Albert Vinicio Baez, Ph.D. (November 15, 1912, – March 20, 2007) was a prominent Mexican-American
physicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, and the father of singer
Joan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is a folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style...
. He was born in
PueblaThe city of Puebla, officially Heroic Puebla de Zaragoza is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Puebla. The city has a population of 1,399,519...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and his family moved to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
when he was two years old because his father was a Methodist minister. Baez grew up in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
and considered becoming a minister before turning to
mathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
and
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
.
Baez earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics from
Drew UniversityDrew University is a private university located in Madison, New Jersey.Originally established as the Drew Theological Seminary in 1867, the university later expanded to include an undergraduate liberal arts college in 1928 and commenced a program of graduate studies in 1955...
in 1933 and then a master's degree in physics from
Syracuse UniversitySyracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, U.S.A.. It was founded as a university in 1870, but its roots can be traced back to a seminary founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832 which eventually became Genesee College...
in 1935.
Albert Vinicio Baez, Ph.D. (November 15, 1912, – March 20, 2007) was a prominent Mexican-American
physicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, and the father of singer
Joan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is a folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style...
. He was born in
PueblaThe city of Puebla, officially Heroic Puebla de Zaragoza is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Puebla. The city has a population of 1,399,519...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and his family moved to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
when he was two years old because his father was a Methodist minister. Baez grew up in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
and considered becoming a minister before turning to
mathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
and
physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
.
Early life
Baez earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics from
Drew UniversityDrew University is a private university located in Madison, New Jersey.Originally established as the Drew Theological Seminary in 1867, the university later expanded to include an undergraduate liberal arts college in 1928 and commenced a program of graduate studies in 1955...
in 1933 and then a master's degree in physics from
Syracuse UniversitySyracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, U.S.A.. It was founded as a university in 1870, but its roots can be traced back to a seminary founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832 which eventually became Genesee College...
in 1935. In 1936, he married Joan Chandos Bridge, the daughter of an Episcopalian minister. The couple became Quakers and had three daughters, Pauline, Joan and
MimiMimi Baez Fariña was a singer-songwriter, and activist. She was the youngest of three daughters to a British mother, and Mexican physicist Albert Baez...
. Together they moved to
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
, where he pursued a
doctorateA doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries represents the highest level of formal study or research in a given field. In some countries it also refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to practice in a specific profession . The best-known example...
in physics. In 1948, along with
Stanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university located in Stanford, California, United States...
professor Paul Kirkpatrick (1894–1992), Baez developed the
X-ray reflection microscopeAn X-ray microscope uses electromagnetic radiation in the soft X-ray band to produce images of very small objects.Unlike visible light, X-rays do not reflect or refract easily, and they are invisible to the human eye. Therefore the basic process of an X-ray microscope is to expose film or use a...
for examination of living cells. This
microscopeA microscope is an instrument to see objects too tiny for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy. Microscopic means invisible to the eye unless aided by a microscope.-History:An early microscope was made in 1590 in Middelburg, The...
is still used today in
medicineMedicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. Baez received his PhD in physics from Stanford in 1950. After graduating, he developed zone plates—concentric circles of alternating opaque and transparent materials to use diffraction instead of refraction to focus X-rays. Unfortunately, much of his work had to await the development of
synchrotronA synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator in which the magnetic field and the electric field are carefully synchronized with the travelling particle beam. The proton synchrotron was originally conceived by Sir Marcus Oliphant...
X-rays sources several decades later.
Academic life
As the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
arose in the 1950s, Baez's talents were in high demand for the developing
arms raceThe term arms race, in its original usage, describes a competition between two or more parties for real or apparent military supremacy. Each party competes to produce larger numbers of weapons, greater armies, or superior military technology in a technological escalation...
