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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as Author

Carl D. Anderson

Photo

Dates

September 3, 1905 – January 11, 1991

Authorized Form of Name

Anderson, Carl D. (Carl David), 1905-1991

Additional Forms of Names

Anderson, Carl D., 1905-1991

Anderson, Carl David, 1905-1991

Biography

Abstract

Carl David Anderson was an American physicist, who received the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics. He is renowned for his discovery of the positron and the muon.

Important Dates

September 3, 1905Birth, New York (N.Y.).

1927Obtained BS in Physics and Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).

1930Obtained PhD in Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).

1930 – 1991Research Fellow (1930-1933); Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics (1933-1939); Professor of Physics (1939-1976); Chair, Division of Physics Mathematics and Astronomy (1962-1970); and Emeritus Professor of Physics (1977-1991), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).

1936Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics "for his discovery of the positron".

1937Awarded Elliott Cresson Medal, Franklin Institute.

1938Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1947Flew cloud chambers in two B-29 airplanes and collected information about the decay of primary cosmic ray particles, Office of Naval Research.

1950Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1963 – 1966Chair, Physics Section, National Academy of Sciences.

January 11, 1991Death, San Marino (Calif.).

Occupation

Particle physicist.

Places

Birth

New York (N.Y.)

Undergraduate Education

Pasadena (Calif.)

Graduate Education

Pasadena (Calif.)

Employment

Pasadena (Calif.)

Death

San Marino (Calif.)

Subjects

Antimatter.

Cosmic rays.

Cyclotrons.

Muons.

Particles (Nuclear physics).

Photoelectricity.

Positrons.

Proximity fuzes.

Rockets (Aeronautics).

X-rays.

Relationships

People

Family

Anderson, Lorraine

Wife.

Advisors & Collaborators

Fowler, William A.

Collaborated on Caltech artillery rocket project for the Navy and both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968

Collaborated on Caltech artillery rocket project for the Navy and both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

Ph.D. advisor at California Institute of Technology, "Space Distribution of X-Ray Photo-Electric Cells." Both also employed there.

Neddermeyer, Seth H. (Seth Henry), 1907-1988

Advised by Anderson at California Institute of Technology; co-discovered the muon; and both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Colleagues

Adelberger, Eric G.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bahcall, John N.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bardeen, James Maxwell, 1939-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Barish, B. C. (Barry Clark), 1936-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bateman, Harry, 1882-1946

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bitter, Francis, 1902-1967

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Boehm, Felix

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bonner, Tom Wilkerson, 1910-1961

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bowman, J. D. (J. David)

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Brown, Harold, 1927-2019

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Christy, Robert F.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Cole, Julian D.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Crane, H. R. (Horace Richard), 1907-2007

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Dashen, Roger F.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Duwez, Pol

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Epstein, Paul S. (Paul Sophus), 1883-1966

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Everhart, Thomas E.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Feynman, Richard P. (Richard Phillips), 1918-1988

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Freedman, Daniel Z.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Furry, W. H. (Wendell Hinkle), 1907-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Gates, S. James

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Gell-Mann, Murray

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Glashow, Sheldon L.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Glauber, Roy J., 1925-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Gordy, Walter, 1909-1985

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Gould, Roy W. (Roy Walter), 1927-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Hellwarth, Robert Willis, 1930-2021

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Holdren, John P.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Houston, W. V. (William Vermillion), 1900-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Kimble, H. Jeff (Harry Jeffrey), 1949-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Koonin, Steven E.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Kryder, Mark H.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Lauritsen, Thomas, 1915-1973

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Leighton, Robert B.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

McKee, Christopher, 1942-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

McKeown, R. D.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Oddone, Piermaria J.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Politzer, H. David, 1949-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Robertson, H. P. (Howard Percy), 1903-1961

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Schiff, Leonard I. (Leonard Isaac), 1915-1971

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Schwarz, John H.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Sciulli, Frank J.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Slichter, Louis B. (Louis Byrne), 1896-1978

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Spitzer, Frank, 1926-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Teukolsky, Saul A. (Saul Arno), 1947-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Thorne, Kip S.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Tollestrup, Alvin

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Tolman, Richard C. (Richard Chace), 1881-1948

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Trilling, George H.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Tsuei, Chang C.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Von Kármán, Theodore, 1881-1963

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Will, Clifford M., 1946-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Wilson, Robert Woodrow, 1936-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Wise, Mark B., 1953-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Zweig, George

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Additional

Alvarez, Luis W., 1911-1988

Babcock, Horace W.

Blackett, P. M. S. (Patrick Maynard Stuart), Baron Blackett, 1897-1974

Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-

Dirac, P. A. M. (Paul Adrien Maurice), 1902-1984

Evans, Robley Dunglison, 1907-

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

Hess, Victor Francis, 1883-1964

Split the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Nierenberg, William Aaron, 1919-2000

Occhialini, Giuseppe, 1907-1993

Oppenheimer, Frank, 1912-1985

Shapiro, Maurice M. (Maurice Mandel), 1915-

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008

Yukawa, Hideki, 1907-1981

Institutions

Major Positions

California Institute of Technology. Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy

Obtained BS in 1927 and PhD in Physics in 1930; Research Fellow; Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Chair, Division of Physics Mathematics and Astronomy; and Emeritus Professor of Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Fellow.

Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Awarded Elliott Cresson Medal in 1937.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Chair, Physics Section.

University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics

Other

United States. Office of Naval Research

Anderson received support from the Office of Naval Research to fly cloud chambers in two B-29 airplanes and collect information about the decay of primary cosmic ray particles.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Carl D. Anderson papers.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Nobel laureates on scientific research project : oral history, 1964.

Oral History Research Office

Columbia University

Box 20, Room 801 Butler Library, New York, NY 10027, USA

Oral history interview with Carl Anderson, 1966 June 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Carl Anderson, 1979 January 9 -February 8.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Reminiscences of Carl D. Anderson : oral history, 1964.

Oral History Research Office

Columbia University

Box 20, Room 801 Butler Library, New York, NY 10027, USA

The search for an elementary particle [sound recording], 1968 January 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

History of physics I [sound recording], 2011 May 1.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interview with Charles Christian Lauritsen, 1966 June 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Frank Oppenheimer, 1973 February 9 and May 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Giuseppe Occhialini, 1971 April 5, 6, May 16, 17, and November 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with H. R. Crane, 1973 March 28 and 1974 June 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Horace W. Babcock, 1977, July 25.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1962 March 24.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Luis Alvarez, 1967 February 14 and 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Maurice Mandel Shapiro, 1978 May 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Benjamin Leighton, 1977 July 29 and August 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robley D. Evans, 1972 May 2, 3, 1974 May 5 and 1978 June 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Seth H. Neddermeyer, 1984 May 7.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interview with Seth Neddermeyer, 1972 May 30 and 31.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with William Aaron Nierenberg, 1986 February 6 and June 26, 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Wolfgang Kurt Hermann Panofsky, 1973 May 15 and 1974 March 6 and June 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Rochester Conference on High Energy Nuclear Physics proceedings, 1952 and 1955.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Scientific apparatus collection.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Published Resources

Author

The discovery of anti-matter: the autobiography of Carl David Anderson, the youngest man to win the Nobel prize / edited by Richard J. Weiss.

The elementary particles of physics. by Carl D. Anderson.