Arthur Holly Compton

Arthur Holly Compton ( September 10 , 1892 – March 15 , 1962 ) won the Nobel Prize in Physics (1927)for discovery of the effect named after him.

Early years

Around 1913 , Compton devised a demonstration method for the Earth 's rotation .

In 1918 , Compton studied X-ray scattering. In 1922 , Compton found that X-rays wavelength increases due to scattering of the radiant energy by " free electrons ". Scattered quanta have less energy than the quanta of the original ray. This observation furthersthe " particle " concept of electromagnetic radiation . Compton developed the methodfor observing at the same instant individual scattered X-ray photons and the recoil electrons (developed with A. W. Simon ). In Germany, W. Bothe and H. Geiger independently form a similar method.

Later years

In 1941 , along with VannevarBush , head of the wartime Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), and Ernest Lawrence , the Berkeley inventor of the cyclotron , he helped to take over thethen-stagnant American program to develop an atomic bomb . Compton was placedin charge of the OSRD's S-1 Committee charged with investigating the properties and manufacture of uranium .

In 1942 , Compton appointed Robert Oppenheimer as the Committee's top theorist . When the Committee's work was taken over by the Army in the summer of 1942, it became the Manhattan Project .

During the early years of World War II , Compton became involved withresearch into nuclear fission at the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago . In December 1942 , underneath Chicago 's Stagg Field , Enrico Fermi achieved a sustained chainreaction in the world's first nuclear reactor with the help of Compton's Metallurgical Laboratory. Throughout the war, Compton would remain a prominent scientific advisor andadministrator.

See also

• Schools : Princeton University , University of Chicago
• Physics Timeline mechanics andphysics
• Energy  : Luminiferous aether , Radiant energy , Manhattan Project ( Atomic energy )