View source for William Alfred Fowler

{{Short description|American nuclear physicist (1911–1995)}}
{{Other people|William Fowler}}
{{Distinguish|Alfred Fowler}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = William Alfred Fowler
| image             = File:Fowler 1984.jpg
| caption           = Fowler in 1984
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1911|8|9}}
| birth_place       = [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania, US
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1995|3|14|1911|8|9}}
| death_place       = [[Pasadena, California]], US
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Charles Christian Lauritsen]]
| alma_mater        = [[Ohio State University]] <br> [[Caltech]] {{small|(PhD)}}
| academic_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = [[James M. Bardeen]]<br> [[J. Richard Bond]]<br> [[Donald Clayton]]<br> [[George M. Fuller]]<br> [[F. Curtis Michel]]<br> [[Arthur B. McDonald]]
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = {{ubl|[[Medal for Merit]] {{small|(1948)}}|[[Barnard Medal for Meritorious Service to Science]] {{small|(1965)}}|[[Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics]] {{small|(1970)}}|[[Vetlesen Prize]] {{small|(1973)}}|[[National Medal of Science]] {{small|(1974)}}|[[Eddington Medal]] {{small|(1978)}}|[[Nobel Prize in Physics]] {{small|(1983)}}}}
}}
'''William Alfred Fowler''' (August 9, 1911 {{ndash}} March 14, 1995) was an American nuclear physicist, later [[astrophysicist]], who, with [[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]], was awarded the 1983 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]]. He is known for his theoretical and experimental research into nuclear reactions within stars and the energy elements produced in the process<ref name=":0">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2007 |title=Encyclopedia of World Scientists, Revised Edition |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing|Facts on File]] |location=[[New York City]] |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00oake |access-date=2022-03-21 |last=Oakes |first=Elizabeth |page=245 |language=en |isbn=9780816061587 |lccn=2007006076 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> and was one of the authors of the influential [[B2FH paper|B{{sup|2}}FH paper]].

==Early life==
On 9 August 1911, Fowler was born in [[Pittsburgh]]. Fowler's parents were John MacLeod Fowler and Jennie Summers Watson. Fowler was the eldest of his siblings, Arthur and Nelda.<ref name=":0" />

The family moved to [[Lima, Ohio]], a steam railroad town, when Fowler was two years old. Growing up near the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] yard influenced Fowler's interest in locomotives. In 1973, he travelled to the [[Soviet Union]] just to observe the steam engine that powered the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]] plying the nearly {{convert|2500|km|mi|adj=on}} route that connects [[Khabarovsk]] and [[Moscow]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/centuryideaspers00sidh_266 |title=A century of ideas: perspectives from leading scientists of the 20th century |date=2008 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |isbn=978-1-4020-4359-8 |editor-last=Sidharth |editor-first=B. G. |series=Fundamental theories of physics |location=[[Dordrecht]] |page=19 |lccn=2008923553 |access-date=2022-03-21 |via=[[Internet Archive]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Education==
In 1933, Fowler graduated from the [[Ohio State University]], where he was a member of the [[Tau Kappa Epsilon]] fraternity. In 1936, Fowler received a Ph.D. in [[nuclear physics]] from the [[California Institute of Technology]] in [[Pasadena, California]].<ref name="columbia_fowler">{{Cite web |title=William Alfred Fowler Biography |url=https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/the-vetlesen-prize/past-recipients/william-alfred-fowler |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702224928/https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/the-vetlesen-prize/past-recipients/william-alfred-fowler |archive-date=2016-07-02 |access-date=2019-07-21 |website=[[Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Carey |first=Charles W. |url=https://archive.org/details/americanscientis0000care/page/120/ |title=American scientists |date=2006 |publisher=[[Infobase Publishing|Facts on File]] |isbn=978-0-8160-5499-2 |series=American biographies |location=[[New York City]] |page=120 |lccn=2005000683 |access-date=2022-03-21 |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Fowler-william a.jpg|thumb|Fowler's Los Alamos badge]]
In 1936, Fowler became a research fellow at Caltech. He was elected to the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1938.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alfred Fowler |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001227.html |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> In 1939, Fowler became an assistant professor at Caltech.<ref name="columbia_fowler" />

