Albert Roach Hibbs (October 19, 1924 – February 24, 2003) was an American
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
and
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
affiliated with the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States.
Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...
(JPL). He was known as "The Voice of JPL" due to his gift for explaining advanced science in simple terms.
[ He helped establish JPL's Space Science Division in 1960 and later served as its first chief. He was the systems designer for ]Explorer 1
Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The mission followed the first two satellites the previous year; the Soviet Union's ...
, the USA's first satellite, and helped establish the framework for exploration of the Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...
through the 1960s. Hibbs qualified as an astronaut
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
in 1967 and was slated to be a crew member of Apollo 25, but he ultimately did not go to the Moon due to the Apollo program ending after the Apollo 17
Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon or traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on ...
mission in 1972.
Education
Hibbs earned bachelor's degree in physics from the California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
(Caltech) in 1945, having attended Caltech under the sponsorship of the US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
's V-12 program. He then obtained a master's degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
in 1947.[
While working as a staff member at JPL, in 1955 Hibbs received a PhD in physics from Caltech with a thesis on "The Growth of Water Waves Due to the Action of the Wind". His thesis advisor was the Nobel laureate ]Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...
. Hibbs became close friends with Feynman and together they published the textbook ''Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals'' (McGraw-Hill, 1965),[ which is still a standard reference on the ]path integral formulation
The path integral formulation is a description in quantum mechanics that generalizes the action principle of classical mechanics. It replaces the classical notion of a single, unique classical trajectory for a system with a sum, or functional in ...
.
Career
Hibbs joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1950. He became head of JPL's Research and Analysis Section, and in this role, he was the systems designer for America's first successful satellite, Explorer 1
Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year (IGY). The mission followed the first two satellites the previous year; the Soviet Union's ...
, in 1958. After NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
took over JPL in 1958, Hibbs worked to establish the framework for planetary missions for the next decade.
In 1960, Hibbs was placed in charge of forming and leading the Space Science Division at JPL. As the division became successful, Hibbs emerged as the "Voice of JPL".[
From 1962 to 1967, Hibbs left JPL to work on special assignment as staff scientist for the Arms Control Study Group (ACSG) of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), studying how arms-control treaties could be monitored from space.]
From the late 1960s to the 1980s, he became the authoritative source of information on JPL missions, including: the Ranger
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
and Surveyor missions to the Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
; the Mariner
A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship.
The profession of the s ...
missions to Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
, Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
, and Mercury
Mercury commonly refers to:
* Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun
* Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg
* Mercury (mythology), a Roman god
Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to:
Companies
* Merc ...
; the Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
missions to Mars; and the Voyager missions to the outer planets.[
By the age of five, Hibbs had decided that he wanted to go to the Moon.][ He qualified as an astronaut in 1967, despite being 7 years over the age limit, and he was slated to be a crew member of Apollo 25. The Apollo program ended after ]Apollo 17
Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon or traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on ...
, denying him his dream.[ Nevertheless, he has reflected that: "Even though I didn't make it to the moon, my machines did."
]
Awards and honors
Hibbs hosted and produced several radio and television programs for adults and children. He won a Peabody award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
for the children's series ''Exploring
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
'', as well as two Thomas Alva Edison Foundation National Media Awards. He was also given NASA's Exceptional Service Medal, "for his outstanding achievements in explaining the complexities and significance of space exploration to the general public via radio and television," and the NASA Achievement Award.[
As a prominent member of the Southern California Skeptics, Hibbs was awarded a Fellowship from the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP).][
Hibbs also had an asteroid named after him (2441 Hibbs) in honor of Al Hibbs and his wife Marka as an acknowledgement of the role they played in introducing her to Space Science at Caltech.
]
JPL in memoriam video
file:In Memoriam of Al Hibbs.webm
Other activities
In 1947, Hibbs and Roy Walford
Roy Lee Walford, M. D. (June 29, 1924 – April 27, 2004) was a professor of pathology at University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, a leading advocate of calorie restriction for life extension and health improvement, and a crew m ...
took time off from graduate and medical school, respectively, to go to Reno
Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
and Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
to beat the casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
s at roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...
. Studying biases in the roulette wheels, they made profits variously estimated between $6,500 and $42,000. According to Hibbs himself, during an episode of ''You Bet Your Life
''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show deb ...
'' on which he was a contestant and won $250, he made "about $12,000" from his roulette exploits. The pair used the profits to spend over a year sailing around the Caribbean aboard a 40-foot sailboat, Adonde.[
Hibbs was a member of the project review committee for ]Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2 is an American Earth system science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona. Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and lifelong learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the univers ...
from 1987 to 1992 and was involved in artist Tom Van Sant'sbr>Geosphere Project
from 1989 to 1995 as a member of the Eyes on Earth Board of Directors.[ In his retirement, Hibbs pursued underwater photography at sites all over the world.][
Hibbs enjoyed making kinetic sculpture as a hobby] and was fascinated by miniaturised, independently operating machines—a field where he once again collaborated in a well known idea-experiment of Feynman's. According to Feynman, it was Hibbs who originally suggested to him (circa 1959) the idea of a medical use for Feynman's theoretical micromachines (see nanotechnology
Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...
). Hibbs suggested that certain repair machines might one day be reduced in size to the point that it would, in theory, be possible to (as Feynman put it) "swallow the doctor".
Personal life
Hibbs first married in 1950, to Florence Pavin, with whom he had two children. He was widowed in 1970. In 1971, he married Marka Oliver.
He died in February 2003 from complications following heart surgery at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hibbs, Albert
1924 births
2003 deaths
American physicists
American skeptics
American television hosts
California Institute of Technology alumni
NASA people
Science communicators
Space advocates
University of Chicago alumni