The Nobel Prize in Physics 1927
Awarded on: 1927-11-10
"for his discovery of the effect named after him"
Affiliations:
- University of Chicago – Chicago, IL, USA
Arthur Holly Compton
Born: 1892-09-10 in Wooster, OH, USA
Gender: male
Field: American physicist (1892–1962)
Biography
Arthur Holly Compton was an American physicist who won the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Compton effect, which demonstrated the particle nature of electromagnetic radiation. It was a sensational discovery at the time: the wave nature of light had been well-demonstrated, but the idea that light had both wave and particle properties was not easily accepted. He is also known for his leadership over the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago during the Manhattan Project, and served as chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1945 to 1953.