John Clarke (physicist) facts for kids
John Clarke (born in 1942) is a British physicist. He is a Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of California at Berkeley.
John Clarke studied physics at the University of Cambridge in England. He earned his first degree in 1964. He then completed his master's degree and Ph.D. in Physics in 1968. He studied at Christ's College, Cambridge and Darwin College, Cambridge.
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What is a Physicist?
A physicist is a scientist who studies how the universe works. They explore things like energy, force, and matter. John Clarke is an experimental physicist. This means he does experiments to test ideas about physics.
Amazing Discoveries with SQUIDs
John Clarke has done very important work in the field of superconductivity. This is when certain materials can conduct electricity with no resistance. He is famous for helping to develop and use special tools called superconducting quantum interference devices, or SQUIDs.
How SQUIDs Work
SQUIDs are incredibly sensitive detectors. They can measure tiny changes in magnetic flux. Think of magnetic flux as the amount of magnetic field passing through an area. SQUIDs are so good at this that they are used in many different areas of science.
Searching for Dark Matter
One exciting project John Clarke worked on involved using SQUIDs to search for something called the axion. Scientists believe axions might be a part of dark matter. Dark matter is a mysterious substance that scientists think makes up a large part of the universe. We cannot see it, but it affects how galaxies move. SQUIDs help scientists listen for very faint signals that could come from axions.
Awards and Recognition
John Clarke has received many honors for his scientific work. In 1986, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very respected group of scientists in the United Kingdom. He also received the Comstock Prize in Physics in 1999. In 2004, he was awarded the Hughes Medal. These awards recognize his important contributions to physics.
In 2012, he was chosen as a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. This means he was recognized by top scientists in the United States. He was also elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2017.
Honours and Awards
- Micius Quantum Prize 2021
- Hughes Medal 2004
- Comstock Prize in Physics 1999
- Joseph F. Keithley Award For Advances in Measurement Science 1998
- Guggenheim Fellowship 1977-78
- Miller Research Professor 1975-76, Fall 1994, Fall 2007
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship (1970–72)
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