Although an experimental nuclear physicist, Fowler's most famous paper was his collaboration with Margaret and Geoffrey Burbidge,  "[[Synthesis of the Elements in Stars]]" Significantly, [[Margaret Burbidge]] was first author, her husband [[Geoffrey Burbidge]] second, Fowler third, and  Cambridge cosmologist [[Fred Hoyle]] fourth.   That 1957 paper in Reviews of Modern Physics<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Burbidge |first1=E. M. |author-link=Margaret Burbidge |last2=Burbidge |first2=G. R. |author-link2=Geoffrey Burbidge |last3=Fowler |first3=W. A. |last4=Hoyle |first4=F. |author-link4=Fred Hoyle |date=1957 |title=Synthesis of the Elements in Stars |journal=[[Reviews of Modern Physics]] |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=547–650 |bibcode=1957RvMP...29..547B |doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.29.547 |issn=0034-6861 |lccn=31021290 |oclc=5975699 |doi-access=free |language=en}}</ref> categorized most nuclear processes for origin of all but the lightest [[chemical element]]s in stars.  It is widely known as the [[B2FH paper|B{{sup|2}}FH paper]].  Though the theory of Stellar Nucleosynthesis established in the paper was later cited by the Nobel Committee as the reason for Fowler's 1983 Nobel in Physics, neither any of the Burbidges nor Hoyle shared in the award.

In 1942, Fowler became an associate professor at Caltech. In 1946, Fowler became a Professor at Caltech.<ref name="columbia_fowler" /> Fowler, along with [[Lee Alvin DuBridge|Lee A. DuBridge]], [[Max Mason]], [[Linus Pauling]], and [[Bruce Hornbrook Sage|Bruce H. Sage]], was awarded the [[Medal for Merit]] in 1948 by President [[Harry S. Truman]].<ref name="Pauling">{{Cite web |title=Presidential Medal for Merit. February 2, 1948. - Published Papers and Official Documents - Linus Pauling and the International Peace Movement |url=http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/coll/pauling/peace/papers/1948h.1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718074029/http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/coll/pauling/peace/papers/1948h.1.html |archive-date=2018-07-18 |access-date=2022-02-26 |website=[[Oregon State University]] |language=en}}</ref>

Fowler succeeded [[Charles Christian Lauritsen|Charles Lauritsen]] as director of the [[W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory]] at [[California Institute of Technology|Caltech]], and was himself later succeeded by [[Steven E. Koonin]]. Fowler was awarded the National Medal of Science by President [[Gerald Ford]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999 |title=Photo Archive in Nuclear Astrophysics |url=http://www.clemson.edu/ces/astro/NucleoArchive/PhotoList/1970s/75WAF_Pres.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129195516/https://astro.sites.clemson.edu/NucleoArchive/PhotoList/1970s/75WAF_Pres.html |archive-date=2018-01-29 |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=[[Clemson University]] |language=en}}</ref>

Fowler was Guggenheim Fellow at [[St John's College, Cambridge]] in 1962–63. He was elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1962,<ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=William+Alfred+Fowler&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> won the [[Henry Norris Russell Lectureship]] of the [[American Astronomical Society]] in 1963, elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1965,<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Alfred Fowler |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/william-alfred-fowler |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref> won the [[Vetlesen Prize]] in 1973, the [[Eddington Medal]] in 1978, the [[Bruce Medal]] of the [[Astronomical Society of the Pacific]] in 1979, and the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 1983 (shared with [[Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar]]) for his theoretical and experimental studies of the [[nuclear reaction]]s of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe .<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Alfred Fowler |url=http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/brucemedalists/william-fowler |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215130600/http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/brucemedalists/william-fowler |archive-date=2022-02-15 |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=[[Sonoma State University]] |date=2021-07-07 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=William A. Fowler - Facts |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1983/fowler/facts/ |access-date=2019-07-14 |website=[[Nobel Prize]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

Fowler's doctoral students at Caltech included [[Donald D. Clayton]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Donald D. Clayton |url=https://collections.archives.caltech.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/104499 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220321063103/https://collections.archives.caltech.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/104499 |archive-date=2022-03-21 |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=[[Caltech]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
A lifelong fan of [[steam locomotive]]s, Fowler owned several working models of various sizes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999 |title=Photo Archive in Nuclear Astrophysics |url=https://astro.sites.clemson.edu/NucleoArchive/PhotoList/1970s/71Train.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125025154/https://astro.sites.clemson.edu/NucleoArchive/PhotoList/1970s/71Train.html |archive-date=2020-11-25 |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=[[Clemson University]] |language=en}}</ref>

