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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectGregory Breit
Dates
July 14, 1899 – September 13, 1988
Authorized Form of Name
Breit, Gregory, 1899-1981
Additional Forms of Names
Breit, Gregory
Biography
Abstract
Gregory Breit worked with many influential, twentieth century physicists including Merle Tuve, Eugene Wigner, Edward Condon, and John Wheeler. He researched nucleon properties, quantum electrodynamics, the theory of nuclear resonances, and heavy ion physics. His institutional affiliations include the Carnegie Institution of Washington, New York University, University of Wisconsin, and Yale University.
Important Dates
July 14, 1899Birth (Mykolaïv was part of Russia at this time), Mykolaïv (Mykolaïvsʹka oblastʹ, Ukraine).
1918Obtained AB, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (Md.).
1920Obtained AM, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (Md.).
1921Obtained PhD in Physics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (Md.).
1921 – 1922National Research Fellow, University of Leiden.
1922 – 1923National Research Fellow, Harvard University.
1923 – 1924Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Minnesota.
1924 – 1944Mathematical Physicist, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (1924-1929) and Research Associate (1929-1944), Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington (D.C.).
1928Researcher, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zurich.
1929 – 1934Professor of Physics, New York University, New York (N.Y.).
1932 – 1935Member-at-Large, Division of Physical Sciences, National Research Council.
1934 – 1947Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison (Wis.).
1935 – 1936Visiting Member, Institute for Advanced Study.
1938 – 1941Member, Division of Physical Sciences, National Research Council.
1939Member, National Academy of Sciences.
1940Member, Technical Subcommittee, Advisory Committee on Uranium, National Defense Research Committee (superseded by the Office of Scientific Research and Development).
1940 – 1941Staff Member, Naval Ordnance Laboratory, United States Navy.
1941 – 1942Member, Section on Uranium, Office of Scientific Research and Development.
1942Coordinator, Fast-Neutron Project, Manhattan Project, Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Chicago (Ill.).
1942 – 1943Group Supervisor, Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (Md.).
1942 – 1944Consultant, Executive Committee, National Defense Research Committee, Office of Scientific Research and Development.
1943 – 1945Head Physicist, Ballistic Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, United States Army.
1947 – 1968Professor of Physics (1947-1958) and Donner Professor of Physics (1958-1968), Yale University, New Haven (Conn.).
1964Awarded Franklin Medal, Franklin Institute.
1967Awarded National Medal of Science.
1968 – 1988Distinguished Professor of Physics (1968-1974) and Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Physics (1974-1988), State University College at Buffalo, Buffalo (N.Y.).
1969Awarded Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics, American Physical Society.
September 13, 1988Death, Salem (Or.).
Occupation
Nuclear physicist.
Places
Birth
Mykolaïv (Mykolaïvsʹka oblastʹ, Ukraine)
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Family
Breit, Lubov
Sister.
Breit, Marjory Elizabeth McDill
Wife.
Advisors & Collaborators
Ames, Joseph Sweetman, 1864-1943
Ph.D. advisor at Johns Hopkins University, "Distributed Capacity of Inductance Coils."
Condon, Edward Uhler, 1902-1974
First described proton-proton dispersion together.
Advised by Breit at University of Wisconsin, Madison, "The Fine Structure of Nuclear Energy Levels on the Alpha Model."
Used a pulsed radio transmitter to demonstrate the existence of the ionosphere. Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington and on the Technical Subcommittee, Advisory Committee on Uranium.
Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008
Both employed at New York University and described the Breit-Wheeler process.
Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995
Investigated the theory of nuclear resonances together. Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison and Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Colleagues
Both employed at Yale University.
Allison, Samuel King, 1900-1965
Both employed at the Office of Scientific Research and Development and Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Barschall, H. H. (Henry Herman), 1915-1997
Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison and Los Alamos National Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Beams, Jesse W. (Jesse Wakefield), 1898-1977
Both worked on the Technical Subcommittee, Advisory Committee on Uranium.
Birgeneau, Robert J. (Robert Joseph), 1942-
Both employed at Yale University.
Bridgman, P. W. (Percy Williams), 1882-1961
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Bromley, D. Allan (David Allan), 1926-2005
Both employed at Yale University.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Compton, Arthur Holly, 1892-1962
Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Doan, Richard Lloyd, 1898-
Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Fleming, J. A. (John Adam), 1877-1956
Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Both worked on the Technical Subcommittee, Advisory Committee on Uranium.
Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Haworth, Leland J. (Leland John), 1904-
Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Herb, R. G. (Raymond George), 1908-1996
Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Both employed at New York University and the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at Yale University.
Both employed at Yale University.
Lamb, Willis E. (Willis Eugene), 1913-2008
Both employed at Yale University.
Both employed at Yale University.
Loomis, F. W. (Francis Wheeler), 1889-1976
Both employed at New York University.
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project, and Harvard University.
Pegram, George Braxton, 1876-1958
Both worked on the Technical Subcommittee, Advisory Committee on Uranium.
Pierce, George Washington, 1872-1956
Both employed at Harvard University.
Both employed at Yale University.
Rustgi, Moti Lal
Both employed at State University College at Buffalo.
Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Both employed at Yale University.
Seaborg, Glenn T. (Glenn Theodore), 1912-1999
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Slichter, Louis B. (Louis Byrne), 1896-1978
Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Tate, John T. (John Torrence), 1889-1950
Both employed at the University of Minnesota.
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Urey, Harold Clayton, 1893-1981
Both worked on the Technical Subcommittee, Advisory Committee on Uranium.
Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980
Both employed at University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Waterman, Alan Tower, 1892-1967
Both employed at Yale University.
