Joshua N. Goldberg (May 30, 1925 – October 5, 2020) was an American physicist and educator who was particularly noted for his research on

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics ...

Early life and education

Goldberg was born in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, New York, and received a Bachelor's degree from the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

in 1947. He received a doctorate in physics from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1952. His thesis advisor was

Peter Bergmann Peter Gabriel Bergmann (24 March 1915 – 19 October 2002) was a German-American physicist best known for his work with Albert Einstein on a unified field theory encompassing all physical interactions. He also introduced primary and secondar ...

Career

From 1952–1956 Goldberg was a research scientist at the

Armour Research Foundation IIT Research Institute (IITRI),Greenbaum & Wheeler (1967), cover sheet (technical paper).McCormac; et al. (1967), p. i (book)."IITRI" (or "iiTRi") is used on cover sheets of technical paper documents in prior decades. also known historically and ...

. He then worked at the Aerospace Research Laboratory at

Wright Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wri ...

, where over seven years he built a research group working on relativity. In 1963 Goldberg became a professor of physics at Syracuse University, where he was an emeritus professor of physics. Goldberg is known for his research in

, where he has written 61 papers. He and

Rainer K. Sachs Rainer Kurt "Ray" Sachs (born June 13, 1932) is a German-American mathematical physicist, with interests in general relativistic cosmology and astrophysics, as well as a computational radiation biologist. He is professor emeritus of Mathematics an ...

published the Goldberg-Sachs Theorem in 1962. Along with Bergmann, Goldberg introduced a new derivation of the laws of motion of rigid bodies according to the rigorous approach that they had developed. Goldberg was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1972. In 2011, Goldberg's research career was honored by a special issue of the journal ''

General Relativity and Gravitation A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...

''.

Death

Goldberg died in Madison, Wisconsin on October 5, 2020 at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldberg, Joshua N. 1925 births 2020 deaths Scientists from Rochester, New York 21st-century American physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society Syracuse University faculty University of Rochester alumni Syracuse University alumni