Donald A. Glaser

American physicist and neurobiologist

Donald A. Glaser

Glaser in 1960

Born|

Donald Arthur Glaser

(1926-09-21)September 21, 1926

Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.

Died| February 28, 2013(2013-02-28) (aged 86)

Berkeley, California, U.S.

Alma mater|

* Case School of Applied Science (Case Western Reserve University)
* California Institute of Technology

Known for|

* Invention of bubble chamber
* Business executive

Spouses|

* Ruth Bonnie Thompson (m. 1960; 2 children)
* Lynn Bercovitz (m. 1975)

Awards|

* Nobel Prize in Physics (1960)
* Elliott Cresson Medal (1961)

Scientific career
Fields| Physics, Molecular biology
Institutions|

* University of Michigan
* University of California at Berkeley

Thesis| The momentum distribution of charged cosmic ray particles near sea level (1949)
Doctoral advisor| Carl David Anderson

Donald Arthur Glaser (September 21, 1926 – February 28, 2013) was an American physicist, neurobiologist, and the winner of the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physics for his invention of the bubble chamber used in subatomic particle physics.[1][2][3]

## Education

[edit]

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Glaser completed his Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics from Case School of Applied Science[2]: 10 in 1946. He completed his PhD in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1949.[4] Glaser accepted a position as an instructor at the University of Michigan in 1949, and was promoted to professor in 1957. He joined the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley, in 1959, as a professor of physics. During this time his research concerned short-lived elementary particles. The bubble chamber enabled him to observe the paths and lifetimes of the particles.

Starting in 1962, Glaser changed his field of research to molecular biology, starting with a project on ultraviolet-induced cancer. In 1964, he was given the additional title of professor of molecular biology. Glaser's position (since 1989) was professor of physics and neurobiology in the graduate school.

## Personal life

[edit]

Donald Glaser was born on September 21, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Russian Jewish immigrants, Lena and William J. Glaser, a businessman.[5][6] He enjoyed music and played the piano, violin, and viola. He went to Cleveland Heights High School, where he became interested in physics as a means to understand the physical world.[2]: 2, 6, 8 He died in his sleep at the age of 86 on February 28, 2013, in Berkeley, California.[7]

## Education and early career

[edit]

Glaser attended Case School of Applied Science (now Case Western Reserve University), where he completed his bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics in 1946. During the course of his education there, he became especially interested in particle physics.[2]: 15 He played viola in the Cleveland Philharmonic while at Case, and taught mathematics classes at the college after graduation.[2]: 12 He continued on to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he pursued his PhD in physics. His interest in particle physics led him to work with Nobel laureate Carl David Anderson, studying cosmic rays with cloud chambers.[2]: 22 He preferred the accessibility of cosmic ray research over that of nuclear physics. While at Caltech he learned to design and build the equipment he needed for his experiments,[2]: 22 and this skill would prove to be useful throughout his career. He also attended molecular genetics seminars led by Nobel laureate Max Delbrück;[2]: 20 he would return to this field later. Glaser completed his doctoral thesis, The Momentum Distribution of Charged Cosmic Ray Particles Near Sea Level, after starting as an instructor at the University of Michigan in 1949.[2]: 28 He received his PhD from Caltech in 1950, and he was promoted to professor at Michigan in 1957.[2]: 43

## Bubble chamber

[edit]

Main article: Bubble chamber

A bubble chamber

While teaching at Michigan, Glaser began to work on experiments that led to the creation of the bubble chamber.[2]: 37 His experience with cloud chambers at Caltech had shown him that they were inadequate for studying elementary particles. In a cloud chamber, particles pass through gas and collide with metal plates that obscure the scientists' view of the event. The cloud chamber also needs time to reset between recording events and cannot keep up with accelerators' rate of particle production.[2]: 31–32

He experimented with using superheated liquid in a glass chamber. Charged particles would leave a track of bubbles as they passed through the liquid, and their tracks could be photographed. He created the first bubble chamber with ether.[2]: 37–38 He experimented with hydrogen while visiting the University of Chicago, showing that hydrogen would also work in the chamber.[2]: 44

