Who Is Ernest Lawrence? Age, Biography and Wiki
Ernest Orlando Lawrence was born on August 8, 1901, and passed away on August 27, 1958. In 2025, he would have celebrated 124 years of life. Regarded as a pioneer in the field of accelerator physics, his work, including the invention of the cyclotron, revolutionized nuclear physics and earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939. His contributions extend beyond his discoveries; he was instrumental in the establishment of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
| Occupation | Scientists |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | August 8, 1901 |
| Age | 57 Years |
| Birth Place | Canton, South Dakota, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Leo |
| Country | U.S |
| Date of death | 27 August, 1958 |
| Died Place | Palo Alto, California, U.S. |
Popularity
Ernest Lawrence's Popularity over time
Height, Weight & Measurements
While Ernest Lawrence’s precise height and weight are less documented compared to modern celebrities, historical data suggests he stood approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall. His physical attributes are often overshadowed by his academic achievements and intellectual prowess, marked by a significant presence in the scientific community of his time.
Family, Dating & Relationship Status
Ernest Lawrence was married to his wife, Marion Lawrence, and they had three children together. The couple shared a strong partnership throughout much of Lawrence's brilliant career. Details regarding any other romantic relationships have not been widely reported, as his life was primarily defined by his professional accomplishments and dedication to science.
His parents, Carl Gustavus (1871–1954) and Gunda Regina (née Jacobson) Lawrence (1874–1959), were both the offspring of Norwegian immigrants who had met while teaching at the high school in Canton, where his father was also the superintendent of schools. He had a younger brother, John H.
Lawrence, who would become a physician, and was a pioneer in the field of nuclear medicine. Growing up, his best friend was Merle Tuve, who would also go on to become a highly accomplished physicist.
Net Worth and Salary
Estimating Ernest Lawrence’s net worth is complex, given the historical context and the era in which he lived. At the time of his death in 1958, his influence and contributions to science had positioned him as a significant figure, likely earning a respectable salary as a tenured professor and researcher. As of 2025, his legacy continues to be of great value to the scientific community, although specific figures related to salary and net worth are not available.
In 1926 and 1927, Lawrence received offers of assistant professorships from the University of Washington in Seattle and the University of California at a salary of $3,500 per annum. Yale promptly matched the offer of the assistant professorship, but at a salary of $3,000.
Lawrence chose to stay at the more prestigious Yale, but because he had never been an instructor, the appointment was resented by some of his fellow faculty, and in the eyes of many it still did not compensate for his South Dakota immigrant background.
Career, Business and Investments
Ernest Lawrence’s career was uniquely defined by his innovative spirit and commitment to research. He founded the Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, which became a hub for research in particle physics. The cyclotron, invented by Lawrence, allowed scientists to accelerate particles and perform groundbreaking experiments in various fields such as medicine and energy.
While Lawrence did not engage in business endeavors like modern celebrities, his inventions laid the groundwork for future technology in particle acceleration and nuclear research, contributing to advancements in both academic and practical applications.
Lawrence was hired as an associate professor of physics at the University of California in 1928. He became a full professor two years later, becoming the university's youngest professor.
Based on Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie's 1934 published work on artificial radioactivity, Lawrence discovered the nitrogen-13 isotope by firing high-energy protons into a carbon-13 element in his laboratory.
He and his team including Martin Kamen and Samuel Ruben accidentally discovered the carbon-14 isotope by bombarding graphite with high-energy protons. Robert Gordon Sproul, who became university president the day after Lawrence became a professor, was a member of the Bohemian Club, and he sponsored Lawrence's membership in 1932.
Through this club, Lawrence met William Henry Crocker, Edwin Pauley, and John Francis Neylan. They were influential men who helped him obtain money for his energetic nuclear particle investigations.
There was great hope for medical uses to come from the development of particle physics, and this led to much of the early funding that Lawrence was able to obtain for research.
Social Network
Given the era in which Ernest Lawrence lived, he did not have access to modern social networks. However, he was well-connected within the academic and scientific communities of his time. His work in physics brought him into collaboration with many prominent scientists, creating a network that influenced several areas in physics and beyond.
Using the new 27-inch cyclotron, the team at Berkeley discovered that every element that they bombarded with recently discovered deuterium emitted energy, and in the same range. They, therefore, postulated the existence of a new and hitherto unknown particle that was a possible source of limitless energy.
William Laurence of The New York Times described Lawrence as "a new miracle worker of science". At Cockcroft's invitation, Lawrence attended the 1933 Solvay Conference in Belgium. This was a regular gathering of the world's top physicists. Nearly all were from Europe, but occasionally an outstanding American scientist like Robert A.
Millikan or Arthur Compton would be invited to attend. Lawrence was asked to give a presentation on the cyclotron. Lawrence's claims of limitless energy met a very different reception in Solvay.
He ran into withering skepticism from the Cavendish Laboratory's James Chadwick, the physicist who had discovered the neutron in 1932, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1935. In a British accent that sounded condescending to Lawrence's ears, Chadwick suggested that what Lawrence's team was observing was contamination of their apparatus.
Education
Lawrence’s educational journey began at Furman University, where he started his undergraduate studies before transferring to the University of South Carolina. He later earned his Ph.D. in physics from Yale University in 1925. His academic background laid the groundwork for his groundbreaking inventions and research contributions.
A graduate of the University of South Dakota and University of Minnesota, Lawrence obtained a PhD in physics at Yale in 1925. In 1928, he was hired as an associate professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, becoming the youngest full professor there two years later.
In its library one evening, Lawrence was intrigued by a diagram of an accelerator that produced high-energy particles. He contemplated how it could be made compact, and came up with an idea for a circular accelerating chamber between the poles of an electromagnet. The result was the first cyclotron.
