“[My father] advised me to sit every few months in my reading chair for an entire evening, close my eyes and try to think of new problems to solve. I took his advice very seriously and have been glad ever since that he did.” – Luiz Alvarez
Dr. Luiz Alvarez (1911-1988) was an American physicist, inventor, and professor. Earning his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from the University of Chicago, he went on to work at the Radiation Laboratory in UC-Berkeley post-graduation. Alvarez designed experiments to observe K-electron capture in radioactive nuclei and produced the isotope tritium using a cyclotron. In 1940, he contributed towards scientific efforts involved in WWII at the MIT Radiation Laboratory. Here, Alvarez made improvements to technology used in radar beacons/transponders. Post-WWII, he continued scientific efforts in the field of physics by helping with the design of a liquid hydrogen bubble chamber that helped scientists take photographs of particle interactions. The ability to take this photos and analyze them computationally earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968. Further, in 1980, he and his son developed the Alvarez hypothesis detailing that the extinction event wiping out the non-avian dinosaurs was the result of an asteroid impact. Apart from the Nobel Prize, he has received numerous honors from NASA and DOE and awards such as the National Medal of Science (1963).