Walter Lewin
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{{Infobox_Scientist
| name = Walter H.G. Lewin
| image = Walter lewin 2.jpg
| imagesize = 200px
| caption = A 2003 photo of Lewin
| birth_date = [[1936]]
| birth_place = [[The Netherlands]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| residence = [[Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg|20px]] [[The Netherlands]],<br>
[[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|20px]] [[United States]]
| nationality = [[Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg|20px]] [[The Netherlands|Dutch]]
| field = [[Astrophysics]]
| work_institution = [[MIT]]
| alma_mater = [[Delft University of Technology]]
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_students =
| known_for =
| societies = [[Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences]],<br>[[American Physical Society]]
| prizes = NASA Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (1978)<p>
Alexander von Humboldt Award (1984 and 1991)<p>
Guggenheim Fellowship (1984)<p>
MIT Science Council Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (1984),<p>
W. Buechner Teaching Prize (1988)<p>
Evertt Moore Baker Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2003)
| spouse =
| children =
| religion =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Walter H. G. Lewin''' is currently a professor of [[physics]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT).
==Education and career==
He earned his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] degree in [[nuclear physics]] in [[1965]] at the [[Delft University of Technology]] in the [[Netherlands]].
Walter Lewin came to MIT in January 1966 with the intent of spending one year in a [[post-doctoral]] position, but he never left. He joined an [[x-ray astronomy]] group at MIT and conducted all-sky balloon surveys with [[George W. Clark]]. Through the late seventies, there were about twenty successful balloon flights. These balloon surveys led to the discovery of five new x-ray sources, which doubled the number known at the time. Furthermore, some of these x-ray sources were found to be varying, and some were x-ray flares. The rockets used by other researchers could not have discovered that the x-ray sources varied because they were only in the air for a few minutes, whereas the balloons could be in the air for many hours. The surveys also resulted in the discovery of GX 1+4, which was the first slowly rotating X-ray [[pulsar]] found.
Walter Lewin received the "2003 Everett Moore Baker Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching" award. Some of his lectures are available online in video format.
==Lectures==
Many of the [[Walter Lewin Lectures on Physics]] at [[MIT]] have been shown for over six years on UWTV in [[Seattle]], reaching an audience of about four million people. Lewin personally responded to hundreds of e-mail requests that he received per year from UWTV viewers. For fifteen years he was on MIT Cable TV, with programs aired 24 hours per day helping [[freshmen]] with their weekly [[homework]] assignments. Lewin also teaches video courses on Newtonian Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Vibrations and Waves, which can be viewed from the [[MIT OpenCourseWare]] web site. His MIT lectures for science teachers and for middle school students can be viewed on [[MIT World]].Various lecturers all around the world make use of these lectures to teach their students. In fact, many professors, like N.J.Krishnan of The valley school use only his videos to teach their students Physics. No teaching otherwise is done here.
==Selected publications==
* {{cite journal
|first=Walter H.G.
|last=Lewin
|coauthors=Jan van Paradijs, Ronald E. Taam
|title=X-ray Bursts
|journal=Space Science Reviews
|volume=62
|issue=3-4
|pages=223–389
|date=204-10-27
|doi=10.1007/BF00196124}}
* {{cite journal
| title=Dynamical Formation of Close Binary Systems in Globular Clusters
| author=D. Pooley, W.H.G. Lewin, S.F. Anderson, H. Baumgardt, A.V. Filippenko, B.M. Gaensler, L. Homer, P. Hut, V.M. Kaspi, B. Margon, S. McMillan, S. Portegies Zwart, M. van der Klis, & F. Verbunt
| journal=[[Astrophysical Journal]]
| volume=591
|pages=L131–L134
|year=2003
|doi=10.1086/377074}}
* {{cite journal|
title=Resolving the Composite Fe K-alpha Emission Line in the Galactic Black Hole Cygnus X-1 with Chandra |
author=J. Miller, A. Fabian, R. Wijnands, R. Remillard, P. Wojdowski, N. Schulz, T. Di Matteo, H. Marshall, C. Canizares, & W. Lewin
| journal=Astrophysical Journal
| volume=578
| pages=348–356
| year=2002
|doi=10.1086/342466}}
* {{cite journal
| title=Optical Identifications of Multiple Faint X-ray Sources in the Globular Cluster NGC~6752: Evidence for Numerous Cataclysmic Variables
| author=D. Pooley, W. Lewin, L. Homer, S. Anderson, B. Gaensler, B. Margon, F. Verbunt, J. Miller, D. Fox, V. Kaspi & M. v.d. Klis
| journal=Astrophysical Journal
| volume=569
| pages=405
| year=2002
| id=
| doi=10.1086/339210
}}
* {{cite journal
| title=Discovery of a New Type of Burster from the Galactic Center Region
| author=C. Kouveliotou, J. van Paradijs, G. J. Fishman, M. S. Briggs, J. Kommers, B. A. Harmon, C. A. Meegan, W. H. G. Lewin
| journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]
| volume=379
| pages=799
| year=1996
| doi=10.1038/379799a0 }}
* {{cite journal
| title=Discovery of Sub millisecond Quasi-periodic Oscillations in the X-ray Flux of Scorpius X-1
| author=M. v.d. Klis, J. Swank, W. Zhang, K. Jahoda, E. Morgan, W. Lewin, B. Vaughan, & J. van Paradijs
| journal=Astrophysical Journal
| volume=469
| year=1996
| doi=10.1086/310251
| pages=L1 }}
* {{cite journal
| title=Observation of an X-Ray Flare from Sco X-1
| author=W.H.G. Lewin, G.W. Clark and W.B. Smith
| journal=Astrophysical Journal (Letters)
| volume=152
| year=1968
| pages=L55
| doi=10.1086/180177}}
==See also==
* [[Walter Lewin Lectures on Physics]]
* [[MIT Physics Department]]
==External links==
*[http://web.mit.edu/physics/facultyandstaff/faculty/walter_lewin.html Walter Lewin's page at MIT]
* [http://web.mit.edu/physics MIT Physics Department website]
*[http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-01Physics-IFall1999/CourseHome/index.htm Walter Lewin's Physics I Course Page with Video Lectures]
*[http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-02Electricity-and-MagnetismSpring2002/CourseHome/index.htm Walter Lewin's Physics II Course Page with Video Lectures]
*[http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-03Fall-2004/CourseHome/index.htm Walter Lewin's Physics III Course Page with Video Lectures]
*[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/program.html The Elegant Universe PBS Video featuring Walter Lewin]
* {{cite web
|title=At 71, Physics Professor Is a Web Star
|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/education/19physics.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
|date=2007-12-19
|first=Sara
|last=Rimer
|publisher=[[The New York Times]]
|accessdate=2007-12-19
}}
<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
{{Persondata
|NAME= Lewin, Walter H.G.
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= [[The Netherlands|Dutch]] astrophysicist
|DATE OF BIRTH=
|PLACE OF BIRTH= [[The Netherlands]]
|DATE OF DEATH=
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewin, Walter H. G.}}
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[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty]]
[[Category:Astronomers]]
[[Category:American astronomers]]
[[Category:Delft University of Technology alumni]]
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