Alexander Dalgarno facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alexander Dalgarno
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Alex Dalgarno (© photo by:Lisa Bastille)
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| Born | 5 January 1928 London, England
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| Died | 9 April 2015 (aged 87) |
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Alexander Dalgarno was a very important British physicist. He was a professor of Astronomy at Harvard University in the United States. He made many discoveries about how tiny particles like atoms and molecules work.
Contents
A Life of Science
Alexander Dalgarno was born in London, England, in 1928. He grew up there and loved learning about math and physics. He went to University College London to study.
He earned his Ph.D. (a high-level science degree) in 1951. His studies focused on theoretical physics. This is a type of physics that uses math to explain how things work.
Early Career and Big Ideas
From 1951 to 1967, Dalgarno worked at the Queen's University, Belfast. He started as a lecturer and became a professor. During this time, he began studying how atoms interact over long distances.
His work helped create the basis for understanding things like Bose–Einstein condensates. These are special states of matter that happen at very cold temperatures.
Moving to Harvard
In 1967, Professor Dalgarno moved to Harvard University. There, he became a key leader in the astronomy department. He held many important jobs, including leading the Harvard College Observatory. He also directed the Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics.
His research covered three main areas:
- Theoretical atomic and molecular physics: Studying how atoms and molecules behave using math.
- Astrophysics: Learning about stars, planets, and the universe.
- Aeronomy: Studying Earth's upper atmosphere.
He wrote more than 600 scientific papers! Another famous physicist, Sir David Bates, once said that Alex Dalgarno was one of the greatest figures in atomic physics.
Father of Molecular Astrophysics
Dalgarno is often called the "father of molecular astrophysics". This field studies how molecules form and behave in space. He also worked at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. He was even the editor of a major science magazine called Astrophysical Journal Letters.
He also helped a science fiction writer named Catherine Asaro. She was his student and wrote a book called The Quantum Rose. This book was inspired by her studies with Dalgarno.
Awards and Honors
Alexander Dalgarno received many awards for his amazing work. These awards showed how important his discoveries were to science.
Some of his major awards include:
- The Davisson-Germer Prize (1980)
- The William F. Meggers Award (1986)
- The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1986)
- The Benjamin Franklin Medal in Physics (2013)
He was also chosen as a member of many important science groups. These include the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society in the UK. The Royal Society gave him their special Hughes Medal in 2002.
In 1998, an asteroid was named "Asteroid Dalgarno" in his honor. This shows how much his work meant to the study of space!
