William Alfred Fowler ( ) was an American nuclear physicist, later
astrophysicist, who, with
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, won the 1983
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
. He is known for his theoretical and experimental research into nuclear reactions within stars and the energy elements produced in the process
and was one of the authors of the influential
BFH paper.
Early life
On , Fowler was born in
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
. Fowler's parents were John MacLeod Fowler and Jennie Summers Watson. Fowler was the eldest of his siblings, Arthur and Nelda.
The family moved to
Lima, Ohio, a steam railroad town, when Fowler was two years old. Growing up near the
Pennsylvania Railroad yard influenced Fowler's interest in locomotives. In 1973, he travelled to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
just to observe the steam engine that powered the
Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...
plying the nearly route that connects
Khabarovsk and
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
.
Education
In 1933, Fowler graduated from the
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
, where he was a member of the
Tau Kappa Epsilon
Tau Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as or Teke, is a social college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899, at Illinois Wesleyan University. The organization has chapters throughout the United States and Canada, making the Fraternity an interna ...
fraternity. In 1936, Fowler received a Ph.D. in
nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
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 ...
in
Pasadena, California.
Career
In 1936, Fowler became a research fellow at Caltech. He was elected to the United States
National Academy of Sciences in 1938. In 1939, Fowler became an assistant professor at Caltech.
Although an experimental nuclear physicist, Fowler's most famous paper was "
Synthesis of the Elements in Stars", coauthored with Cambridge cosmologist
Fred Hoyle
Sir Fred Hoyle FRS (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) was an English astronomer who formulated the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and was one of the authors of the influential B2FH paper. He also held controversial stances on other sci ...
and in collaboration with two young Cambridge astronomers,
Margaret Burbidge
Eleanor Margaret Burbidge, FRS (; 12 August 1919 – 5 April 2020) was a British-American observational astronomer and astrophysicist. In the 1950s, she was one of the founders of stellar nucleosynthesis and was first author of the influentia ...
and
Geoffrey Burbidge
Geoffrey Ronald Burbidge FRS (24 September 1925 – 26 January 2010) was an English astronomy professor and theoretical astrophysicist, most recently at the University of California, San Diego. He was married to astrophysicist Margaret Burbi ...
. That 1957 paper in Reviews of Modern Physics categorized most nuclear processes for origin of all but the lightest
chemical element
A chemical element is a species of atoms that have a given number of protons in their nuclei, including the pure substance consisting only of that species. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elements cannot be broken down into simpler sub ...
s in stars. It is widely known as the
BFH paper.
In 1942, Fowler became an associate professor at Caltech. In 1946, Fowler became a Professor at Caltech.
Fowler, along with
Lee A. DuBridge,
Max Mason
Charles Max Mason (–), better known as Max Mason, was an American mathematician. Mason was president of the University of Chicago (1925–1928) and president of the Rockefeller Foundation (1929–1936).
Mason's mathematical research inte ...
,
Linus Pauling, and
Bruce H. Sage, was awarded the
Medal for Merit
The Medal for Merit was, during the period it was awarded, the highest civilian decoration of the United States. It was awarded by the President of the United States to civilians who "distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious conduct i ...
in 1948 by President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
.
Fowler succeeded
Charles Lauritsen as director of the
W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory at
Caltech
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 ...
, and was himself later succeeded by
Steven E. Koonin. Fowler was awarded the National Medal of Science by President
Gerald Ford.
Fowler was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
in 1962, won the
Henry Norris Russell Lectureship of the
American Astronomical Society in 1963, elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
in 1965, won the
Vetlesen Prize The Vetlesen Prize is a prize in geology awarded jointly by Columbia University's Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory and the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation. The prize is generally regarded as the highest distinction in geologic studies, and the " Nob ...
in 1973, the
Eddington Medal
The Eddington Medal is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society for investigations of outstanding merit in theoretical astrophysics. It is named after Sir Arthur Eddington. First awarded in 1953, the frequency of the prize has varied over the year ...
in 1978, the
Bruce Medal
The Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal is awarded every year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for outstanding lifetime contributions to astronomy. It is named after Catherine Wolfe Bruce, an American patroness of astronomy, and was fi ...
of the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 1979, and the
Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
in 1983 (shared with
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar) for his theoretical and experimental studies of the
nuclear reaction
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, a nuclear reaction is a process in which two nuclei, or a nucleus and an external subatomic particle, collide to produce one or more new nuclides. Thus, a nuclear reaction must cause a transformatio ...
s of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe .
Fowler's doctoral students at Caltech included
Donald D. Clayton.
Personal life
A lifelong fan of
steam locomotives, Fowler owned several working models of various sizes.
Fowler's first wife was Adriane Fay (née Olmsted) Fowler (1912–1988). They had two daughters, Mary Emily and Martha.
In December 1989, Fowler married Mary Dutcher (1919–2019), an artist, in Pasadena, California.
On , Fowler died from kidney failure in
Pasadena, California. He was 83.
Publications
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Obituaries
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References
External links
Oral history interview transcript with William Fowler on 8 June 1972, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives- Session I
Oral history interview transcript with William Fowler on 9 June 1972, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives- Session II
Oral history interview transcript with William Fowler on 5 February 1973, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives- Session III
Oral history interview transcript with William Fowler on 6 February 1973, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives- Session IV
Oral history interview transcript with William Fowler on 30 May 1974, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives- Session V
1983 Audio Interview with William Fowler by Martin SherwinVoices of the Manhattan Project
W.A. Fowler: ''Radioactive elements of a low atomic number'', Ph.D. dissertation* including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1983 ''Experimental and Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics; the Quest for the Origin of the Elements''
Guide to the Papers of William A. Fowler, 1917-1994 Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research an ...
Interview with William A. Fowler Caltech Archives Oral Histories Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, William Alfred
1911 births
1995 deaths
American astronomers
American Nobel laureates
California Institute of Technology alumni
California Institute of Technology faculty
Medal for Merit recipients
Nobel laureates in Physics
Ohio State University alumni
National Medal of Science laureates
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Presidents of the American Physical Society
Members of the American Philosophical Society
California Institute of Technology fellows