Arthur Holly Compton (1892–1962)

Arthur Holly Compton, the son of a Presbyterian minister, was born in Wooster, Ohio, in 1892. He received his B.S. from the College of Wooster and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1916 and did postdoctoral research from 1919 to 1920. Compton made significant advances in the study of mostrar más X-radiation and optics. In 1923 he discovered and interpreted the change in the wavelength of scattered X-rays (the Compton effect). His research provided the first conclusive experimental proof of Albert Einstein's light quantum hypothesis and led to the development of modern quantum theory physics. Compton and other American scientists were initially skeptical of Einstein's hypothesis. A painstaking process of rethinking the fundamental principles of physics and extensive laboratory work enabled Compton finally to support Einstein's quantum hypothesis with experimental proof. This led to his sharing of the Nobel Prize with Charles Wilson in 1927 for his discovery of the effect named after him. During World War II, Compton played a significant role in the Manhattan Project, which culminated in the development of the atomic bomb. Compton was connected with the University of Chicago, Washington University, and the University of California, Berkeley. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos