Erwin Gabathuler facts for kids
Erwin Gabathuler was a very important scientist from Northern Ireland. He was a particle physicist, which means he studied the tiniest parts that make up everything in the universe. He was born on 16 November 1933 and passed away on 29 August 2016. He was also honored with an OBE and became a FRS, which are big awards for his amazing work in science.
Early Life and Learning
Erwin Gabathuler grew up in a town called Maghera in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. His father managed a factory that made Swiss embroidery.
He went to Rainey Endowed School in Magherafelt. After that, he studied physics at Queen's University Belfast. He earned his first degree in 1956. In 1957, he got his master's degree for his work on how electrons hit gases in the atmosphere.
Later, he moved to the University of Glasgow. There, he worked with a special machine called a synchrotron. This machine helps scientists study tiny particles. He earned his PhD in 1961.
A Career in Science
Erwin Gabathuler worked at several famous science places around the world. From 1961 to 1964, he did research at Cornell University in the USA. Then, he worked at Daresbury Laboratory in England from 1965 to 1974.
In 1974, he started working at CERN. CERN is a huge science lab in Europe where scientists study particle physics. He first joined as a special scientist from the Rutherford Laboratory. In 1978, he became a direct employee at CERN. He even led the Experimental Physics Division for four years, taking over from another famous scientist, Emilio Picasso.
From 1983 to 2002, he was a professor at the University of Liverpool. He led the particle physics group there. Even while at Liverpool, he kept his strong connections with CERN. When he retired, the University of Liverpool held a special event called "ErwinFest" to celebrate his amazing career.
Awards and Special Honors
Erwin Gabathuler received many important awards for his work.
- On 15 March 1990, he was chosen to be a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK.
- In 1992, he received the Rutherford Medal and Prize from the Institute of Physics. He shared this award with Terry Sloan.
- In 2001, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This award recognized his great contributions to physics.
He also received two special honorary degrees.
- In 1982, he got an honorary doctorate from Uppsala University in Sweden.
- In 1997, he received another honorary degree, a D.Sc., from Queen's University, Belfast.
Important Research
Erwin Gabathuler was a very active researcher. He helped write more than 1200 scientific papers that were published. These papers shared his discoveries with other scientists.
He was also one of the main people who helped start the European Muon Collaboration at CERN. This was a big group of scientists working together to study tiny particles called muons. His work helped us understand more about the basic building blocks of the universe.
