David Sayre facts for kids

David Sayre (born March 2, 1924 – died February 23, 2012) was an American scientist. He helped create important ways to study tiny things using X-rays. This includes methods for looking at proteins and a technique called coherent diffraction imaging.

Sayre was also part of the first team that made FORTRAN. This was one of the earliest computer programming languages. He also suggested using a special method called electron beam lithography to make tiny lenses for X-rays. These lenses are called Fresnel zone plates.

In 2008, a group called the International Union of Crystallography gave David Sayre the Ewald Prize. They honored him for his wide range of work in crystallography. This included his ideas for solving complex imaging problems using X-rays.

About David Sayre

David Sayre was born in New York City. He was very smart and finished his physics degree at Yale University when he was just 19. After working at MIT, he earned another degree from Auburn University in 1948.

In 1949, he moved to Oxford, England, with his wife, Anne Colquhoun. There, he earned his PhD in 1951. He worked with a famous scientist named Dorothy Hodgkin.

Sayre's Discoveries

While in Oxford, David Sayre came up with an important idea. It was an equation now named after him. This equation helped scientists figure out the structure of molecules using X-rays. It was a key step for many "direct methods" used today in crystallography.

Around the same time, Sayre had another big idea. He thought it would be easier to solve a problem in crystallography (called the "phase problem") if they could measure X-ray signals in a different way. This idea later led to new ways of imaging things without using lenses. These are called lensless imaging techniques.

Working at IBM

After returning to the United States, David Sayre worked on studying a molecule that could cause cancer. He wrote a computer program for this work. This program caught the eye of John Backus at IBM.

Backus hired Sayre to join a small team of 10 programmers. This team created the very important computer language FORTRAN. Sayre stayed at IBM until he retired in 1990.

In the early 1970s, Sayre became interested in X-ray microscopy. This is a way to see very small things using X-rays. He suggested using a new method at IBM, called electron beam lithography, to make special X-ray lenses. These lenses, called Fresnel zone plates, are now used a lot in large science facilities.

In the 1980s, he went back to his goal of imaging things without lenses. He continued to work on this for the rest of his life.