It has often been claimed that Glaser was inspired to his invention by the bubbles in a glass of beer; however, in a 2006 talk, he refuted this story, saying that although beer was not the inspiration for the bubble chamber, he did experiments using beer to fill early prototypes.[8]

His new invention was ideal for use with high-energy accelerators,[2]: 47 so Glaser traveled to Brookhaven National Laboratory with some students to study elementary particles using the accelerator there. The images that he created with his bubble chamber brought recognition of the importance of his device, and he was able to get funding to continue experimenting with larger chambers. Glaser was then recruited by Nobel laureate Luis Alvarez,[2]: 59 who was working on a hydrogen bubble chamber at the University of California at Berkeley. Glaser accepted an offer to become a professor of physics there in 1959.[2]: 60

## Nobel Prize

[edit]

Glaser was awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize for Physics for the invention of the bubble chamber. His invention allowed scientists to observe what happens to high-energy beams from an accelerator, thus paving the way for many important discoveries.[2]: 64–65

## Other awards and honors

[edit]

* Elliott Cresson Medal (1961)
* Elected to the National Academy of Sciences (1962)[9]
* Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1989)[10]
* Elected to the American Philosophical Society (1997)[11]
* Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2003)[12]

## Transition to molecular biology

[edit]

After winning the Nobel Prize, Glaser began to think about switching from physics into a new field. He wanted to concentrate on science, and found that as the experiments and equipment grew larger in scale and cost, he was doing more administrative work. He also anticipated that the ever-more-complex equipment would cause consolidation into fewer sites and would require more travel for physicists working in high-energy physics.[2]: 68 Recalling his interest in molecular genetics that began at Caltech, Glaser began to study biology. He spent a semester at MIT as a visiting professor and attended biology seminars there, and also spent a semester at Copenhagen with Ole Maaloe, the prominent Danish molecular biologist.[2]: 72

Glazer told his business colleagues at Cetus that after winning the Nobel prize he decided he had spent the first part of his life studying the physical world and that he now wanted to study the basis of life itself so he changed to studying biology and genetics. He made the comment “As a physicist and highly trained engineer my immediate thought upon entering my first biology lab was that Louis Pasteur would be comfortable working there.” He then went on to develop equipment to automate various biological processes. In fact, Cetus was originally formed to utilize his inventions and expertise with its first projects focused on producing higher yielding antibiotic strains as the company then evolved, pioneering the field of biotechnology.

He worked in UC Berkeley's Virus Lab (now the Biochemistry and Virus Laboratory),[2]: 76 doing experiments with bacterial phages, bacteria, and mammalian cells. He studied the development of cancer cells, in particular the skin cancer xeroderma pigmentosum.[2]: 69 As with the bubble chamber, he used his experience designing equipment to improve the experimental process. He automated the process of pouring out agar, spreading culture, and counting colonies of cells using a machine he called the dumbwaiter. It took photographs, administered chemicals, and had a mechanical hand to pick up colonies.[2]: 76–77

## Commercial ventures

[edit]

While continuing to work at UC Berkeley, Glaser started Berkeley Scientific Laboratory with Bill Wattenberg in 1968. The short-lived partnership worked on automating diagnostic procedures.[2]: 88

In 1971 he founded Cetus Corporation with Moshe Alafi, Ron Cape, and Peter Farley.[2]: 89–90 Glaser's position was chairman of the science advisory board.[2]: 96 The founders felt that the knowledge scientists had gained about DNA had not yet been applied to solve real problems.[2]: 112 The company did microbial strain improvement,[2]: 96–97 and then genetic engineering,[2]: 110 becoming the first biotechnology company. Cetus was purchased by Chiron Corporation in 1991.[2]: 115

## Transition to neurobiology

[edit]

As molecular biology became more dependent on biochemistry, Glaser again considered a career change. His experience automating visual tasks in physics and molecular biology led him to an interest in human vision and how the brain processes what is seen. He began to work on computational modeling of the visual system and visual psychophysics, and spent a sabbatical at the Rowland Institute for Science.[1][2]: 116