Fowler's first wife was Adriane Fay (née Olmsted) Fowler. They had two daughters, Mary Emily and Martha.<ref name="sunjournal_fowlerwife">{{Cite web |date=2019-07-13 |title=Obituary: Mary Ditcher Fowler |url=https://www.sunjournal.com/2019/07/13/obituarymary-dutcher-fowler/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122044122/https://www.sunjournal.com/2019/07/13/obituarymary-dutcher-fowler/ |archive-date=2021-01-22 |access-date=2019-07-21 |website=[[Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine)|Lewiston Sun Journal]] |language=en |publication-place=[[Lewiston, Maine]] |oclc=1058326012 |place=[[Auburn, Maine]]}}</ref>

In December 1989, Fowler married Mary Dutcher, an artist, in Pasadena, California.<ref name="sunjournal_fowlerwife" />
On 11 March 1995, Fowler died from kidney failure in [[Pasadena, California]]. He was 83.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dicke |first=William |date=1995-03-16 |title=William A. Fowler, 83, Astrophysicist, Dies |language=en-US |page=B14 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/16/obituaries/william-a-fowler-83-astrophysicist-dies.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2019-07-14 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Publications==
* {{Cite journal |last1=Fowler |first1=W.A. |last2=Lauritsen |first2=C.C |date=1949-05-26 |title=Gamma radiation from light nuclei under proton bombardment |url=https://authors.library.caltech.edu/4543/1/FOWpr49a.pdf |url-status=live |journal=[[Physical Review]] |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=314–315 |bibcode=1948PhRv...73..181F |doi=10.1103/physrev.73.181.2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808193043/https://authors.library.caltech.edu/4543/1/FOWpr49a.pdf |archive-date=2021-08-08 |authorlink2=Charles Christian Lauritsen |language=en}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Cook |first1=C.W. |last2=Fowler |first2=W.A. |last3=Lauritsen |first3=C.C. |author-link3=Charles Christian Lauritsen |last4=Lauritsen |first4=T. |date=1957-07-15 |title=B{{sup|12}}, C{{sup|12}} and the Red Hot Giants |url=https://journals.aps.org/pr/abstract/10.1103/PhysRev.107.508 |journal=[[Physical Review]] |volume=107 |issue=2 |page=508 |bibcode=1957PhRv..107..508C |doi=10.1103/physrev.107.508 |url-access=subscription}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Clayton |first1=D.D |author-link=Donald D. Clayton |last2=Fowler |first2=W.A |last3=Hull |first3=T.E |last4=Zimmerman |first4=B.A. |date=1961-03-01 |title=Neutron capture chains in heavy element synthesis |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0003491661900677 |journal=[[Annals of Physics]] |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=331–408 |bibcode=1961AnPhy..12..331C |doi=10.1016/0003-4916(61)90067-7 |issn=0003-4916 |url-access=subscription |language=en}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Burbidge |first1=E. M. |author-link=Margaret Burbidge |last2=Burbidge |first2=G. R. |author-link2=Geoffrey Burbidge |last3=Fowler |first3=W. A. |last4=Hoyle |first4=F. |author-link4=Fred Hoyle |date=1957 |title=Synthesis of the Elements in Stars |journal=[[Reviews of Modern Physics]] |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=547–650 |bibcode=1957RvMP...29..547B |doi=10.1103/RevModPhys.29.547 |issn=0034-6861 |lccn=31021290 |oclc=5975699 |doi-access=free |language=en}}
* {{Cite conference |last=Fowler |first=W. A. |date=June 1958 |title=Temperature and Density Conditions for Nucleogenesis by Fusion Processes in Stars |publisher=[[W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory]] |doi=10.2172/4308210 |osti=4308210 |lang=en}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Seeger |first1=P. A. |last2=Fowler |first2=W. A. |last3=Clayton |first3=Donald D. |author-link3=Donald D. Clayton |date=1965 |title=Nucleosynthesis of heavy elements by neutron capture |url=http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1307&context=physastro_pubs |url-status=live |journal=[[The Astrophysical Journal|Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series]] |volume=11 |pages=121–166 |bibcode=1965ApJS...11..121S |doi=10.1086/190111 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428094519/http://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1307&context=physastro_pubs |archive-date=2021-04-28 |access-date=2022-03-21 |language=en}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Bodansky |first1=D. |last2=Clayton |first2=Donald D. |author-link2=Donald D. Clayton |last3=Fowler |first3=W.A. |date=1968-01-22 |title=Nucleosynthesis during silicon burning |url=https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1393&context=physastro_pubs |url-status=live |journal=[[Physical Review Letters]] |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=161–164 |bibcode=1968PhRvL..20..161B |doi=10.1103/physrevlett.20.161 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723192859/https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1393&context=physastro_pubs |archive-date=2021-07-23 |access-date=2022-03-21 |language=en|url-access=subscription }}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Holmes |first1=J.A. |last2=Woosley |first2=S.E. |author-link2=Stanford E. Woosley |last3=Fowler |first3=W.A. |last4=Zimmerman |first4=B.A. |date=1976 |title=Tables of thermonuclear-reaction-rate for neutron-induced reactions on heavy nuclei |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0092640X76900115 |journal=[[Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables]] |volume=18 |pages=305 |bibcode=1976ADNDT..18..305H |doi=10.1016/0092-640x(76)90011-5 |url-access=subscription}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Caughlan |first1=G.R. |author-link=Georgeanne R. Caughlan |last2=Fowler |first2=W.A. |last3=Zimmerman |first3=B.A. |date=September 1975 |title=Thermonuclear reaction rates, II |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.aa.13.090175.000441 |url-status=live |journal=[[Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys.]] |volume=13 |pages=69–112 |bibcode=1975ARA&A..13...69F |doi=10.1146/annurev.aa.13.090175.000441 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130054644/https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.aa.13.090175.000441 |archive-date=2022-01-30 |access-date=2022-03-21 |language=en|url-access=subscription }}

