June 13, 2019 • 6 mins
On this day in 1911, physicist and Nobel Prize winner Luis W. Alavarez was born. Learn more about Alvarez in an episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class at https://www.missedinhistory.com/tags/luis-w-alvarez.htm
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hi there, Welcome to This Day in History Class,
where we stifted through the artifacts of history seven days
a week. Today is June nineteen. The day was June
(00:23):
nineteen eleven. Luis Walter Alvarez was born in San Francisco
to Walter and Harriett Alvarez. Alvarez was a physicist who
worked on radar projects during World War Two, an inventor
and winner of the Nobel Prize in physics. Luise's father, Walter,
was a physician and later a research physiologist, and early
(00:47):
on Louise would go to the lab with him. When
Luise was eleven years old, he and his dad made
a radio together. Later, Louise attended San Francisco Polytechnic High School,
but in it up moving to Rochester, Minnesota. While he
was enrolled there, his father worked for the Mayo Clinic
in Rochester, and Louise began apprenticing at the Mayo Clinics
(01:10):
instrument shop and being tutored by machinists while he was
still in high school. Alvarez went on to study physics
at the University of Chicago, where he got his bachelor's
master's and doctorate. As he was finishing up his PhD,
he married Geraldine Smithik. The two of them later had
two children, as well as a daughter who died at birth.
(01:33):
They later divorced. Louise then completed a lot of work
in California. After getting his PhD. He got a job
with Ernest Lawrence at the University of California, largely through
connections his father and sister had With Lawrence, Alvarez worked
on the cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator, in the
(01:54):
radiation laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley. He
also worked in a metal urgical laboratory of the University
of Chicago and the Los Almost Laboratory of the Manhattan District.
Alvarez was a prolific scientist, but we'll touch on just
some of his discoveries and achievements. He discovered the East
West effect and cosmic rays, a discovery that gave evidence
(02:17):
that cosmic rays include positively charged particles. Once he joined
the radiation lab at the University of California, he focused
on nuclear physics. In nineteen thirty seven, he gave the
first experimental demonstration of k electron capture by nuclei, which
was a phenomenon that had not yet been proven. He
(02:38):
also developed a method for producing themes of very slow neutrons.
Alvarez also developed a mercury vapor lamp with one of
his students named Jake Wien's. That development established a new
standard of length that the U. S Bureau of Standards adopted,
but as World War Two broke out, his career shifted gears.
(02:59):
In nineteen forty, Avarez went to work on radar technology
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked on
a microwave early warning system and the Eagle high altitude
bombing system. He also invented the Vixen radar system, which
deceived skippers into thinking an Allied plane was flying away
(03:20):
from a German submarine and allowed attack planes to destroy
the U boats. Luise also figured out a way to
help planes land and bad weather when he invented ground
control approach. When Louise left the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
he went to work on the Manhattan Project. He worked
on nuclear bombs in Chicago, created detonators for plutonium bombs
(03:43):
in New Mexico, and was on the plane that conducted
the first ever atomic bomb test. He was also on
the plane that dropped the atomic bomb Little Boy on Hiroshima.
Before Fat Man, the second atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki.
Alvarez wrote a letter to a Japanese physicist he knew,
urging him to tell Japanese leaders that if they continued
(04:05):
in the war, another bomb would be dropped on the country.
Though Avarez recognized the horror and devastation that the bombs caused,
he believed that the bombs would end the war and
bring some sort of peace to the world. He also
thought that the U. S should continue research and develop
a hydrogen bomb. After the war, he went back to Berkeley.
(04:27):
He designed and constructed a forty foot proton linear accelerator.
He also did a lot of work with large liquid
hydrogen bubble chambers, and he helped identify many new particles.
In nineteen sixty eight, Luis won the Nobel Prize for
his quote decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular
(04:49):
the discovery of a large number of resident states, made
possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen
bubble chamber and data analysis. After this point, he spent
a lot of his time studying in cosmic raise. His
later life took another surprising, yet not indecipherable turn. He
put a lot of effort into figuring out the details
(05:11):
of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and he
and his geologist son Walter theorized that an asteroid impact
had led to the extinction of dinosaurs and the end
of the Cretaceous period. The new theory caused an uproar
in the scientific community, as it was believed that a
volcano had killed the dinosaurs. Alvarez died of cancer in
(05:34):
nine By the time of his death, he had received
several awards in honorary degrees. I'm Eve jeffco and hopefully
you know a little more about history today than you
did yesterday. And if you haven't gotten your fill of
history after listening to today's episode, you can follow us
on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at T D I HC podcast.
(06:00):
And if you'd like to learn more about Louis Alvarez,
listen to the two part episode of Stuff You Missed
in History Class called Louise w. Alvarez. The link is
in the description. If you listen to this show every day,
you probably already know that I have a new show
that's called Unpopular about people in history, and if you
haven't gotten a chance to check it out yet, please do.