Weinberg, Alvin Martin, 1915-2006
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Zinn, Walter H. (Walter Henry), 1906-2000
Both employed at the Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Additional
Brown, G. E. (Gerald Edward), 1926-
Breit taught Brown at University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Gillmor, C. Stewart, 1938-
Goudsmit, Samuel A. (Samuel Abraham), 1902-1978
Hull, McAllister H.
Inglis, David Rittenhouse, 1905-1995
Jewett, Frank B. (Frank Baldwin), 1879-1949
Kemble, Edwin C. (Edwin Crawford), 1889-
Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958
Marwell, Jeremy C.
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Petersen, Aage
Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988
Saperstein, Alvin M.
Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002
Zilsel, Paul Rudolph, 1923-
Zimmerman, George O.
Institutions
Major Positions
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
Mathematical Physicist.
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. Departement Physik
Researcher.
Harvard University. Department of Physics
National Research Fellow.
Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.)
Visiting Member.
Johns Hopkins University. Applied Physics Laboratory
Group Supervisor.
Manhattan Project (U.S.)
Coordinator, Fast-Neutron Project, Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory.
New York University. Department of Physics
Professor of Physics.
Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden
National Research Fellow.
State University College at Buffalo
Distinguished Professor of Physics and Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Physics.
U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory
Head Physicist.
United States. Naval Ordnance Laboratory (Indian Head, Md.)
Staff Member.
United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development. Metallurgical Laboratory
Coordinator, Fast-Neutron Project, Manhattan Project.
University of Minnesota. Department of Physics and Astronomy
Assistant Professor of Physics.
University of Wisconsin--Madison. Department of Physics
Professor of Physics.
Yale University. Physics Department
Professor of Physics and Donner Professor of Physics.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
Associate Editor of the Physical Review and 1969 Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics Recipient.
Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Awarded Franklin Medal in 1964.
Johns Hopkins University. Department of Physics
Obtained AB in 1918, AM in 1920, and PhD in 1921.
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
National Research Council (U.S.)
Member-at-Large, Division of Physical Sciences and Member, Division of Physical Sciences.
United States. Council of National Defense. National Defense Research Committee
Technical Subcommittee, Advisory Committee on Uranium.
United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development. National Defense Research Committee
Member, Section on Uranium and Consultant, Executive Committee.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Banquet of the American Physical Society [sound recording] 1969 April 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Gregory Breit papers, 1929-1980 (bulk 1960-1970).
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Gregory Breit personnel folder, 1968-1973.
University Archives
State University of New York at Buffalo
420 Capen Hall, Amherst Campus, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
Gregory Breit selected papers [microform], (bulk 1950-1973).
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Gregory Breit Symposium [sound recording], 1968 May 3.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Gregory Breit, 1975 December 8.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Subject
Aage Petersen collection of reprints and manuscripts, 1922-1976.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Alvin M. Saperstein student notes of lectures given by Gregory Breit, 1952-1954.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Archive for the History of Quantum Physics, 1898-1950 (bulk).
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Conversations with David Inglis, [videorecording] Feb.-May 1989.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism Ionospheric Section records, 1927-1959, (bulk 1942-1946).
Library and Archives
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetisim
5241 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA
Dogs that did not bark: Nuclear fission, scientific self-censorship, and the specter of a Nazi Bomb, 1999.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Edward Condon papers, circa 1920-1974.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Eugene Feenberg correspondence, 1927-1958.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
George O. Zimmerman collection of lecture notes by Gregory Breit and Lars Onsager, circa 1960-1961.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Hans Bethe papers, circa 1931-1992.
Carl A. Kroch Library. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University
2B Carl A Kroch Library, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
I. I. Rabi papers, 1899-1989 (bulk 1945-1968).
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress
James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA
John A. Wheeler papers, 1894-2008.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Moti Lal Rustgi papers, 1952-1992.
University Archives
State University of New York at Buffalo
420 Capen Hall, Amherst Campus, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA
Oral history interview with David Rittenhouse Inglis, 1977 May 9 and 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Edward Creutz, 2006 January 9 and 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Edwin C. Kemble, 1962 May 11 to 1963 October 2.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Eugene Feenberg, 1973 April 13 and 14.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Eugene Paul Wigner, 1963 November 21 and December 3, 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Eugene Paul Wigner, 1966 November 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Eugene Paul Wigner, 1984 April 12.
Seeley G. Mudd Library
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
Oral history interview with Felix Bloch, 1968 August 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with I. I. Rabi, 1963 December 8.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with J. H. Van Vleck, 1963 October 2 and 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Joel Bengston, 1986 July 1.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1967 April 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1988 May 4, May 23 and November 28.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Lawrence Hafstad, 1984 June 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Merle Antony Tuve, 1967 March 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Merle Antony Tuve, 1982 January 13 and February 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Nicolaas Bloembergen, 1983 June 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Otto Laporte, 1964 January 29 and 31.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Paul Rudolph Zilsel, 1988 March 21 and 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Raymond George Herb, 1976 April.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Robert S. Shankland, 1974 August 20 and 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Victor Frederick Weisskopf, 1966 September 21 and December 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Pais Prize Session [sound recording], 2017 March 13.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Physical Review records, 1940-1947.
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress
James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA
Samuel A. Goudsmit papers, 1921-1979.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Physics records, 1885-1962.
University Archives
University of Wisconsin--Madison
Steenbock Library, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics records, 1933-1947.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Published Resources
Author
Facets of physics / Edited by D. Allan Bromley and Vernon W. Hughes.
Nuclear physics / by Enrico Fermi [et al.].
Subject
Fly with Eagles, Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Science 51 (2001): 1-22.
Gregory Breit Physics Today obituary.
Gregory Breit: 1899-1981, Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences