| Name |
Department |
Elected |
Notability |
Reference |
Noam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
|
Linguistics |
1976 |
Generative grammarIn theoretical linguistics, generative grammar refers to a particular approach to the study of syntax. A generative grammar of a language attempts to give a set of rules that will correctly predict which combinations of words will form grammatical sentences... ; Kyoto Prize (1988); political activist; one of the most widely cited scholars alive. |
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| Jerome I. Friedman |
Physics |
1991 |
Quantum chromodynamics In theoretical physics, quantum chromodynamics is a theory of the strong interaction , a fundamental force describing the interactions of the quarks and gluons making up hadrons . It is the study of the SU Yang–Mills theory of color-charged fermions... ; Nobel Prize in PhysicsThe Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and... (1990). |
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| Morris Halle Morris Halle , is a Latvian-American Jewish linguist and an Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
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Linguistics |
1981 |
PhonologyPhonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use... ; The Sound Pattern of EnglishThe Sound Pattern of English is a 1968 work on phonology by Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle. It presents a comprehensive view of the phonology of English, and stands as a landmark both in the field of phonology and in the analysis of the English language... . |
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| Chia-Chiao Lin Chia-Chiao Lin is an American applied mathematician and Institute Professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.-Biography:...
|
Mathematics |
1966 |
Fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the study of fluids and the forces on them. Fluid mechanics can be divided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest; fluid kinematics, the study of fluids in motion; and fluid dynamics, the study of the effect of forces on fluid motion... . |
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| Mario Molina |
Earth, Atmosphere, and Planetary Sciences |
1997 |
Stratospheric ozone chemistry Ozone depletion describes two distinct but related phenomena observed since the late 1970s: a steady decline of about 4% per decade in the total volume of ozone in Earth's stratosphere , and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earth's polar regions. The latter phenomenon... ; Nobel Prize in ChemistryThe Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,... (1995). |
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| Nevin S. Scrimshaw |
Nutrition and Food Science |
1980 |
Eliminating nutritional deficiencyMalnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions.... ; World Food PrizeThe World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.-The Prize:... (1991). |
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| Robert M. Solow |
Economics |
1973 |
National Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and... (1999); John Bates Clark MedalThe John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to "that American economist under the age of forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge"... (1961); Nobel Prize in Economics (1987). |
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John S. WaughJohn Stewart Waugh is an American chemist and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is known for developing average hamiltonian theory and using it to extend NMR spectroscopy, previously limited to liquids, to the solid state...
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Chemistry |
|
Computational studies of spin systemsIn chemistry, a molecular orbital is a mathematical function describing the wave-like behavior of an electron in a molecule. This function can be used to calculate chemical and physical properties such as the probability of finding an electron in any specific region. The term "orbital" was first... . |
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| Isadore Singer Isadore Manuel Singer is an Institute Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
|
Mathematics |
1987 |
Atiyah–Singer index theorem In differential geometry, the Atiyah–Singer index theorem, proved by , states that for an elliptic differential operator on a compact manifold, the analytical index is equal to the topological index... ; Abel PrizeThe Abel Prize is an international prize presented annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. The prize is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel . It has often been described as the "mathematician's Nobel prize" and is among the most prestigious... (2004). |
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| Name |
Department |
Elected |
Notability |
Reference |
Manson BenedictManson Benedict was an American nuclear engineer and a professor of nuclear engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . From 1958 to 1968, he was the chairman of the advisory committee to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.-Biography:Born in Lake Linden, Michigan, Benedict received a...
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Nuclear Engineering |
1969 |
National Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and... (1975). |
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| Gordon S. Brown Gordon Stanley Brown was a professor of electrical engineering at MIT. He originated many of the concepts behind automatic-feedback control systems and the numerical control of machine tools. From 1959 to 1968, he served as the dean of MIT's engineering school. With his former student Donald P...
|
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
1973 |
Automatic feedback-control systemsControl theory is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering and mathematics that deals with the behavior of dynamical systems. The desired output of a system is called the reference... ; computer numerical control; Dean of Engineering (1959–1968). |
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| Martin Julian Buerger |
Mineralogy |
1956 |
Crystallography Crystallography is the experimental science of the arrangement of atoms in solids. The word "crystallography" derives from the Greek words crystallon = cold drop / frozen drop, with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and grapho = write.Before the development of...