## See also

[edit]

* List of Jewish Nobel laureates

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Poggio, Tomaso (2013). "Donald Arthur Glaser (1926–2013) Physicist and biotechnologist who invented the bubble chamber". Nature. 496 (7443): 32. Bibcode:2013Natur.496...32P. doi:10.1038/496032a. PMID 23552936.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae Vettel, Eric (2006). "Donald Glaser: The Bubble Chamber, Bioengineering, Business Consulting, and Neurobiology – an oral history conducted in 2003–2004" (PDF). Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
3. ^ Glaser, D. (1952). "Some Effects of Ionizing Radiation on the Formation of Bubbles in Liquids". Physical Review. 87 (4): 665. Bibcode:1952PhRv...87..665G. doi:10.1103/PhysRev.87.665.
4. ^ Glaser, Donald A. (1950). The momentum distribution of charged cosmic ray particles near sea level (PhD). California Institute of Technology. OCLC 1014494852 - via ProQuest.
5. ^ "Donald Glaser, Young Jewish Nobel Prize Winner, is Contributor to U.J.A". Archive.jta.org. November 7, 1960. Archived from the original on April 15, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
6. ^ "Donald A. Glaser - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 2005. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
7. ^ Sanders, Robert (March 1, 2013). "Physics Nobelist and biotech pioneer Donald Glaser dies at 86". Newscenter.berkeley.edu. Retrieved March 2, 2013.
8. ^ Anne Pinckard (July 21, 2006). "Front Seat to History: Summer Lecture Series Kicks Off – Invention and History of the Bubble Chamber". Berkeley Lab View Archive. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
9. ^ "Donald A. Glaser". www.nasonline.org. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
10. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
11. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
12. ^ "Donald A. Glaser". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved December 10, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Donald Glaser at Wikimedia Commons

Wikiquote has quotations related to Donald A. Glaser.

* Donald A. Glaser on Nobelprize.org  including the Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1960 Elementary Particles and Bubble Chambers

* v
* t
* e

Laureates of the Nobel Prize in Physics

1901–1925|

* 1901: Röntgen
* 1902: Lorentz / Zeeman
* 1903: Becquerel / P. Curie / M. Curie
* 1904: Rayleigh
* 1905: Lenard
* 1906: J. J. Thomson
* 1907: Michelson
* 1908: Lippmann
* 1909: Marconi / Braun
* 1910: Van der Waals
* 1911: Wien
* 1912: Dalén
* 1913: Kamerlingh Onnes
* 1914: Laue
* 1915: W. L. Bragg / W. H. Bragg
* 1916
* 1917: Barkla
* 1918: Planck
* 1919: Stark
* 1920: Guillaume
* 1921: Einstein
* 1922: N. Bohr
* 1923: Millikan
* 1924: M. Siegbahn
* 1925: Franck / Hertz

1926–1950|

* 1926: Perrin
* 1927: Compton / C. Wilson
* 1928: O. Richardson
* 1929: De Broglie
* 1930: Raman
* 1931
* 1932: Heisenberg
* 1933: Schrödinger / Dirac
* 1934
* 1935: Chadwick
* 1936: Hess / C. D. Anderson
* 1937: Davisson / G. P. Thomson
* 1938: Fermi
* 1939: Lawrence
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942
* 1943: Stern
* 1944: Rabi
* 1945: Pauli
* 1946: Bridgman
* 1947: Appleton
* 1948: Blackett
* 1949: Yukawa
* 1950: Powell

1951–1975|

* 1951: Cockcroft / Walton
* 1952: Bloch / Purcell
* 1953: Zernike
* 1954: Born / Bothe
* 1955: Lamb / Kusch
* 1956: Shockley / Bardeen / Brattain
* 1957: C. N. Yang / T. D. Lee
* 1958: Cherenkov / Frank / Tamm
* 1959: Segrè / Chamberlain
* 1960: Glaser
* 1961: Hofstadter / Mössbauer
* 1962: Landau
* 1963: Wigner / Goeppert Mayer / Jensen
* 1964: Townes / Basov / Prokhorov
* 1965: Tomonaga / Schwinger / Feynman
* 1966: Kastler
* 1967: Bethe
* 1968: Alvarez
* 1969: Gell-Mann
* 1970: Alfvén / Néel
* 1971: Gabor
* 1972: Bardeen / Cooper / Schrieffer
* 1973: Esaki / Giaever / Josephson
* 1974: Ryle / Hewish
* 1975: A. Bohr / Mottelson / Rainwater

