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Home > Alfred O. C. Nier


 

Alfred Otto Carl Nier ( May 28, 1911 - May 16, 1994) was a US physicist who pioneered the development of mass spectrometry and used it in innovative ways to establish some major scientific results.

1 Life

1.1 Early career

Born St. Paul, Minnesota, Nier showed an early ability in mathematics and science, coupled with an aptitude for craft and mechanical work. Nier's German immigrant parents had little education or financial resources but their determination for his development meant that he was able to attend the nearby University of Minnesota. Though he graduated in electrical engineering in 1931, the lack of engineering jobs during the Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a global economic slump that began in the United States following Black Thursday, the Wall Street panic of October 1929. On October 24, 1929, share prices on Wall Street collapsed catastrophically, setting off a chain of bankruptc encouraged him to take up graduate study in physicsPhysics (from the Greek, physikos , "natural", and physis , "Nature") is the science of Nature in the broadest sense. Physicists study the behavior and properties of matter in a wide variety of contexts, ranging from the sub-microscopic particles from whi. Nier's graduate research started his involvement in mass spectrometry.

1.2 Harvard

In 1936Events January-February January 15 The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed in Toledo, Ohio, for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company. January 20 Death of George V of the United Kingdom. His son Edward VIII succeedes him as King of th, his spectroscopic skills won him a fellowship and substantial grant at Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. It was founded on September 8, 1636 by a vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, making it the oldest post-secondary s. His work there led to the 1938Events January -June January 3 The March of Dimes is established by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. January 11 Frances Moulton is the first woman to become president of a US national bank. January 20 Wedding of king Farouk I of Egypt and Farida Zulficar in Cai publication of measurements of the relative abundance of the isotopeIsotopes are atoms of a chemical element whose nuclei have the same atomic number, Z but different atomic weights, A''. The word isotope meaning at the same place comes from the fact that isotopes are located at the same place on the periodic table. The as of uraniumUranium is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol U and atomic number 92. A heavy, silvery-white, toxic, metallic , and naturally- radioactive element, uranium belongs to the actinide series and its isotope uranium-235 is used as the, measurements that were used by Fritz HoutermansFriedrich Georg Houtermans ( January 22, 1903 March 1, 1966) was a physicist born in Zoppod near Danzig (today Gdansk, Poland). Houtermans made important contributions to geochemistry and cosmochemistry. External references Houtermans, F. 1953) "Determina and Arthur Holmes in the 1940s to estimate the age of the Earth.



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