John C. H. Spence facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Spence
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Spence in 2015, portrait via the Royal Society
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John Charles Howorth Spence
21 April 1946 Canberra, Australia
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| Died | 28 June 2021 (aged 75) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of Melbourne (PhD) |
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| Thesis | Double plasmon studies in several metals (1973) |
| Doctoral advisor | Alan Spargo |
| Other academic advisors | Peter Hirsch David Cockayne Michael Whelan John M. Cowley |
John Charles Howorth Spence (April 21, 1946 – June 28, 2021) was a famous physicist. He worked as a professor at Arizona State University. He also directed science at the National Science Foundation BioXFEL Science and Technology Center.
Studying and Learning
John Spence went to the University of Melbourne in Australia. He earned his PhD degree there in 1973. His early research looked at how light interacts with metals.
After that, he continued his research at the University of Oxford. He worked with important scientists like Sir Peter Hirsch. Later, he moved to Arizona State University. There, he worked with other top researchers. He then started his own research group at the university.
Awards and Special Recognitions
John Spence received many important awards for his work.
In 2015, he became a Foreign Member of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists. He was chosen because of his amazing work in two areas:
- Biology: He helped create the first way to use powerful X-ray machines called X-ray free-electron lasers (XFEL) to study tiny parts of living things. This helped scientists understand the shapes of proteins. He also invented a super-fast way to take pictures of crystals.
- Materials Science: He was a leader in using electron microscopes. These microscopes are so strong they can see individual atoms. His work helped scientists understand tiny flaws in materials. For example, he helped find a way to see where impurity atoms were in tiny crystals. He also showed how to directly image the chemical bonds between atoms.
In 2017, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society. This award recognized his big contributions to microscopy. Microscopy is the study of using microscopes.
Spence also wrote a book called "Lightspeed" in 2019. This book was about the history of trying to measure the speed of light. This research led to Albert Einstein's famous theories. In 2021, he was given the Gregori Aminoff Prize. John Spence passed away in 2021.
See also
- Henry N. Chapman
- Sumio Iijima
- Serial femtosecond crystallography
