View source for Carl David Anderson

{{Short description|American experimental physicist (1905–1991)}}
{{Other people|Carl Anderson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Carl Anderson
| image             = Carl David Anderson.jpg
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1905|09|03}}
| birth_place       = [[New York City]], US
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|1991|01|11|1905|09|03}}
| death_place       = [[San Marino, California]], US
| resting_place     = [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]], [[Hollywood Hills]]
| alma_mater        = [[California Institute of Technology]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]], [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]])
| known_for         = {{Plain list|
* Discovering the [[positron]]
* Discovering the [[muon]]
}}
| spouse            = {{Marriage|Lorraine Bergman|1946}}
| children          = 2
| awards            = {{Plain list|
* [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1936)
* [[Elliott Cresson Medal]] (1937)
* [[Member of the National Academy of Sciences|Membership of NAS]] (1938)
}}
| fields            = [[Particle physics]]
| work_institutions = California Institute of Technology
| thesis_title      = Space-Distribution of X-ray Photoelectrons Ejected from the K and L Atomic Energy-Levels <br/> 
| thesis_url        = https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/4075/
| thesis_year       = 1930
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Robert Millikan]]
| doctoral_students = {{Plain list|
* [[Seth Neddermeyer]] (1935)
* [[Leon Katz (physicist)|Leon Katz]] (1943)<ref name=PhysicsTree>{{Cite web|title=Carl D. Anderson - Physics Tree|url=https://academictree.org/physics/peopleinfo.php?pid=71977|website=academictree.org|access-date=2025-08-01}}</ref>
* [[James C. Fletcher]] (1948)<ref name=PhysicsTree/>
* [[Donald Glaser]] (1950)<ref name=PhysicsTree/>
* [[George Trilling]] (1955)<ref name=PhysicsTree/>
* [[Carl A. Rouse]] (1956)<ref name=PhysicsTree/>
}}
}}

'''Carl David Anderson''' (September 3, 1905 – January 11, 1991) was an American [[experimental physicist]] who shared the 1936 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Victor Hess]] for his discovery of the [[positron]], which confirmed the theory of [[antimatter]].

== Early life ==
Carl David Anderson was born on September 3, 1905, in [[New York City]], to Swedish immigrants, Carl David Anderson Sr. and Emma Adolfina Ajaxson.

Anderson studied physics and engineering at [[Caltech]], receiving a [[Bachelor of Science|B.S.]] in 1927 and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in 1930.

== Research ==
=== Discovery of the positron ===
[[File:PositronDiscovery.jpg|thumb|Photo by Anderson of the first positron ever observed, 15 March 1933]]

Under the supervision of [[Robert Millikan]], Anderson began investigations into [[cosmic ray]]s during the course of which he encountered unexpected [[subatomic particle|particle]] tracks in his (modern versions now commonly referred to as an Anderson) [[cloud chamber]] photographs that he correctly interpreted as having been created by a particle with the same mass as the [[electron]], but with opposite [[electric charge]]. 

This discovery, announced in 1932 and later confirmed by others, validated [[Paul Dirac]]'s theoretical prediction of the existence of the [[positron]]. Anderson first detected the particles in cosmic rays. He then produced more conclusive proof  by shooting [[gamma ray]]s produced by the natural radioactive nuclide ThC<nowiki>''</nowiki> ([[Thallium-208|<sup>208</sup>Tl]])<ref>ThC" is a historical designation of <sup>208</sup>Tl, see [[Decay chains]]</ref> into other materials, resulting in the creation of positron-electron pairs.

For this work, Anderson shared the 1936 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Victor Hess]].<ref>[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1936/ The Nobel Prize in Physics 1936]. nobelprize.org</ref> Fifty years later, Anderson acknowledged that his discovery was inspired by the work of his Caltech classmate, [[Chung-Yao Chao]], whose research formed the foundation from which much of Anderson's work developed but was not credited at the time.<ref name="Chinese">{{Cite journal|last=Cao|first=Cong|date=2004|title=Chinese Science and the 'Nobel Prize Complex'|url=http://china-us.uoregon.edu/pdf/Minerva-2004.pdf|journal=Minerva|language=en|volume=42|issue=2|page=154|doi=10.1023/b:mine.0000030020.28625.7e|s2cid=144522961|issn=0026-4695}}</ref>

=== Discovery of the muon ===
In 1936, Anderson and his first graduate student, [[Seth Neddermeyer]], discovered the [[muon]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neddermeyer |first=Seth H. |last2=Anderson |first2=Carl D. |date=1937-05-15 |title=Note on the Nature of Cosmic-Ray Particles |url=https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRev.51.884 |journal=Physical Review |language=en |volume=51 |issue=10 |pages=884–886 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.51.884 |issn=0031-899X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> (or 'mu-meson', as it was known for many years), a [[subatomic particle]] 207 times more massive than the electron, but with the same negative electric charge and spin 1/2 as the electron, again in cosmic rays.