. However, influenced by his family's
pacifistPacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. Pacifism covers a spectrum of views ranging from the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved; to calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war;...
beliefs, he refused lucrative war industry jobs, preferring instead to devote his career to
educationEducation in its broadest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual...
and
humanitarianismIn its most general form, humanitarianism is an ethic of kindness, benevolence and sympathy extended universally and impartially to all human beings. Humanitarianism has been an evolving concept historically but universality is a common element in its evolution...
. From 1950 to 1956, he held a professorship at the
University of RedlandsThe University of Redlands is a private liberal arts and sciences university located in Redlands, California. The university's campus sits on 160 acres near downtown Redlands. The university was founded in 1907 and was associated with the American Baptist Church. The land for the university was...
, where he continued his X-ray research. Baez took a yearlong leave to work with
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945...
in 1951, stationing his family in
BaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest in the Arab World....
to establish the physics department and laboratory at Baghdad University. In 1959, Baez accepted a faculty position at
MITThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research...
, and moved his family to the Boston area. In 1960, working with the
Smithsonian Astrophysical ObservatoryThe Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is a research institute of the Smithsonian Institution headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it is joined with the Harvard College Observatory to form the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics .-History:The SAO was founded in 1890 by...
in Cambridge, MA, he developed optics for an X-ray telescope. Later that year he moved to the faculty of
Harvey Mudd CollegeHarvey Mudd College is a private residential liberal arts college of science, engineering, and mathematics, located in Claremont, California. It is one of the institutions of the contiguous Claremont Colleges....
, and moved his family to
Claremont, CaliforniaClaremont is a college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, USA, about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of 2008 is 37,242. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its tree-lined streets, and its...
. From 1961 to 1967, he directed science teaching for UNESCO in Paris.
Baez was the author of the textbook
The New College Physics: A Spiral Approach (1967). He was also the co-author of the textbook
The Environment and Science and Technology Education (1987) and the memoir
A Year in Baghdad (1988). Baez was not limited to print media though, making almost 100 films about physics for the
Encyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company. The articles in the Britannica are aimed at educated adult readers, and written by a staff of about 100 full-time editors and more than...
Educational Corp from 1967 to 1974. Baez also chaired the Commission on Education of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources from 1979 to 1983.
In June 1974 Baez was awarded an
honorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements...
by the British
Open UniversityThe Open University is the distance learning university founded and funded by the UK Government. It is notable for having an open entry policy, i.e. students' previous academic achievements are not taken into account for entry to most undergraduate courses...
as Doctor of the University.
Retirement
After his retirement, Baez occasionally delivered physics lectures and was president of Vivamos Mejor/USA, an organization founded in 1988 to help impoverished villages in
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. Its projects include
preschool educationPreschool education is the provision of education for children before the commencement of statutory education, usually between the ages of three and five, dependent on the jurisdiction. Preschool is also known as nursery school, day care or kindergarten....
,
environmentalEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the state of the environment...
projects, and community and educational activities. In 1991, the International Society for Optical Engineering awarded him and Kirkpatrick the Dennis Gabor Award for pioneering contributions to the development of X-ray imaging microscopes and X-ray imaging telescopes. In 1995, the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Corporation (HENAAC) established the Albert V. Baez Award for Technical Excellence and Service to Humanity. Baez himself was inducted into the HENAAC Hall of Fame in 1998.
Baez was the father of folk singers
Joan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is a folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style...
and
Mimi FariñaMimi Baez Fariña was a singer-songwriter, and activist. She was the youngest of three daughters to a British mother, and Mexican physicist Albert Baez...
, and Pauline Bryan; he also was the uncle of mathematical physicist John Baez. He had three grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. He died of natural causes March 20, 2007 at age 94 in the Redwood City care home where he had lived for the prior three years. Baez had been divorced from his wife, Joan Bridge Baez, for several years, at the time of his death. (According to the singer Joan Baez, speaking at the 2009 Newport Folk Festival, her parents married each other a second time before his death. His obituary in the New York Times states that "his survivors include his wife, Joan Bridge Baez of Woodside, Calif." )
Sources