Fergie's Tech Blog

11 March 1920: Happy Birthday, Nobel Laureate Nicolaas Bloembergen

Via Wikipedia.

Nicolaas Bloembergen (born March 11, 1920) is an Dutch physicist. He received his Ph.D. from University of Leiden in 1948 and then became a professor at Harvard University.

Bloembergen left Netherlands in 1945 due to devastation of Europe from WWII to pursue graduate studies at Harvard University. Six weeks before his arrival Harvard Professor Edward M. Purcell (along with his graduate students Torrey and Pound) have discovered nuclear magnetic resonance. Bloembergen was hired to develop a first NMR machine. While at Harvard he enjoyed classes from Schwinger, Van Vleck and Kemble. His thesis "Nuclear Magnetic Relaxation" was submitted both in Leiden, where he passed qualifying criteria, and Harvard. After a brief postdoctoral appointment with C. J. Gorter at Netherlands he joined Harvard as a junior fellow of Society of Fellows in 1949 and Associate Professor in 1951.

In 1958, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

Nicolaas Bloembergen shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics with Arthur Schawlow and Kai Siegbahn for their work in laser spectroscopy. Bloembergen and Schawlow investigated matter undetectable without lasers. He had earlier modified the maser of Charles Townes. Bloembergen serves on the University of Arizona faculty.

More here.

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posted by Fergie @ 3/10/2006 10:01:00 PM