Philip Morrison
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- For other persons named Philip Morrison, see Phil Morrison.
| Philip Morrison | |
 |
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| Born | 7 November 1915 Somerville, New Jersey |
|---|---|
| Died | 22 April 2005 (aged 89) Cambridge, Massachusetts |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | San Francisco State University Illinois Manhattan Project Cornell MIT |
| Alma mater | Carnegie Tech Berkeley |
| Doctoral advisor | J. Robert Oppenheimer |
| Known for | SETI, science education |
| Notable awards | Babson Prize of the Gravity Foundation, Westinghouse Science Writing Award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, |
Philip Morrison, (born 7 November 1915 in Somerville, New Jersey – died 22 April 2005 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was Institute Professor Emeritus and Professor of Physics Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Morrison grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from its public schools. He earned his B.S. in 1936 at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and in 1940 he earned his Ph.D. in theoretical physics at the University of California, Berkeley, under the supervision of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
In 1942 he joined the Manhattan Project as group leader and physicist at the laboratories of the University of Chicago and Los Alamos. He was also an eyewitness to the Trinity test, and helped to transport its plutonium core to the test site.
After surveying the destruction left by the use of the atom bomb in Hiroshima, Morrison became a champion of nuclear nonproliferation. He helped found the Federation of American Scientists, wrote for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, and helped to found the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies. He was also a vocal critic of the Strategic Defense Initiative.
In May of 1953 Dr. Morrison testified before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act. When asked if he had ever been a member of the Communist Party (CPUSA), Morrison replied: "I joined the Young Communist League when I was 18, and when I was 21 (1936) I did become a member of the Communist party in Berkeley. I don't remember precisely which branch."
Morrison joined the physics faculty at Cornell University in 1946 and would move on to MIT in 1964. In 1959, Morrison and Giuseppe Cocconi published a paper [1] proposing the potential of microwaves in the search for interstellar communications, a component of the modern SETI program.
Morrison was also known for his numerous books and television programs, including "Powers of Ten" and the 1987 PBS series The Ring of Truth, which he also hosted. In addition, he was a reviewer of books on science for Scientific American since 1965.
Morrison was a fellow of the American Physical Society and chairman of the Federation of American Scientists from 1973 to 1976. He was also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the International Astronomical Union, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific gave him the Klumpke-Roberts Award in 1992.
[edit] Source
- Philip Morrison testimony, 7 and 8 May 1953, Subversive Influence in the Educational Process, United States Congress, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, 83rd Congress, 1st Session, part 9, pgs. 899-919.
[edit] References
- ^ Cocconi, Giuseppi, and Morrison, Philip (1959, 19 September). "Searching for Interstellar Communications". Nature 184 (4690): 844-846.
[edit] External links
- Obituary of Philip Morrison from the MIT News Office
- Article Outlining Morrison's Life and Career
- Interview about the Manhattan Project for the WGBH series, War and Peace in the Nuclear Age
- Online web memorial to Phil and Phylis Morrison
- Annotated bibliography for Philip Morrison from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Morrison, Philip |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American astrophysicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 7 November 1915 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Somerville, New Jersey |
| DATE OF DEATH | 22 April 2005 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