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| Morris Cohen Morris Cohen .Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, United States, Cohen spent his entire career affiliated with MIT. He graduated from his undergraduate degree in 1933, receiving his doctorate three years later, and was appointed assistant professor of metallurgy in 1937...
|
Material Science and Engineering |
1974 |
Metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use... of steelSteel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten... . |
|
| Charles S. Draper |
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
1966 |
Inertial guidance; gyro gunsight A gyro gunsight is a modification of the non-magnifying reflector sight in which target lead and bullet drop are allowed for automatically, the sight incorporating a gyroscopic mechanism that computes the necessary deflections required to ensure a hit on the target... ; founder of the Instrumentation LaboratoryDraper Laboratory is an American not-for-profit research and development organization in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Draper focuses on the design, development, and deployment of advanced technology solutions to problems in national security, space exploration, health care and energy.Originally... . |
|
| Harold Eugene "Doc" Edgerton |
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
1966 |
High-speed photography; Co-founder of EG&G EG&G, formally known as Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier, Inc., is a United States national defense contractor and provider of management and technical services. The company was involved in contracting services to the United States government during World War II, and conducted weapons research and... ; National Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and... (1973). |
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| Herman Feshbach Herman Feshbach was an American physicist. He was an Institute Professor Emeritus of physics at MIT. Feshbach is best known for Feshbach resonance and for writing, with Philip M...
|
Physics |
1983 |
Nuclear reactionIn nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, a nuclear reaction is semantically considered to be the process in which two nuclei, or else a nucleus of an atom and a subatomic particle from outside the atom, collide to produce products different from the initial particles... theory; National Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and... (1986). |
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| Edwin R. Gilliland Edwin Richard Gilliland was an American chemical engineer and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Gilliland was born on July 10, 1909 in El Reno, Oklahoma and moved with his family to Little Rock, Arkansas in 1918. He graduated from the University of Illinois at...
|
Chemical Engineering |
1971 |
Fractional distillation columnsA fractionating column or fractionation column is an essential item used in the distillation of liquid mixtures so as to separate the mixture into its component parts, or fractions, based on the differences in their volatilities... and fluidized catalytic crackingA fluidized bed reactor is a type of reactor device that can be used to carry out a variety of multiphase chemical reactions. In this type of reactor, a fluid is passed through a granular solid material at high enough velocities to suspend the solid and cause it to behave as though it were a fluid... ; President's Science Advisory CommitteeIn 1951 President of the United States Harry S. Truman established the Science Advisory Committee as part of the Office of Defense Mobilization . As a direct response to the launches of the Soviet artificial satellites, Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, on October 4 and November 3, 1957, the Science... (1961–1965). |
|
| Hermann Anton Haus |
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
1986 |
Optical communications; National Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and... (1995). |
|
| Arthur von Hippel |
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
1962 |
DielectricA dielectric is an electrical insulator that can be polarized by an applied electric field. When a dielectric is placed in an electric field, electric charges do not flow through the material, as in a conductor, but only slightly shift from their average equilibrium positions causing dielectric... materials. |
|
| Arthur Thomas Ippen |
Civil Engineering |
1970 |
Hydraulic engineering This article is about civil engineering. For the mechanical engineering discipline see Hydraulic machineryHydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive... and water resourcesWater resources are sources of water that are useful or potentially useful. Uses of water include agricultural, industrial, household, recreational and environmental activities. Virtually all of these human uses require fresh water.... . |
|
| Roman O. Jakobson |
Linguistics |
|
Slavic studies and linguisticsLinguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context.... ; Russian formalismRussian formalism was an influential school of literary criticism in Russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. It includes the work of a number of highly influential Russian and Soviet scholars such as Viktor Shklovsky, Yuri Tynianov, Vladimir Propp, Boris Eichenbaum, Roman Jakobson, Grigory Vinokur who... . |
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| György Kepes György Kepes was a Hungarian-born painter, designer, educator and art theorist. After emigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus in Chicago...
