Robert Woodrow Wilson
Robert Woodrow Wilson (born January 10, 1936 in Houston , Texas ) is an American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics.
Wilson graduated from Rice University and the California Institute of Technology .
He received 1978 together with Arno Penzias the Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation ( Engl. : Cosmic Microwave Background , CMB). The couple made this discovery by chance in 1964 while they were working on a new type of antenna at the Bell Laboratories in Holmdel , New Jersey . They discovered a background noise that they could not explain. After removing pigeon droppings from the antenna , but the noise remained, it was ultimately identified as cosmic background radiation. This is seen as an experimental confirmation of the Big Bang theory.
Awards
- 1977: Henry Draper Medal
- 1977: Herschel Medal
- 1978: Admission to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 1978: Nobel Prize in Physics
- 1979: Admission to the National Academy of Sciences
- 2009: Member of the American Philosophical Society
Web links
- Information from the Nobel Foundation on the 1978 award ceremony for Robert Woodrow Wilson
Individual evidence
- ^ Member History: Robert W. Wilson. American Philosophical Society, accessed November 18, 2018 (with biographical notes).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wilson, Robert Woodrow |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 10, 1936 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Houston , Texas |