(06:23):
Thanks again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For
more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hi there, Welcome to This Day in History Class,
where we stifted through the artifacts of history seven days
a week. Today is June nineteen. The day was June
(00:23):
nineteen eleven. Luis Walter Alvarez was born in San Francisco
to Walter and Harriett Alvarez. Alvarez was a physicist who
worked on radar projects during World War Two, an inventor
and winner of the Nobel Prize in physics. Luise's father, Walter,
was a physician and later a research physiologist, and early
(00:47):
on Louise would go to the lab with him. When
Luise was eleven years old, he and his dad made
a radio together. Later, Louise attended San Francisco Polytechnic High School,
but in it up moving to Rochester, Minnesota. While he
was enrolled there, his father worked for the Mayo Clinic
in Rochester, and Louise began apprenticing at the Mayo Clinics
(01:10):
instrument shop and being tutored by machinists while he was
still in high school. Alvarez went on to study physics
at the University of Chicago, where he got his bachelor's
master's and doctorate. As he was finishing up his PhD,
he married Geraldine Smithik. The two of them later had
two children, as well as a daughter who died at birth.
(01:33):
They later divorced. Louise then completed a lot of work
in California. After getting his PhD. He got a job
with Ernest Lawrence at the University of California, largely through
connections his father and sister had With Lawrence, Alvarez worked
on the cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator, in the
(01:54):
radiation laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley. He
also worked in a metal urgical laboratory of the University
of Chicago and the Los Almost Laboratory of the Manhattan District.
Alvarez was a prolific scientist, but we'll touch on just
some of his discoveries and achievements. He discovered the East
West effect and cosmic rays, a discovery that gave evidence
(02:17):
that cosmic rays include positively charged particles. Once he joined
the radiation lab at the University of California, he focused
on nuclear physics. In nineteen thirty seven, he gave the
first experimental demonstration of k electron capture by nuclei, which
was a phenomenon that had not yet been proven. He
(02:38):
also developed a method for producing themes of very slow neutrons.
Alvarez also developed a mercury vapor lamp with one of
his students named Jake Wien's. That development established a new
standard of length that the U. S Bureau of Standards adopted,
but as World War Two broke out, his career shifted gears.
(02:59):
In nineteen forty, Avarez went to work on radar technology
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he worked on
a microwave early warning system and the Eagle high altitude
bombing system. He also invented the Vixen radar system, which
deceived skippers into thinking an Allied plane was flying away
(03:20):
from a German submarine and allowed attack planes to destroy
the U boats. Luise also figured out a way to
help planes land and bad weather when he invented ground
control approach. When Louise left the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
he went to work on the Manhattan Project. He worked
on nuclear bombs in Chicago, created detonators for plutonium bombs
(03:43):
in New Mexico, and was on the plane that conducted
the first ever atomic bomb test. He was also on
the plane that dropped the atomic bomb Little Boy on Hiroshima.
Before Fat Man, the second atomic bomb was dropped over Nagasaki.
Alvarez wrote a letter to a Japanese physicist he knew,
urging him to tell Japanese leaders that if they continued
(04:05):
in the war, another bomb would be dropped on the country.
Though Avarez recognized the horror and devastation that the bombs caused,
he believed that the bombs would end the war and
bring some sort of peace to the world. He also
thought that the U. S should continue research and develop
a hydrogen bomb. After the war, he went back to Berkeley.
(04:27):
He designed and constructed a forty foot proton linear accelerator.
He also did a lot of work with large liquid
hydrogen bubble chambers, and he helped identify many new particles.
In nineteen sixty eight, Luis won the Nobel Prize for
his quote decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular
(04:49):
the discovery of a large number of resident states, made
possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen
bubble chamber and data analysis. After this point, he spent
a lot of his time studying in cosmic raise. His
later life took another surprising, yet not indecipherable turn. He
put a lot of effort into figuring out the details
(05:11):
of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and he
and his geologist son Walter theorized that an asteroid impact
had led to the extinction of dinosaurs and the end
of the Cretaceous period. The new theory caused an uproar
in the scientific community, as it was believed that a
volcano had killed the dinosaurs. Alvarez died of cancer in
(05:34):
nine By the time of his death, he had received
several awards in honorary degrees. I'm Eve jeffco and hopefully
you know a little more about history today than you
did yesterday. And if you haven't gotten your fill of
history after listening to today's episode, you can follow us
on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook at T D I HC podcast.
(06:00):
And if you'd like to learn more about Louis Alvarez,
listen to the two part episode of Stuff You Missed
in History Class called Louise w. Alvarez. The link is
in the description. If you listen to this show every day,
you probably already know that I have a new show
that's called Unpopular about people in history, and if you
haven't gotten a chance to check it out yet, please do.
(06:23):
Thanks again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For
more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the I heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
This Day in History Class News
Host
Gabe Luzier
Show Links
AboutPopular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.