Arno Allan Penzias
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2008-07-12T06:55:46Z
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{{Infobox_Scientist
|name = Arno Allan Penzias
|image = Arno Penzias.jpg|
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1933|4|26}}
|birth_place = [[Munich]], [[Germany]]
|residence =
|nationality = [[United States]]
|death_date =
|death_place =
|field = [[Physics]]
|alma_mater = [[CCNY]]<br />[[Columbia University]]
|work_institution = [[Bell Labs]]
|doctoral_advisor =
|doctoral_students =
|known_for = [[Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation]]
|prizes = {{nowrap|[[Nobel Prize in Physics]] (1978) [[Image:Nobel medal dsc06171.jpg|20px]]}}
|religion = [[Judaism]]
|footnotes =
}}
'''Arno Allan Penzias''' (born [[April 26]], [[1933]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[physicist]] and [[Nobel laureate]] in [[Nobel Prize in physics|physics]].
Penzias was born in [[Munich]], [[Germany]]. At age six he was among the [[Jews in Germany|Jewish]] children evacuated to [[United Kingdom|Britain]] as part of the [[Kindertransport]] rescue operation. Six months later his parents also fled [[Nazi Germany]] for the [[United States|U.S.]], 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 [[Brooklyn Technical High School]] in 1951 and received a [[bachelor's degree]] from the [[City College of New York]] in 1954. From [[Columbia University]], he received his [[Master's degree]] in 1958 and his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in 1962.
He went on to work at [[Bell Labs]] in [[Holmdel, New Jersey]] where, with [[Robert Woodrow Wilson]], he worked on ultra-sensitive cryogenic microwave [[Receiver (radio)|receivers]] intended for radio astronomy observations. In 1964, on building their most sensitive [[Horn Antenna|antenna/receiver system]], the pair encountered radio noise which they could not explain. 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 pigeon droppings (which Penzias described as "white [[dielectric]] material"). After the pair removed the guano buildup, and the pigeons were shot (each physicist says the other ordered the deed), the noise remained. Having rejected all sources of interference, the pair published a paper announcing their findings. This was later identified as the [[cosmic microwave background radiation]] (CMB), the radio remnant of the [[Big Bang]]. This allowed astronomers to confirm the Big Bang, and to correct many of their previous assumptions about it.
Penzias and Wilson received the 1978 Nobel Prize, sharing it with [[Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa]] (Kapitsa's work was unrelated to Penzias and Wilson's). The two had received the [[Henry Draper Medal]] the previous year. Penzias is also the recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence.
Penzias has been a resident of [[Highland Park, New Jersey]].<ref>Horner, Shirley. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5DD1031F930A35753C1A965958260 "About Books"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[October 3]], [[1993]]]. Accessed [[December 19]], [[2007]].</ref> He currently serves as a venture partner at [[New Enterprise Associates]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:17746031
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17746031
|last=Penzias
|first=
|last2=Wilson
|first2=
|publication-date=1970 Aug 7
|year=[[1970]]
|title=Microwave Noise from Rainstorms.
|volume=169
|issue=3945
|periodical=[[Science Magazine|Science]]
|pages=583-584
|doi = 10.1126/science.169.3945.583
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:17774056
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17774056
|last=Wilson
|first=
|last2=Penzias
|first2=
|publication-date=1967 May 26
|year=[[1967]]
|title=Isotropy of Cosmic Background Radiation at 4080 Megahertz.
|volume=156
|issue=3778
|periodical=[[Science Magazine|Science]]
|pages=1100-1101
|doi = 10.1126/science.156.3778.1100
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:17729659
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17729659
|last=Penzias
|first=
|publication-date=1979 Aug 10
|year=[[1979]]
|title=The Origin of the Elements.
|volume=205
|issue=4406
|periodical=[[Science Magazine|Science]]
|pages=549-554
|doi = 10.1126/science.205.4406.549
}}
*{{Citation
|id = [[PMID]]:17771085
|url= http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17771085
|last=Penzias
|first=
|publication-date=1980 May 16
|year=[[1980]]
|title=Nuclear Processing and Isotopes in the Galaxy.
|volume=208
|issue=4445
|periodical=[[Science Magazine|Science]]
|pages=663-669
|doi = 10.1126/science.208.4445.663
}}
==External links==
* [http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1978/penzias-autobio.html Autobiographical sketch]
* [http://www.scribd.com/doc/22888/Ideas-of-Arno-Penzias-II/ An article authored by Arno Penzias entitled '''Ideas''']
{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{Persondata
|NAME= Penzias, Arno Allan
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= American physicist
|DATE OF BIRTH= [[April 26]], [[1933]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Munich]], [[Germany]]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penzias, Arno Allan}}
[[Category:1933 births]]
[[Category:Members of the National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:American astronomers]]
[[Category:City University of New York people]]
[[Category:Columbia University alumni]]
[[Category:Jewish American scientists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Middlesex County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States]]
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:People from Munich]]
[[Category:Scientists at Bell Labs]]
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