==Obituaries==
*{{Cite journal |last=Woosley |first=Stanford E. |author-link=Stanford E. Woosley |date=1995 |title=Obituary: William A. Fowler, 1911–1995 |url=https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1995BAAS...27.1475W |url-status=live |journal=[[Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society]] |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=1475 |bibcode=1995BAAS...27.1475W |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321082952/https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1995BAAS...27.1475W |archive-date=2022-03-21 |access-date=2022-03-21 |language=en}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Clayton |first=Donald D. |author-link=Donald D. Clayton |date=1996 |title=William Alfred Fowler (1911-1995) |journal=[[Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific]] |volume=108 |issue=719 |pages=1–7 |bibcode=1996PASP..108....1C |doi=10.1086/133686 |jstor=40680678 |doi-access=free}}
*{{Cite journal |last=Burbidge |first=G. |author-link=Geoffrey Burbidge |date=1996 |title=William Alfred Fowler, 1911 - 14 March 1995 |journal=Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=89 |bibcode=1996QJRAS..37...89B}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4608-1 Oral history interview transcript with William Fowler on 8 June 1972, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives] - Session I
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4608-2 Oral history interview transcript with William Fowler on 9 June 1972, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives] - Session II
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4608-3 Oral history interview transcript with William Fowler on 5 February 1973, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives] - Session III
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4608-4 Oral history interview transcript with William Fowler on 6 February 1973, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives] - Session IV
* [https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/4608-5 Oral history interview transcript with William Fowler on 30 May 1974, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives] - Session V
* [http://manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/william-fowlers-interview 1983 Audio Interview with William Fowler by Martin Sherwin] Voices of the Manhattan Project
* [http://etd.caltech.edu/etd/available/etd-10112002-114537/ W.A. Fowler: ''Radioactive elements of a low atomic number'', Ph.D. dissertation]
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1983 ''Experimental and Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics; the Quest for the Origin of the Elements''
* [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt2d5nb7kj Guide to the Papers of William A. Fowler, 1917-1994]
* [http://www.phy.ornl.gov/astrophysics/data/cf88/index.html Caughlan and Fowler 1988: THERMONUCLEAR REACTION RATES], [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]]
* [http://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/94/ Interview with William A. Fowler] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307014859/http://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/94/ |date=2015-03-07 }}, Caltech Archives Oral Histories Online

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{Presidents of the American Physical Society}}
{{1983 Nobel Prize winners}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, William Alfred}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:American astronomers]]
[[Category:American Nobel laureates]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology faculty]]
[[Category:Medal for Merit recipients]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:Ohio State University alumni]]
[[Category:National Medal of Science laureates]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Presidents of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology fellows]]
[[Category:Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Vetlesen Prize winners]]