Philip Morrison

Infobox_Scientist
name = Philip Morrison


caption =
birth_date = birth date|1915|11|7|df=y
birth_place = Somerville, New Jersey
death_date = death date and age|2005|4|22|1915|11|7|df=y
death_place = Cambridge, Massachusetts
residence = United States
nationality = American
field = Astrophysics
work_institution =
San Francisco State University
Illinois
Manhattan Project
Cornell
MIT
alma_mater =
Carnegie Tech
Berkeley
doctoral_advisor = J. Robert Oppenheimer
doctoral_students =
known_for = SETI, science education
societies =
American Physical Society,
National Academy of Sciences,
American Astronomical Society,
International Astronomical Union,
American Academy of Arts and Sciences,

American Philosophical Society,
American Association of Physics Teachers
prizes =Babson Prize of the Gravity Foundation,
Westinghouse Science Writing Award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
Oersted Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers,
Priestly Medallion of Dickinson College,
Presidential Award of the New York Academy of Sciences (1980),
Public Service Medal of the Minnesota Museum of Science,
Andrew Gemant Award of the American Institute of Physics,
Wheeler Prize (with Phylis Morrison) of the Boston Museum of Science
spouse = Phylis
children =
religion =
website =
footnotes =

Philip Morrison, (born 7 November 1915 in Somerville, New Jersey – died 22 April 2005 in Cambridge, Massachusetts) was Institute Professor Emeritus and Professor of Physics Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Morrison grew up in Pittsburgh and graduated from its public schools. He earned his B.S. in 1936 at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and in 1940 he earned his Ph.D. in theoretical physics at the University of California, Berkeley, under the supervision of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

In 1942 he joined the Manhattan Project as group leader and physicist at the laboratories of the University of Chicago and Los Alamos. He was also an eyewitness to the Trinity test, and helped to transport its plutonium core to the test site [S.S. Schweber: In the Shadow of the Bomb. Princeton University Press, 2000. Page 132.] .

After surveying the destruction left by the use of the atom bomb in Hiroshima, Morrison became a champion of nuclear nonproliferation. He helped found the Federation of American Scientists, wrote for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, and helped to found the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies. He was also a vocal critic of the Strategic Defense Initiative.

In May 1953 Dr. Morrison testified before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act. When asked if he had ever been a member of the Communist Party (CPUSA), Morrison replied: "I joined the Young Communist League when I was 18, and when I was 21 (1936) I did become a member of the Communist party in Berkeley. I don't remember precisely which branch."

Morrison joined the physics faculty at Cornell University in 1946 and would move on to MIT in 1964. In 1959, Morrison and Giuseppe Cocconi published a paper [cite journal |last=Cocconi |first=Giuseppi, and Morrison, Philip |journal=Nature |title=Searching for Interstellar Communications |year=1959, 19 September |volume=184 |issue=4690 |pages=844–846 |url=http://www.coseti.org/morris_0.htm |accessdate=2008-05-03 |doi=10.1038/184844a0] proposing the potential of microwaves in the search for interstellar communications, a component of the modern SETI program.

Morrison was also known for his numerous books and television programs, including "Powers of Ten" and the 1987 PBS series "The Ring of Truth" [Available on VHS from WGBH [http://shop.wgbh.org/product/show/9041] ] , which he also hosted. In addition, he was a reviewer of books on science for "Scientific American" since 1965.

Morrison was a fellow of the American Physical Society and chairman of the Federation of American Scientists from 1973 to 1976. He was also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the International Astronomical Union, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific gave him the Klumpke-Roberts Award in 1992.

ource

* Philip Morrison testimony, 7 and 8 May 1953, "Subversive Influence in the Educational Process," United States Congress, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, 83rd Congress, 1st Session, part 9, pgs. 899-919.

References

External links

* [http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/morrison.html Obituary of Philip Morrison from the MIT News Office]
* [http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050426130009990001 Article Outlining Morrison's Life and Career]
* [http://openvault.wgbh.org/wapina/barcode9486morrison_5/index.html/ Interview about the Manhattan Project] for the WGBH series, [http://openvault.wgbh.org/series/War+and+Peace+in+the+Nuclear+Age/ War and Peace in the Nuclear Age]
* [http://www.memoriesofmorrison.org Online web memorial to Phil and Phylis Morrison]
* [http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people/Morrison,+Philip Annotated bibliography for Philip Morrison from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]

Persondata
NAME= Morrison, Philip
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= American astrophysicist
DATE OF BIRTH= 7 November 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH= Somerville, New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH= 22 April 2005
PLACE OF DEATH= Cambridge, Massachusetts