Arno Allan Penzias

Arno Allan Penzias (/ˈpɛnziəs/; born April 26, 1933) is an American physicist, radio astronomer and Nobel laureate in physics. Along with Robert Woodrow Wilson, he discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation, which helped establish the Big Bang theory of cosmology.

Arno Allan Penzias
Penzias in 2007
Born (1933-04-26) April 26, 1933
Munich, German Reich
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
Known forCosmic Microwave Background Radiation
SpouseSherry Penzias
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
Institutions
Part of a series on
Physical cosmology
Early universe
Backgrounds
Expansion · Future
Components · Structure
Components
Structure
Experiments
Scientists
Subject history

Early life and education

Penzias was born in Munich, Germany, the son of Justine (née Eisenreich) and Karl Penzias, who ran a leather business.[1] His grandparents had come to Munich from Poland and were among the leaders of the Reichenbach Strasse Shul. At age six, he and his brother Gunther were among the Jewish children evacuated to Britain as part of the Kindertransport rescue operation. Some time later,[2] his parents also fled Nazi Germany for the United States, and the family settled in the Garment District of New York City in 1940. In 1946, Penzias became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1951[3] and after enrolling to study chemistry at the City College of New York, he changed majors and graduated 1954 with a degree in physics, ranked near the top of his class.

Following graduation, Penzias served for two years as a radar officer in the U.S. Army Signal Corps. This led to a research assistantship in the Columbia University Radiation Laboratory, which was then heavily involved in microwave physics. Penzias worked under Charles Townes, who later invented the maser.

Penzias enrolled as a graduate student at Columbia University in 1956, earning a PhD in physics in 1962.[4]

Career
Penzias and Wilson stand at the 15 meter Holmdel Horn Antenna that brought their most notable discovery

Penzias went on to work at Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey, where, with Robert Woodrow Wilson, he worked on ultra-sensitive cryogenic microwave receivers, intended for radio astronomy observations. In 1964, on building their most sensitive antenna/receiver system, the pair encountered radio noise which they could not explain.[5] It was far less energetic than the radiation given off by the Milky Way, and it was isotropic, so they assumed their instrument was subject to interference by terrestrial sources. They tried, and then rejected, the hypothesis that the radio noise emanated from New York City. An examination of the microwave horn antenna showed it was full of bat and pigeon droppings (which Penzias described as "white dielectric material"). After the pair removed the dung buildup the noise remained. Having rejected all sources of interference, Penzias contacted Robert Dicke, who suggested it might be the background radiation predicted by some cosmological theories. The pair agreed with Dicke to publish side-by-side letters in the Astrophysical Journal, with Penzias and Wilson describing their observations[6] and Dicke suggesting the interpretation as the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), the radio remnant of the Big Bang.[2][7] This allowed astronomers to confirm the Big Bang, and to correct many of their previous assumptions about it.

He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences in 1975.[8][9] Penzias and Wilson received the 1978 Nobel Prize, sharing it with Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa (Kapitsa's work on Low-temperature physics was unrelated to Penzias and Wilson's). In 1977, the two had received the Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences.[10] In 1979, Penzias received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.[11] He is also the recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence. In 1998, he was awarded the IRI Medal from the Industrial Research Institute.

On April 26, 2019, the Nürnberger Astronomische Gesellschaft e.V. (NAG) inaugurated the 3-m radio telescope at the Regiomontanus-Sternwarte, the public observatory of Nuremberg, and dedicated this instrument to Arno Penzias.

On September 11, 2023, the Radio Club of America said that Penzias would be honored by the club with the inauguration of a new award in 2023: “Dr. Arno A. Penzias Award for Contributions to Basic Research in the Radio Sciences.” The club said the award recognizes his significant contributions to basic research involving RF and related subjects and that it would inspire future generations of scientific professionals. The first recipient of the new award will be named in 2024, the club said. [12]

Penzias was a resident of Highland Park, New Jersey in the 1990s.[13] He has a son, David, and two daughters, Mindy Penzias Dirks, PhD, and Rabbi Shifra (Laurie) Weiss-Penzias.[14]

Works
  • Wilson, R. W.; Penzias, A. A. (1967). "Isotropy of Cosmic Background Radiation at 4080 Megahertz". Science. 156 (3778): 1100–1101. Bibcode:1967Sci...156.1100W. doi:10.1126/science.156.3778.1100. PMID 17774056. S2CID 46069151.
  • Penzias, A. A.; Wilson, R. W. (1970). "Microwave Noise from Rainstorms". Science. 169 (3945): 583–584. Bibcode:1970Sci...169..583P. doi:10.1126/science.169.3945.583. PMID 17746031. S2CID 7066298.
  • Penzias, Arno A. (1979). "The Origin of the Elements". Science. 205 (4406): 549–554. Bibcode:1979Sci...205..549P. doi:10.1126/science.205.4406.549. PMID 17729659.
  • Penzias, Arno A. (1980). "Nuclear Processing and Isotopes in the Galaxy". Science. 208 (4445): 663–669. Bibcode:1980Sci...208..663P. doi:10.1126/science.208.4445.663. PMID 17771085. S2CID 22381508.
  • Cite Video | BBC/WGBH BOSTON | NOVA #519 | A Whisper From Space | Copyright 1978 | Available With Permission | Consolidated Aircraft - Ronkonkoma, New York

See also
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References
  1. McMurray, Emily J.; Kosek, Jane Kelly; Valade, Roger M. (1995). Notable twentieth-century scientists. Vol. 3, L–R. Detroit, MI: Gale Research. ISBN 0810391848. OCLC 30781516.
  2. Arno Allan Penzias on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1978 The Origin of Elements
  3. "BTHS.com". Brooklyn Technical High School. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
  4. "Arno Allan Penzias". IEEE Global History Network. IEEE. Archived from the original on July 7, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  5. www.physics.org. "Nobel-prize winning accidents". Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
  6. Penzias, A.A.; Wilson, R.W. (1965). "A Measurement of Excess Antenna Temperature at 4080 Mc/s". Astrophysical Journal. 142: 419–421. Bibcode:1965ApJ...142..419P. doi:10.1086/148307.
  7. Lehrer, Jonah (December 21, 2009). "The Neuroscience of Screwing up". Wired. Archived from the original on December 29, 2009. Retrieved December 21, 2009.
  8. "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter P" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  9. "Arno A. Penzias". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  10. "Henry Draper Medal". National Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2011.
  11. "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  12. "RCA Announces 2023 Award and Fellow Recipients". Retrieved October 7, 2023.
  13. Horner, Shirley (October 3, 1993). "About Books". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 28, 2007. Retrieved October 23, 2009.
  14. Schlessinger B., Bernard S. and June H., Who's Who of Nobel Prize Winners, 1901-1990, (Oryx Press, 1991) p. 203
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