1976–2000|

* 1976: Richter / Ting
* 1977: P. W. Anderson / Mott / Van Vleck
* 1978: Kapitsa / Penzias / R. Wilson
* 1979: Glashow / Salam / Weinberg
* 1980: Cronin / Fitch
* 1981: Bloembergen / Schawlow / K. Siegbahn
* 1982: K. Wilson
* 1983: Chandrasekhar / Fowler
* 1984: Rubbia / Van der Meer
* 1985: von Klitzing
* 1986: Ruska / Binnig / Rohrer
* 1987: Bednorz / Müller
* 1988: Lederman / Schwartz / Steinberger
* 1989: Ramsey / Dehmelt / Paul
* 1990: Friedman / Kendall / R. Taylor
* 1991: de Gennes
* 1992: Charpak
* 1993: Hulse / J. Taylor
* 1994: Brockhouse / Shull
* 1995: Perl / Reines
* 1996: D. Lee / Osheroff / R. Richardson
* 1997: Chu / Cohen-Tannoudji / Phillips
* 1998: Laughlin / Störmer / Tsui
* 1999: 't Hooft / Veltman
* 2000: Alferov / Kroemer / Kilby

2001–
present|

* 2001: Cornell / Ketterle / Wieman
* 2002: Davis / Koshiba / Giacconi
* 2003: Abrikosov / Ginzburg / Leggett
* 2004: Gross / Politzer / Wilczek
* 2005: Glauber / Hall / Hänsch
* 2006: Mather / Smoot
* 2007: Fert / Grünberg
* 2008: Nambu / Kobayashi / Maskawa
* 2009: Kao / Boyle / Smith
* 2010: Geim / Novoselov
* 2011: Perlmutter / Schmidt / Riess
* 2012: Wineland / Haroche
* 2013: Englert / Higgs
* 2014: Akasaki / Amano / Nakamura
* 2015: Kajita / McDonald
* 2016: Thouless / Haldane / Kosterlitz
* 2017: Weiss / Barish / Thorne
* 2018: Ashkin / Mourou / Strickland
* 2019: Peebles / Mayor / Queloz
* 2020: Penrose / Genzel / Ghez
* 2021: Parisi / Hasselmann / Manabe
* 2022: Aspect / Clauser / Zeilinger
* 2023: Agostini / Krausz / L'Huillier
* 2024: Hopfield / Hinton

* v
* t
* e

1960 Nobel Prize laureates

Chemistry|

* Willard Libby (United States)

Literature (1960)|

* Saint-John Perse (France)

Peace|

* Albert Luthuli (South Africa)

Physics|

* Donald A. Glaser (United States)

Physiology or Medicine|

* Frank Macfarlane Burnet (Australia)
* Peter Medawar (Great Britain)

Nobel Prize recipients
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965

* v
* t
* e

Time Persons of the Year

1927–1950|

* Charles Lindbergh (1927)
* Walter Chrysler (1928)
* Owen D. Young (1929)
* Mohandas Gandhi (1930)
* Pierre Laval (1931)
* Franklin D. Roosevelt (1932)
* Hugh S. Johnson (1933)
* Franklin D. Roosevelt (1934)
* Haile Selassie (1935)
* Wallis Simpson (1936)
* Chiang Kai-shek / Soong Mei-ling (1937)
* Adolf Hitler (1938)
* Joseph Stalin (1939)
* Winston Churchill (1940)
* Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941)
* Joseph Stalin (1942)
* George Marshall (1943)
* Dwight D. Eisenhower (1944)
* Harry S. Truman (1945)
* James F. Byrnes (1946)
* George Marshall (1947)
* Harry S. Truman (1948)
* Winston Churchill (1949)
* The American Fighting-Man (1950)

