George F. Smoot
American astrophysicist and cosmologist / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Fitzgerald Smoot III (born February 20, 1945) is an American professor of astrophysics and cosmology. In 2006 he won a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on cosmic microwave background radiation and COBE with John C. Mather. That work made it possible to measure black holes and cosmic radiation much more exactly than was possible before.
George Smoot | |
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Born | (1945-02-20) February 20, 1945 (age 79) |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Known for | Cosmic microwave background radiation |
Awards | Nobel Prize in Physics (2006) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Physics |
Institutions | Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
Doctoral advisor | David Frisch[1] |
This work gave new evidence for the big-bang idea that the universe was once a big explosion. This work was completed using the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite (COBE). The Nobel Prize committee said: "the COBE-project can also be regarded as the starting point for cosmology as a precision science."[2]
Professor Smoot works for the University of California, Berkeley Department of Physics. In 2003 he was awarded the Einstein Medal.