Anderson and Neddermeyer at first believed that they had seen a [[pion]], a particle which [[Hideki Yukawa]] had postulated in his theory of the [[strong interaction]]. When it became clear that what Anderson had seen was ''not'' the pion, the physicist [[I. I. Rabi]], puzzled as to how the unexpected discovery could fit into any logical scheme of [[particle physics]], quizzically asked "Who ordered ''that''?"  (sometimes the story goes that he was dining with colleagues at a Chinese restaurant at the time).

The muon was the first of a long list of [[subatomic particles]] whose discovery initially baffled theoreticians who could not make the confusing "zoo" fit into some tidy conceptual scheme. [[Willis Lamb]], in his 1955 Nobel Prize Lecture, joked that he had heard it said that "the finder of a new elementary particle used to be rewarded by a Nobel Prize, but such a discovery now ought to be punished by a 10,000 dollar fine."<ref>Willis E. Lamb, Jr. (December 12, 1955) [https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/06/lamb-lecture.pdf Fine structure of the hydrogen atom]. ''Nobel Lecture''</ref>

== Personal life and death ==
In 1946, Anderson married Lorraine Bergman, with whom he had two sons.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Carl D. Anderson – Biographical|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1936/anderson/biographical/|website=NobelPrize.org}}</ref>

Anderson died on January 11, 1991, in [[San Marino, California]], at the age of 85. His remains were interred at the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] in [[Los Angeles, California]]. He was a Christian. <ref>{{cite book |last=Anderson |first=Carl David |last2=Anderson |first2=David A.K. |title=The Discovery of Anti‑Matter: The Autobiography of Carl David Anderson, the Second Youngest Man to Win the Nobel Prize |publisher=World Scientific Publishing |year=1999 |isbn=9789810236809}}</ref>

== Awards ==
Anderson was elected to the [[National Academy of Sciences]] and the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1938.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carl D. Anderson |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/58245.html |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Carl+David+Anderson&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-05-18 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> He was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1950.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter A|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterA.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=April 17, 2011}}</ref> He received the [[Elliott Cresson Medal]] of the [[Franklin Institute]] in 1937 and the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] in 1975.<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>

== Select publications ==
* {{cite journal
 |last=Anderson |first=C. D.
 |year=1933
 |title=The Positive Electron
 |journal=[[Physical Review]]
 |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=491–494
 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.43.491
 |bibcode = 1933PhRv...43..491A
|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal
 |last=Anderson |first=C. D.
 |year=1932
 |title=The Apparent Existence of Easily Deflectable Positives
 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]
 |volume=76 |issue=1967 |pages=238–9
 |doi=10.1126/science.76.1967.238
 |pmid=17731542
 |bibcode = 1932Sci....76..238A }}
* {{Cite AV media |people=Anderson, C. D. (technical advisor) |year=1957 |title=The Strange Case of the Cosmic Rays |series=[[The Bell Laboratory Science Series]]}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | last=Weiss | first=Richard J. | title=The Discovery of Anti-matter: The Autobiography of Carl David Anderson, the (Second) Youngest Man to Win the Nobel Prize | publisher=World Scientific | publication-place=Singapore | date=1999 | isbn=978-981-02-3680-9}}

== External links ==
* [http://manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/carl-d-andersons-interview 1983 Audio Interview with Carl Anderson by Martin Sherwin] Voices of the Manhattan Project
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote|Carl David Anderson}}
* [[American National Biography]], vol. 1, pp.&nbsp;445–446.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060828141404/http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people%2FAnderson%2C+Carl+D. Annotated bibliography for Carl David Anderson from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]
* [http://www.osti.gov/accomplishments/anderson.html Carl Anderson and the Discovery of the Positron ]
* {{Nobelprize}}
* [http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/anderson-carl-d.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir]
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4487 Oral History interview transcript with Carl D. Anderson on 30 June 1966, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives]
* {{ScienceWorldBiography | urlname=AndersonCarl | title=Anderson, Carl (1905–1991)}}

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1926-1950}}
{{1936 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Carl David}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American physicists]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:American people of Swedish descent]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology faculty]]
[[Category:American experimental physicists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:John H. Francis Polytechnic High School alumni]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:American particle physicists]]
[[Category:Scientists from California]]
[[Category:Scientists from New York City]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]