Time and the Physical Universe

Creator

Norman E. Ramsey

Files

Description

(This information was taken from the Distinguished Scientist Lecture Series Program 1989-1990).

Norman F. Ramsey is the Higgins Professor ofPhysics at Harvard University. He has been a Harvard faculty member since 1947. Norman Ramsey received his A.B. and M.A. from Columbia University and degrees from Cambridge University. In1940 he received aPh.D. from Columbia University for molecular beam studies of rotational magnetic moments of molecules. He was awarded an Sc.D. by Cambridge University in1954 and by Oxford University in1973, as well as honorary D.Sc.'s from Case-Western Reserve University, Middlebury College, and Rockefeller University. After periods at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, the University of Illinois, the MIT Radiation Laboratory, and Los Alamos, he became an Associate Professor atColumbia University. He was executive secretary of the group of scientists who established Brookhaven National Laboratory and was the first chairman of its physics department. Norman Ramsey has been a Guggenheim Fellow and was the George Eastman Professor at Oxford University in1973-7 4. He was chairman of the physics section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1977 -78 and president of the American Physical Society in 1978-79. From 1966 to 1981 he was president of the Universities Research Association, which operates the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. He has been a trustee of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace since 1962 and of Rockefeller University since 1977. Since 1980 he has been chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Institute of Physics and since 1985 he has been president of the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Ramsey is a member of the American Physical Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. He received the Presidential Certificate of Merit in 1950, the E.O. Lawrence Award in 1960, the Davisson-Germer Prize in 1974, the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1984, the 1980 Columbia Award for Excellence inScience, and the 1987 IEEE Centennial Medal. Dr. Ramsey has also received the Monie Ferst Award, the Rabi Prize, the Mumford Premium in 1985, the Compton Medal in 1986, the Oersted Medal, and the National Medal of Science in 1988. Dr. Ramsey's books include Experimental Nuclear Physics, Nuclear Moments, Molecular Beams, and Quick Calculus!

His Work: Dr. Ramsey has developed theories and experimental methods in fields ranging from particle physics to molecular beams. He and his associates have made precision measurements of the electric and magnetic properties of nucleons, nuclei, atoms, and molecules. He is well known for his work on atomic and molecular beams, including the invention of the hydrogen maser.

Keywords

Physics

Creation Date

November 18, 1989

Recommended Citation

Ramsey, Norman E., "Time and the Physical Universe" (1989). DSLS 1989-1990. 5.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/dsls_1989_1990/5