Ralph Alpher
| Ralph Asher Alpher | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 3, 1921 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Died | August 12, 2007 (aged 86) Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Cosmology, Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics |
| Institutions | Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, General Electric Research and Development Center, Union College, Dudley Observatory |
| Alma mater | George Washington University |
| Doctoral advisor | Georg Antonovich Gamow |
| Known for | First modern physical theory of nucleosynthesis and prediction of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation in 1948. |
| Notable awards | Magellanic Premium (1975) Henry Draper Medal (1993) National Medal of Science (2005) |
Ralph Asher Alpher (February 3, 1921 – August 12, 2007) was an American cosmologist, who carried out pioneering work in the early 1950s on the Big Bang model, including big bang nucleosynthesis and predictions of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
Alpher was the son of a Belarusian Jewish immigrant, Samuel Alpher (born Ilfirovich), from Vitebsk, Belarus. His mother, Rose Maleson, died of stomach cancer in 1938, and his father later remarried. Alpher graduated at age 15 from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Washington, D.C., and held the ranks of Major and Commander of his school's Cadet program. He worked in the high school theater as stage manager for two years, supplementing his family's Depression-era income. He also learned Gregg shorthand, and in 1937 began working for the Director of the American Geophysical Union as a stenographer. In 1940 he was hired by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of the Carnegie Foundation, where he worked with Dr. Scott Forbush under contract for the U.S. Navy to develop ship degaussing techniques during World War II. He contributed to the development of the Mark 32 and Mark 45 detonators, torpedoes, Naval gun control, Magnetic Airborne Detection (of submarines), and other top-secret ordnance work (including the Manhattan Project), and he was recognized at the end of the War with the Naval Ordnance Development Award (December 10, 1945—with Symbol), and another Naval Ordnance Development award in 1946. Alpher's war time work been somewhat obscured by security classification. From 1944 through 1955, he was employed at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. During the daytime he was involved in the development of ballistic missiles, guidance systems, supersonics, and related subjects. In 1948 he earned his Ph.D. in Physics with a theory of nucleosynthesis called neutron-capture, and from 1948 onward collaborated with Dr. Robert C. Herman (Ph.D. in Physics, 1940, Princeton University, under E. Condon), also at APL, on predictions of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (now widely referred to by the acronym CMB). Alpher was somewhat ambivalent about the nature of his ordnance work. having dedicated much of his early career to this in order to obtain his doctorate.
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