 February 1915 – 17 November 1990)

[tumblngphilopoet]

It is the birthday of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Robert Hofstadter, born 1915 in New York City and best known for his research on the nucleus of the atom. He was the son of a salesman and attended the City College of New York. Hofstadter wanted to major in literature and philosophy until a physics professor told him, "the laws of physics could be tested and those of philosophy could not." He won the Kenyon Prize for outstanding work in physics and mathematics in 1935.

Hofstadter went on to measure the precise size and shape of the proton and neutron, the particles of the nucleus, winning the Nobel Prize on December 10, 1961, for presenting the first reasonably accurate picture of the structure and composition of atomic neutrons and protons. Hofstadter's discoveries played an important role in medicine, astronomy, military defense, and many other fields.

http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2014/02/05