|
Architecture |
1970 |
Founded the Center for Advanced Visual Studies The Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT was founded in 1967 by artist and teacher György Kepes. Kepes, who taught at the new Bauhaus in Chicago, originally founded the Center as a way to encourage artistic collaboration on a large civic scale.... ; Bauhaus', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by... contributor; Hungarian Medal of Honor and Middle Cross (1996). |
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| Norman Levinson Norman Levinson was an American mathematician. Some of his major contributions were in the study of Fourier transforms, complex analysis, non-linear differential equations, number theory, and signal processing. He worked closely with Norbert Wiener in his early career...
|
Mathematics |
1971 |
Non-linear differential equations; mathematical analysis Mathematical analysis, which mathematicians refer to simply as analysis, has its beginnings in the rigorous formulation of infinitesimal calculus. It is a branch of pure mathematics that includes the theories of differentiation, integration and measure, limits, infinite series, and analytic functions... ; analytic number theoryIn mathematics, analytic number theory is a branch of number theory that uses methods from mathematical analysis to solve problems about the integers. It is often said to have begun with Dirichlet's introduction of Dirichlet L-functions to give the first proof of Dirichlet's theorem on arithmetic... ; testified at 1953 House Un-American Activities CommitteeThe House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"... . |
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| Francis E. Low Francis Eugene Low was an American theoretical physicist. He was an Institute Professor at MIT, and served as provost there from 1980 to 1985.-Early career:...
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Physics |
|
Condensed matter physics Condensed matter physics deals with the physical properties of condensed phases of matter. These properties appear when a number of atoms at the supramolecular and macromolecular scale interact strongly and adhere to each other or are otherwise highly concentrated in a system. The most familiar... ; Provost of MIT (1980-1985). |
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Franco ModiglianiFranco Modigliani was an Italian economist at the MIT Sloan School of Management and MIT Department of Economics, and winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1985.-Life and career:...
|
Economics & Management |
1970 |
Nobel Prize in Economics (1985). |
|
Philip MorrisonPhilip Morrison, was Institute Professor Emeritus and Professor of Physics Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .-Early life and education:...
|
Physics |
1973 |
Theoretical astrophysics. |
|
| Walle J.H. Nauta |
Brain and Cognitive Sciences |
1973 |
Nauta Silver Impregnation Method used to trace degenerating nerve fibers. |
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| Walter A. Rosenblith Walter A. Rosenblith was a biophysicist and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
|
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
1975 |
Psychoacoustics Psychoacoustics is the scientific study of sound perception. More specifically, it is the branch of science studying the psychological and physiological responses associated with sound... ; elected to all three National AcademiesThe United States National Academies comprises four organizations:* National Academy of Sciences * National Academy of Engineering * Institute of Medicine * National Research Council... ; Provost of MIT (1971–1980). |
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Bruno RossiBruno Benedetto Rossi was a leading Italian-American experimental physicist. He made major contributions to cosmic ray and particle physics from 1930 through the 1950s, and pioneered X-ray astronomy and space plasma physics in the 1960s.-Biography:Rossi was born in Venice, Italy...
|
Physics |
1966 |
X-ray astronomy X-ray astronomy is an observational branch of astronomy which deals with the study of X-ray observation and detection from astronomical objects. X-radiation is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so instruments to detect X-rays must be taken to high altitude by balloons, sounding rockets, and... and discovery of cosmic rayCosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation... s; National Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and... (1983); Wolf Prize (1987). |
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Paul SamuelsonPaul Anthony Samuelson was an American economist, and the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. The Swedish Royal Academies stated, when awarding the prize, that he "has done more than any other contemporary economist to raise the level of scientific analysis in...
|
Economics |
1966 |
John Bates Clark Medal The John Bates Clark Medal is awarded by the American Economic Association to "that American economist under the age of forty who is adjudged to have made a significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge"... (1947); Nobel Prize in Economics (1970); National Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and... (1996). |
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| Francis O. Schmitt Francis O. Schmitt was an American biologist and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Schmitt received an A.B. in 1924 and a Ph.D. in 1927 from Washington University in St. Louis...
