Robert Woodrow Wilson

American astronomer (born 1936)

"Robert W. Wilson" redirects here. For the American hedge fund manager and philanthropist, see Robert W. Wilson (philanthropist).

Robert Woodrow Wilson

Wilson in 2016

Born|  (1936-01-10) January 10, 1936 (age 89)

Houston, Texas, U.S.

Nationality| American
Alma mater| Rice University
California Institute of Technology
Known for| Cosmic microwave background radiation
Spouse|

Elizabeth Rhoads Sawin

(m. 1958)​

Awards| Henry Draper Medal (1977)
Nobel Prize in Physics (1978)
Scientific career
Fields| Physics
Institutions| Bell Laboratories
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Part of a series on

Physical cosmology

* Big Bang · Universe
* Age of the universe
* Chronology of the universe

Early universe

* Inflation · Nucleosynthesis

Backgrounds

* Gravitational wave (GWB)
* Microwave (CMB) · Neutrino (CNB)

Expansion · Future

* Hubble's law · Redshift
* Expansion of the universe
* FLRW metric · Friedmann equations
* Lambda-CDM model
* Future of an expanding universe
* Ultimate fate of the universe

Components · Structure

|  Components

* Dark energy · Dark matter
* Photons · Baryons

Structure

* Shape of the universe
* Galaxy filament · Galaxy formation
* Large quasar group
* Large-scale structure
* Reionization · Structure formation

Experiments

* Black Hole Initiative (BHI)
* BOOMERanG
* Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)
* Dark Energy Survey
* Planck space observatory
* Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)
* 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey ("2dF")
* Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy
Probe (WMAP)

Scientists

* Aaronson
* Alfvén
* Alpher
* Copernicus
* de Sitter
* Dicke
* Ehlers
* Einstein
* Ellis
* Friedmann
* Galileo
* Gamow
* Guth
* Hawking
* Hubble
* Huygens
* Kepler
* Lemaître
* Mather
* Newton
* Penrose
* Penzias
* Rubin
* Schmidt
* Smoot
* Suntzeff
* Sunyaev
* Tolman
* Wilson
* Zeldovich

* List of cosmologists

Subject history

* Discovery of cosmic microwave
background radiation

* History of the Big Bang theory
* Timeline of cosmological theories

* Category
* Astronomy portal

* v
* t
* e

Robert Woodrow Wilson (born January 10, 1936) is an American astronomer who, along with Arno Allan Penzias, discovered cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) in 1964.[1] The pair won the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics for its discovery.[2]

While doing tests and experiments with the Holmdel Horn Antenna at Bell Labs in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, Wilson and Penzias discovered a source of noise in the atmosphere that they could not explain.[3] After removing all potential sources of noise, including pigeon droppings on the antenna, the noise was finally identified as CMB, which served as important corroboration of the Big Bang theory.

In 1970, Wilson led a team that made the first detection of a rotational spectral line of carbon monoxide (CO) in an astronomical object, the Orion Nebula, and eight other galactic sources.[4] Subsequently, CO observations became the standard method of tracing cool molecular interstellar gas, and detection of CO was the foundational event for the fields of millimeter and submillimeter astronomy.

## Life and work

[edit]

Penzias and Wilson stand at the 15 meter Holmdel Horn Antenna that brought their most notable discovery

Robert Woodrow Wilson was born on January 10, 1936, in Houston, Texas. He graduated from Lamar High School in River Oaks, in Houston,[5] and studied as an undergraduate at Rice University, also in Houston, where he was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa society. He then earned a PhD in physics at California Institute of Technology. His thesis advisors at Caltech included John Bolton[6] and Maarten Schmidt.[6]

Wilson and Penzias also won the Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences in 1977.[7] Wilson received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1987.[8]

Wilson remained at Bell Laboratories until 1994, when he was named a senior scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[9]

Wilson has been a resident of Holmdel Township, New Jersey.[10]

Wilson married Elizabeth Rhoads Sawin[11] in 1958.[12]

Wilson is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President George W. Bush in May 2008, urging him to "reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill" by requesting additional emergency funding for the Department of Energy's Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.[13]

