Bertram Brockhouse
Bertram Brockhouse was a renowned Canadian physicist, born on July 15, 1918, in Lethbridge, Alberta. He grew up in a financially struggling family, developing a fascination for radio and physics during his youth. Brockhouse served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, where he honed his skills in electrical engineering before pursuing higher education in mathematics and physics at the University of British Columbia. His groundbreaking research at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories focused on neutron scattering, significantly advancing the understanding of atomic positions and movements.
Brockhouse's innovative work led to the development of a rotating crystal spectrometer and a new method for measuring neutron scattering, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1994. After a distinguished career, he became a professor of physics at McMaster University, where he taught until his retirement in 1984. Throughout his life, Brockhouse received numerous accolades for his contributions to science and was recognized as a fellow of several prestigious societies. He passed away on October 13, 2003, leaving a lasting legacy in the field of physics.
Bertram Brockhouse
Physicist
- Born: July 15, 1918
- Birthplace: Lethbridge, Alberta
- Died: October 13, 2003
- Place of death: Hamilton, Ontario
Contribution: Bertram Brockhouse was a Canadian physicist best known for his work with neutron inelastic scattering and his development of instruments to measure the movements of neutrons. He received the Nobel Prize for his contributions to physics in 1994.
Early Life and Education
Bertram Neville Brockhouse was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, on July 15, 1918. His father, Israel Bertram Brockhouse, was an immigrant from Yorkshire, England, and his mother, Mable Emily Neville, was an American of English descent.
Brockhouse spent his early years on a farm near Milk River in Alberta. In the winter of 1926, his family moved to Vancouver, where he spent the rest of his childhood. As a teenager, Brockhouse delivered newspapers to help his family make ends meet. Their financial situation worsened during the Great Depression and, seeking work, his father moved the family to Chicago. By this time, Brockhouse had developed a keen interest in radio and physics and landed a job as a lab assistant at an electronics company. The company folded in 1937, and the following year, Brockhouse’s family returned to Vancouver, where his parents ran a small grocery store.
Early Career
Brockhouse operated a small business repairing radios until the beginning of World War II when he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy. While in the service, he continued to work on radio equipment and was trained as an electrical engineer. During this time, he met Doris Miller, whom he eventually married; they had six children.
After his discharge from the navy, he took advantage of a government program that provided tuition for servicemen and began studying mathematics and physics at the University of British Columbia. His achievements during his first year earned him a scholarship. He continued to operate his business during this time. After earning a bachelor’s degree in 1947 with first-class honors in math and physics, he accepted a job in the National Research Council Laboratory in Ottawa. Following this, he pursued a master’s degree at the Low Temperature Laboratory at the University of Toronto; he completed this degree in only eight months.
Several researchers left the Low Temperature Laboratory, so Brockhouse was essentially left alone to work on anything that interested him. He studied the effects of both high and low temperatures on solid-state physics. In 1950, he was offered a position at the Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories and joined a team of scientists working on nuclear energy. At the same time, in 1950, he completed a PhD.
Brockhouse’s Discovery
While at Chalk River, Brockhouse studied slow neutron resonant scattering by the absorbers cadmium and samarium. This research allowed scientists to determine the position of atoms and how they moved. In 1953, Brockhouse spent ten months at Brookhaven National Laboratory to continue studying neutron scattering. He then returned to Chalk River to resume his experiments and successfully demonstrated a new method of measuring neutron scattering with different types of crystals. He followed this with the first work on a semiconductor and the development of a rotating crystal spectrometer.
In 1960, Brockhouse became head of the neutron physics branch at Chalk River and collaborated with a great number of scientists working on nuclear experiments. Despite his heavy schedule, he found time to appear in several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and often sang pieces from opera or Broadway musicals while he worked.
Later Career and Death
Brockhouse accepted a position as professor of physics at McMaster University in 1962 and taught there until he retired in 1984. From 1967 to 1970, he was chair of the physics department. He received many honors, including awards from the Royal Society of Canada, the American Physical Society, and the British Institute of Physics. He was named to the Order of Canada and was a fellow of the Royal Societies of Canada and London as well as a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1994. Brockhouse died in Hamilton, Ontario, on October 13, 2003.
Bibliography
“Bertram Brockhouse.” Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 17 Oct. 2003. Web. 29 July 2013.
“Bertram N. Brockhouse—Biographical.” Nobelprize.org. Nobel Foundation AB, 2013. Web. 29 July 2013.
Betts, Donald D., and Bertram N. Brockhouse. Festschrift. Spec. issue of Canadian Journal of Physics 73.11/12 (1995): n. pag. Print.
Birgeneau, Robert J., and Bruce D. Gaulin. “Bertram Neville Brockhouse.” Physics Today 57.2 (2004): 74–76. Print.
Cowley, Roger. “Bertram Neville Brockhouse.” Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 51 (2005): 52–65. Print.
“Nobel Prize—Bertram N. Brockhouse.” McMaster University. McMaster University, 1996–2013. Web. 29 July 2013.
Timusk, T. “Bertram N. Brockhouse (1918–2003).” Nature 426.6967 (2003): 617. Print.
Wright, Pearce. “Bertram Brockhouse.” Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 17 Oct. 2003. Web. 29 July 2013.