Arthur Compton

Arthur Holly Compton (September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962) won the Nobel Prize in Physics (1927) for discovery of the effect named after him.

Early years

Arthur Holly Compton was born in Wooster, Ohio in 1892 to Elias and Otelia Compton. They were an academic family; his father Elias Compton was president of The College of Wooster, which Arthur attended. His eldest brother Karl Compton also became a physicist, and later president of MIT; his second brother Wilson M. Compton became a diplomat and president of Washington University in St. Louis. Around 1913, Compton devised a demonstration method for the Earth's rotation.

Related Topics:
Wooster, Ohio - Elias - Otelia Compton - The College of Wooster - Karl Compton - MIT - Wilson M. Compton - Washington University in St. Louis - 1913 - Earth - Rotation

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In 1918, Compton began studying X-ray scattering. In 1922, Compton found that X-rays wavelength increases due to scattering of the radiant energy by "free electrons". Scattered quanta have less energy than the quanta of the original ray. This discovery, known as the "Compton effect," or "Compton scattering" demonstrates the "particle" concept of electromagnetic radiation and earned Compton the Nobel Prize in physics in 1927. Compton developed the method for observing at the same instant individual scattered X-ray photons and the recoil electrons (developed with Alfred W. Simon). In Germany, Walther Bothe and Hans Geiger independently form a similar method.

Related Topics:
1918 - X-ray - 1922 - Radiant energy - Free electron - Quanta - Compton scattering - Particle - Electromagnetic radiation - Nobel Prize - 1927 - Photon - Recoil - Electron - Alfred W. Simon - Walther Bothe - Hans Geiger

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