|
Biology |
1955 |
Biological electron microscopy. |
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| Ascher H. Shapiro Ascher H. Shapiro was a professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He grew up in New York City. He earned his S.B. in 1938 and an Sc.D. in 1946 in the field of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
|
Mechanical Engineering |
1975 |
Fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the study of fluids and the forces on them. Fluid mechanics can be divided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest; fluid kinematics, the study of fluids in motion; and fluid dynamics, the study of the effect of forces on fluid motion... and biomedical engineeringBiomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve... . |
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| John C. Slater John Clarke Slater was a noted American physicist who made major contributions to the theory of the electronic structure of atoms, molecules and solids. This work is of ongoing importance in chemistry, as well as in many areas of physics. He also made major contributions to microwave electronics....
|
Physics |
1951 |
Quantum theoryQuantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic... and Electromagnetic theory of microwaveMicrowaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries... s; Advisor to William ShockleyWilliam Bradford Shockley Jr. was an American physicist and inventor. Along with John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain, Shockley co-invented the transistor, for which all three were awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.Shockley's attempts to commercialize a new transistor design in the 1950s... and Richard FeynmanRichard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics... . |
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| Cyril S. Smith |
Materials Science & Humanities |
|
Metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use... and crystallographyCrystallography is the experimental science of the arrangement of atoms in solids. The word "crystallography" derives from the Greek words crystallon = cold drop / frozen drop, with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and grapho = write.Before the development of... ; metallographyMetallography is the study of the physical structure and components of metals, typically using microscopy.Ceramic and polymeric materials may also be prepared using metallographic techniques, hence the terms ceramography, plastography and, collectively, materialography.-Preparing metallographic... of archaeological artifactsAn artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"... . |
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| Carl R. Soderberg Carl Richard Soderberg was a power engineer and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.-Background:...
|
Mechanical Engineering |
1959 |
Steam turbineA steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884.... electric generators; Dean of Engineering (1954–1959); consultant on the J-57 turbojet|-Specifications :-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Francillon, René J. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920. London: Putnam, 1979. ISBN 0-370-00050-1.-External links:* * *... . |
|
Victor WeisskopfVictor Frederick Weisskopf was an Austrian-born Jewish American theoretical physicist. He did postdoctoral work with Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, Wolfgang Pauli and Niels Bohr...
|
Physics |
1965 |
National Medal of ScienceThe National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and... (1980); Wolf Prize (1981); co-founder of the Union of Concerned ScientistsThe Union of Concerned Scientists is a nonprofit science advocacy group based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. James J... . |
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| Jerome Wiesner Jerome Bert Wiesner was an educator, a Science Advisor to U.S. Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy and Johnson, an advocate for arms control, and a critic of anti-ballistic-missile defense systems...
|
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
1980 |
Chairman of the President's Science Advisory Committee In 1951 President of the United States Harry S. Truman established the Science Advisory Committee as part of the Office of Defense Mobilization . As a direct response to the launches of the Soviet artificial satellites, Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2, on October 4 and November 3, 1957, the Science... (1961–1964); Dean of Science (1964–1966); Provost of MIT (1966–1971); President of MIT (1971–1980). |
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| Jerrold R. Zacharias Jerrold Reinach Zacharias was an American physicist and Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.-Career:Zacharias was involved in both the Radiation Laboratory at MIT and the Manhattan Project...
|
Nuclear Science and Engineering |
1966 |
Atomic beam Atomic beam is special case of particle beam; it is the collimated flux of neutral atoms.The imaging systems using the slow atomic beams can use the Fresnel zone plate of a Fresnel diffraction mirror as focusing element. The imaging system with atomic beam could provide the sub-micrometre... s and clocksAn atomic clock is a clock that uses an electronic transition frequency in the microwave, optical, or ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum of atoms as a frequency standard for its timekeeping element... ; educational reform; microwave radarRadar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio... . |
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