Arno Penzias Nobel Laureate in Astrophysics
Arno Penzias is an astrophysicist who was born April 26, 1933 in Munich Germany. His parents, Justine and Karl Penzias ran a leather business in Munich. During World War II, he was deported to Poland and then was sent to England with his younger brother in 1939. He was sent to England through the kindertransport rescue operation, which transported young Jewish children out of Nazi controlled areas. After his parents were able to escape to England, they moved the whole family to America in 1940 where they settled in the garment district. Six years later, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Arno Penzias graduated from Brooklyn Technical high school in 1951, and continued his education at The City College of New York. He entered CCNY as a chemical engineering major, but switched to physics his freshman year after attending a physics lecture. After graduating from CCNY, he served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps for two years as a radar officer, where he learned about radios. From this, he got a research assistantship in the Columbia University Radiation Laboratory, which was involved in microwave physics. In 1956, Penzias enrolled in Columbia University, and received his doctorate from there in 1962.
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Why did Penzias choose physics?
He fell in love with it during his freshman physics. He did not explain why he liked it so much, but after he took his first college level physics class he wanted to continue learning about physics.
Were there any notable companies that he helped at Silicon Valley?
He works with New Enterprise Associates with small companies, one of which are well known. Some of those companies include, Bloom Energy, Fulcrum Microsystems, Heliovolt, Hillcrest Laboratories, Luxtera, Motion Computing, Soraa, Spreadtrum Communications, and Telegent Systems.
How do cosmic radiation and Big Bang connect?
The cosmic radiation that he found was so far in the background of everything, that it could only come from the origin of a huge explosion in space. This supports the big bang theory because the big bang was an explosion in space. Also, the elements of the radiation, such as deuterium, could only be found in the origins of the universe.
How did the radiation research contribute to medicine?
I do not think his research was applied to medicine because he was looking at cosmic radiation, not X-rays that are used in medicine.
Was his work used beyond the understanding of the origin of the universe?
I do not believe his work was applied beyond further understanding the origin of the universe.
What were the most significant applications of this research?
The most significant applications was understanding how our universe was formed.
Did he use his knowledge of cosmic radiation in his work at Silicon Valley?
Depending on the company, he may have used his knowledge of physics in general, but I think he rarely used his knowledge of cosmic radiation with these companies.
How did he contribute to AT&T?
He left Bell Labs when it became AT&T, so he never directly contributed to the company. His work and success with Bell Labs probably indirectly led to the success of AT&T.
What kind of hardships did Arno Penzias face during his research? Were there any backlashes after his discovery of background radiation?
Most of his hardships were due to the lack of research in his field. He was constantly asking others for their opinions because he was not sure his research was accurate. In the scientific community, I do not believe there were backlashes. However he probably received backlash from those who are opposed to the big bang theory of evolution.
He worked on a wide variety of work. Although he won his Nobel Prize for his work on cosmic radiation, his work on cell phone towers must be very applicable today. What do you think was his most influential work to modern times?
I think his work with antenna and his interest in helping start-up technology companies are his most influential works to modern times.
What is the connection between his work on cosmic radiation and cell phone towers? Or was his work on the two subjects separate?
His work on the two were mostly separate, except for the use of antenna in both.
Do you have any idea how radiation relates to the big bang? Why was it that this particular frequency of radio waves was attributed to the big bang and not a more localized event?
The presence of one of the elements he found in the radiation can only be found during the big bang. The cosmic radiation that he found was so far in the background of everything, that it could only come from the origin of a huge explosion in space. This supports the big bang theory because the big bang was an explosion in space. Also, the elements of the radiation, such as deuterium, could only be found in the origins of the universe.
How did Penzias manage to identify this cosmic radiation? What had his predecessors missed?
He kept digging into the research and refused to give up. He was really the first to find this background radiation and recognize it for what it was. His predecessors either wrote it off as irrelevant, or did not have the technology to study it further.