1951–1975|

* Mohammed Mosaddeq (1951)
* Elizabeth II  (1952)
* Konrad Adenauer (1953)
* John Foster Dulles (1954)
* Harlow Curtice (1955)
* Hungarian Freedom Fighters (1956)
* Nikita Khrushchev (1957)
* Charles de Gaulle (1958)
* Dwight D. Eisenhower (1959)
* U.S. Scientists: George Beadle / Charles Draper / John Enders / Donald A. Glaser / Joshua Lederberg / Willard Libby / Linus Pauling / Edward Purcell / Isidor Rabi / Emilio Segrè / William Shockley / Edward Teller / Charles Townes / James Van Allen / Robert Woodward (1960)
* John F. Kennedy (1961)
* Pope John XXIII (1962)
* Martin Luther King Jr. (1963)
* Lyndon B. Johnson (1964)
* William Westmoreland (1965)
* The Generation Twenty-Five and Under (1966)
* Lyndon B. Johnson (1967)
* The Apollo 8 Astronauts: William Anders / Frank Borman / Jim Lovell (1968)
* The Middle Americans (1969)
* Willy Brandt (1970)
* Richard Nixon (1971)
* Henry Kissinger / Richard Nixon (1972)
* John Sirica (1973)
* King Faisal (1974)
* American Women: Susan Brownmiller / Kathleen Byerly / Alison Cheek / Jill Conway / Betty Ford / Ella Grasso / Carla Hills / Barbara Jordan / Billie Jean King / Susie Sharp / Carol Sutton / Addie Wyatt (1975)

1976–2000|

* Jimmy Carter (1976)
* Anwar Sadat (1977)
* Deng Xiaoping (1978)
* Ayatollah Khomeini (1979)
* Ronald Reagan (1980)
* Lech Wałęsa (1981)
* The Computer (1982)
* Ronald Reagan / Yuri Andropov (1983)
* Peter Ueberroth (1984)
* Deng Xiaoping (1985)
* Corazon Aquino (1986)
* Mikhail Gorbachev (1987)
* The Endangered Earth (1988)
* Mikhail Gorbachev (1989)
* George H. W. Bush (1990)
* Ted Turner (1991)
* Bill Clinton (1992)
* The Peacemakers: Yasser Arafat / F. W. de Klerk / Nelson Mandela / Yitzhak Rabin (1993)
* Pope John Paul II (1994)
* Newt Gingrich (1995)
* David Ho (1996)
* Andrew Grove (1997)
* Bill Clinton / Ken Starr (1998)
* Jeff Bezos (1999)
* George W. Bush (2000)

2001–present|

* Rudolph Giuliani (2001)
* The Whistleblowers: Cynthia Cooper / Coleen Rowley / Sherron Watkins (2002)
* The American Soldier (2003)
* George W. Bush (2004)
* The Good Samaritans: Bono / Bill Gates / Melinda Gates (2005)
* You (2006)
* Vladimir Putin (2007)
* Barack Obama (2008)
* Ben Bernanke (2009)
* Mark Zuckerberg (2010)
* The Protester (2011)
* Barack Obama (2012)
* Pope Francis (2013)
* Ebola Fighters: Dr. Jerry Brown / Dr. Kent Brantly / Ella Watson-Stryker / Foday Gollah / Salome Karwah (2014)
* Angela Merkel (2015)
* Donald Trump (2016)
* The Silence Breakers (2017)
* The Guardians: Jamal Khashoggi / Maria Ressa / Wa Lone / Kyaw Soe Oo / Staff of The Capital (2018)
* Greta Thunberg (2019)
* Joe Biden / Kamala Harris (2020)
* Elon Musk (2021)
* Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Spirit of Ukraine (2022)
* Taylor Swift (2023)

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Israel
* Belgium

Academics|

* zbMATH
* DBLP
* MathSciNet

People|

* Deutsche Biographie

Other|

* IdRef

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template