Arthur Holly Compton
Sign in to saveAmerican physicist (1892–1962)
AI overview
Arthur Holly Compton was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his discovery that X-rays lose energy when they collide with electrons, a phenomenon now called the Compton effect. His work provided important evidence that light behaves like particles, helping establish the quantum theory that fundamentally changed how scientists understand matter and energy.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1892
- Died
- 1962
- Works
- 31
Top works
- The contribution made by Washington University in the study and development of atomic energy
- X-Rays in theory and experiments
- Secondary Radiations Produced by X-Rays
- Mans Destiny In Eternity
- X-rays and electrons
via Open Library + Wikidata
Recent publications · Crossref
5 total works indexed
Article
Arthur Holly Compton (September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962) was an American physicist who shared the 1927 Nobel Prize in Physics with C. T. R. Wilson for his discovery of the Compton effect, which demonstrated the particle nature of electromagnetic radiation. It was a significant 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.
In 1919, Compton was awarded one of the first two National Research Council Fellowships that allowed students to study abroad. He chose to go to the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory in England, where he studied the scattering and absorption of gamma rays. Further research along these lines led to the discovery of the Compton effect.
Gallery (5)
Connections
Categories
1892 births1962 deaths20th-century American physicistsAmerican Nobel laureatesAmerican optical physicistsAmerican particle physicistsAmerican people of German descentAmerican PresbyteriansAmerican quantum physicistsAmerican spectroscopistsAmerican theoretical physicistsBurials at Wooster Cemetery (Wooster, Ohio)