Wilson was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2009.[14]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ May 2014, Mike Wall 20 (May 20, 2014). "Cosmic Anniversary: 'Big Bang Echo' Discovered 50 Years Ago Today". Space.com. Retrieved March 13, 2020.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1978". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
3. ^ Penzias, A.A.; Wilson, R.W. (1965). "A Measurement of Excess Antenna Temperature at 4080 Mc/s". Astrophysical Journal. 142: 419–421\. Bibcode:1965ApJ...142..419P. doi:10.1086/148307.419-421&rft.date=1965&rft_id=info:doi/10.1086/148307&rft_id=info:bibcode/1965ApJ...142..419P&rft.aulast=Penzias&rft.aufirst=A.A.&rft.au=Wilson,+R.W.&rft_id=https://doi.org/10.1086%2F148307&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Robert+Woodrow+Wilson" class="Z3988">
4. ^ Wilson, R.W.; Jefferts, K.B.; Penzias, A.A. (1970). "Carbon Monoxide in the Orion Nebula". Astrophysical Journal. 161: L43 – L44. Bibcode:1970ApJ...161L..43W. doi:10.1086/180567.L43+-+L44&rft.date=1970&rft_id=info:doi/10.1086/180567&rft_id=info:bibcode/1970ApJ...161L..43W&rft.aulast=Wilson&rft.aufirst=R.W.&rft.au=Jefferts,+K.B.&rft.au=Penzias,+A.A.&rft_id=https://doi.org/10.1086%2F180567&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Robert+Woodrow+Wilson" class="Z3988">
5. ^ "Distinguished HISD Alumni Archived February 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine," Houston Independent School District
6. ^ a b "Robert Woodrow Wilson / Biographical". "My thesis project was to have been hydrogen-line interferometry, but when the first plans for a local oscillator system didn't work out, I used the galactic survey as the basis for my thesis. John Bolton returned to Australia before I completed my Ph.D. Maarten Schmidt, who had previously done galactic research and was currently working on quasars, saw me through the last months of thesis work. I remained at Caltech for an additional year as a postdoctoral fellow to finish several projects in which I was involved."
7. ^ "Henry Draper Medal". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
8. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
9. ^ "Facts on File History Database Center". Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2014.
10. ^ Nobel Lectures, Physics 1971–1980, Editor Stig Lundqvist, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1992. Autobiography on Nobelprize.org . Accessed March 15, 2011. "We still live in the house in Holmdel which we bought when I first came to Bell Laboratories."
11. ^ "Robert Woodrow Wilson - Biographical". www.nobelprize.org. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
12. ^ "Robert Woodrow Wilson". www.nndb.com. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
13. ^ "A Letter from America's Physics Nobel Laureates" (PDF).
14. ^ "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved April 23, 2021.

### Sources

[edit]

* "Distinguished HISD Alumni", Houston Independent School District, Houston, Texas, 2008.
* Cite Video | BBC/WGBH Boston | Nova #519 | A Whisper From Space | Copyright 1978 | Available With Permission | Consolidated Aircraft – Ronkonkoma, New York

## External links

[edit]

* Robert Woodrow Wilson on Nobelprize.org  including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1978 The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
* Robert Woodrow Wilson at IMDb
* Robert Woodrow Wilson discography at Discogs

* 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

1978 Nobel Prize laureates

Chemistry|

* Peter D. Mitchell (United Kingdom)

Literature (1978)|

* Isaac Bashevis Singer (Poland/United States)

Peace|

* Anwar Sadat (Egypt)
* Menachem Begin (Israel)

Physics|

* Pyotr Kapitsa (Soviet Union)
* Arno Allan Penzias (United States)
* Robert Woodrow Wilson (United States)

Physiology or Medicine|

* Werner Arber (Switzerland)
* Daniel Nathans (United States)
* Hamilton O. Smith (United States)

Economic Sciences|

* Herbert A. Simon (United States)

Nobel Prize recipients
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Norway

Academics|

* ORCID
* Scopus

Artists|

* MusicBrainz

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC

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