Jabez Curry Street (May 5, 1906 – November 7, 1989) was an American

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 cau ...

, a co-discoverer of atomic particles called

muons A muon ( ; from the Greek letter mu (μ) used to represent it) is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with an electric charge of −1 '' e'' and a spin of , but with a much greater mass. It is classified as a lepton. As wi ...

. National Academies Press:Biographical Memoirs:Jabez Curry Street;By K. T. Bainbridge, E. M. Purcell, N. F. Ramsey, and K. Strauch
/ref> Street was also notable for heading the group at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

that created ground and ship radar systems. He also directed development of

LORAN LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range u ...

Navigation System, which is used worldwide for navigation purposes. Street was chairman of the physics department at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and acting director of the Cambridge Electron Accelerator, a member of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academies Press called him "a boldly innovative experimental physicist whose discoveries in cosmic rays influenced decisively the course of high-energy physics."

Chronology

* May 5, 1906: born in

Opelika, Alabama Opelika (pronounced ) is a city in and the county seat of Lee County in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of Opelika is ...

* 1927: B.S. in electrical engineering, the Alabama Polytechnic Institute (renamed in 1960 Auburn University) * 1931: Ph.D., the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

with thesis ''The fall of potential in electrical discharges'' under the supervision of

Jesse Wakefield Beams Jesse Wakefield Beams (December 25, 1898 in Belle Plaine, Kansas – July 23, 1977) was an American physicist at the University of Virginia. Biography Beams completed his undergraduate B.A. in physics at Fairmount College in 1921 and his mas ...

* 1932–1970:

, Instructor to Professor of Physics * 1936: elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (search on year=1936 and institution=Harvard University) * 1937: discovers muons with E. C. Stevenson at

* 1940–1945:

Radiation Laboratory, Researcher * 1953: elected to the National Academy of Sciences * 1955–1960:

, Chair, Department of Physics * 1962–1963: Harvard-MIT Cambridge Electron Accelerator, Acting Director * 1970–1976:

, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics * 1976: retired * 1976–1989:

, Emeritus Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics * November 7, 1989: died in Charleston, South Carolina

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Street, Jabez C. 1906 births 1989 deaths People from Opelika, Alabama University of Virginia alumni Auburn University alumni 20th-century American physicists Harvard University faculty Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences