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Arthur Holly Compton

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Scientist

The Resume

    (September 10, 1892-March 15, 1962)
    Born in Wooster, Ohio
    Physicist
    Discovered the Compton effect (1921) in which a photon scattered by an electron transfers energy to the electron, resulting in an increased wavelength for the photon
    Won the Nobel Prize in Physics (1927)
    Headed the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory, in charge of designing and building an atomic bomb using plutonium
    Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis (1945-53)

Why he might be annoying:

    He recalled that his discovery of the Compton effect 'initiated the most hotly contested scientific controversy that I have ever known.'
    He was a member of the scientific advisory group that recommended dropping atomic bombs on Japan.
    As chancellor of Washington University, he was criticized for moving slowly on racial integration, with the university being the last major institution of higher learning in St. Louis to admit black students.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He built and flew a glider when he was 18.
    He was one of the first two recipients of the National Research Council Fellowships that allowed students to study abroad (1919).
    The Compton effect was the first experimental evidence that light could behave as a particle as well as a wave.
    He, his older brother Karl (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and his younger brother Wilson (Washington State) were the first three siblings to simultaneously head American colleges.
    One of his lesser-known inventions: the 'Holly hump,' a gentler, more elongated version of the speed bump that was less likely to rip up the underside of a speeding car.
    NASA named its Gamma Ray Observatory after him (because the detection instruments rely on the Compton effect).

Credit: C. Fishel


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