Nobel Prize Award for Physics 1963 to 1974

About the Nobel Prize Award for Physics 1963 to 1974 including the scientists Townes and Gabor, their works, and history.

PHYSICS

1963 Eugene P. Wigner (1902- ), American (b. Hungary)

Maria Goeppert Mayer (1906-1972), American (b. Poland)

J. Hans D. Jensen (1907-1973), German

Work: Contributions to nuclear and theoretical physics

1964 Charles H. Townes (1915- ), American

Nikolai G. Basov (1922- ), Russian

Aleksandr M. Prokhorov (1916- ), Russian

Work: Fundamental research in quantum electronics, leading to the maser-laser principle

1965 Richard P. Feynman (1918- ), American

Julian S. Schwinger (1918- ), American

Sin-itiro Tomonaga (1906- ), Japanese

Work: Research in quantum electrodynamics, leading to a better understanding of elementary particles

1966 Alfred Kastler (1902- ), French

Work: Discovery and development of optical methods for studying Hertzian resonances in atoms

1967 Hans A. Bethe (1906- ), American (b. Germany)

Work: Theoretical contributions to nuclear reaction, especially discoveries related to the energy production of the stars

1968 Luis W. Alvarez (1911- ), American

Work: Research into subatomic particles and the development of techniques used for their detection

1969 Murray Gell-Mann (1929- ), American

Work: New insights into the interaction among elementary particles, including a theoretical model he named "the Eight-fold Way"

1970 Louis Neel (1904- ), French

Work: Discovery of ferromagnets and antiferromagnets, which have advanced solid-state physics

Hannes Alfven (1908- ), Swedish

Work: Devised the theory underlying magnetohydrodynamics, or the relationship between magnetism and electrically conducting liquids

1971 Dennis Gabor (1900- ), British (b. Hungary)

Work: Invention of holography, i.e., photography without lenses

1972 John Bardeen (1908- ), American

Leon Cooper (1930- ), American

John R. Schrieffer (1931- ), American

Work: Development of a theory explaining superconductivity

1973 Ivar Giaever (1929- ), American (b. Norway)

Leo Esaki (1925- ), American (b. Japan)

Brian David Josephson (1940- ), British

Work: Discovery of how electrons tunnel through conductors to become superconductors Nobel Laureates: Giaever, like Einstein, began his career as a patent examiner, in his native Norway. He came to the U.S. in 1956 to work as a mathematician for General Electric, where he has been employed as a physicist since 1958.

Esaki left Sony headquarters in Japan and brought his bride to the U.S. in 1960. As a physicist, he joined the research team at IBM that year, rising to head the device research effort there in 1965. He lives in Chappaqua, N.Y.

Educated at Cambridge, Josephson joined the faculty of the University of Illinois in 1965 but returned to his alma mater to conduct research two years later. He has been professor of physics at Cambridge since 1974. He enjoys ice skating, long walks, and photography.

1974 Martin Ryle (1918- ), English

Work: Development of techniques for using radio telescopes to observe detail in outer space

Antony Hewish (1924- ), English

Work: Played a major role in the discovery of pulsars