Segrè, Emilio

Segrè, Emilio

▪ Italian-American physicist
in full  Emilio Gino Segrè 
born Feb. 1, 1905, Tivoli, Italy
died April 22, 1989, Lafayette, Calif., U.S.
 Italian-born American physicist who was cowinner, with Owen Chamberlain (Chamberlain, Owen) of the United States, of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1959 for the discovery of the antiproton, an antiparticle having the same mass as a proton but opposite in electrical charge.

      Segrè initially began studies in engineering at the University of Rome in 1922 but later studied under Enrico Fermi (Fermi, Enrico) and received his doctorate in physics in 1928. In 1932 Segrè was appointed assistant professor of physics at the University of Rome, and two years later he participated in neutron experiments directed by Fermi, in which many elements, including uranium, were bombarded with neutrons, and elements heavier than uranium were created. In 1935 they discovered slow neutrons, which have properties important to the operation of nuclear reactors.

      Segrè left Rome in 1936 to become director of the physics laboratory at the University of Palermo. One year later he discovered technetium, the first man-made element not found in nature. While visiting California in 1938, Segrè was dismissed from the University of Palermo by the Fascist government, so he remained in the United States as a research associate at the University of California, Berkeley. Continuing his research, he and his associates discovered the element astatine in 1940, and later, with another group, he discovered the isotope plutonium-239, which he found to be fissionable, much like uranium-235. Plutonium-239 was used in the first atomic bomb and in the bomb dropped on Nagasaki.

      From 1943 to 1946 Segrè was a group leader at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M. He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1944 and was professor of physics at Berkeley (1946–72). In 1955, using the new bevatron particle accelerator, Segrè and Chamberlain produced and identified antiprotons and thus set the stage for the discovery of many additional antiparticles. He was appointed professor of nuclear physics at the University of Rome in 1974. He wrote several books, including Experimental Nuclear Physics (1953), Nuclei and Particles (1964), Enrico Fermi: Physicist (1970), and two books on the history of physics, From X-rays to Quarks: Modern Physicists and Their Discoveries (1980) and From Falling Bodies to Radio Waves (1984). Shortly after winning the Nobel Prize, Segrè wrote the entry on the proton for the 1960 printing of the 14th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. (See the Britannica Classic: .)

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • SEGRÈ, EMILIO GINO — (1905–1989), nuclear physicist and Nobel Prize laureate. Segrè, who was born in Tivoli, Italy, studied at Rome University, where he later assisted Enrico Fermi in research on the use of neutrons as missiles to break up the uranium atom. He… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Segrè , Emilio Gino — (1905–1989) Italian–American physicist Segrè, who was born at Tivoli in Italy, studied at the University of Rome under Enrico Fermi and obtained his doctorate there in 1928. He worked with Fermi until 1936, when he was appointed director of the… …   Scientists

  • Segrè, Emilio Gino — (1905–89)    Italian physicist and Nobel laureate, 1959. During the 30s Segrè helped Enrico Fermi in his research into the neutron bombardment of uranium atoms. Later he bombarded molybdenum (element number 42) with deuterons and was able to… …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Segrè, Emilio (Gino) — born Feb. 1, 1905, Tivoli, Italy died April 22, 1989, Lafayette, Calif., U.S. Italian born U.S. physicist. He worked under Enrico Fermi before becoming director of the physics laboratory at the University of Palermo in 1936. In 1937 he discovered …   Universalium

  • Segrè, Emilio (Gino) — (1 feb. 1905, Tívoli, Italia–22 abr. 1989, Lafayette, Cal., EE.UU.). Físico estadounidense nacido en Italia. Trabajó bajo las órdenes de Enrico Fermi antes de convertirse en director del laboratorio de física de la Universidad de Palermo en 1936 …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Segre, Emilio — (1905 89)    Italian physicist. During the 1930s he helped Enrico Fermi with his research into the neutron bombardment of uranium atoms. Later he bombarded molybdenum with deuterons and located small quantities of element number 43. In 1938 he… …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Segrè, Emilio — ► (1905 89) Físico italiano. Fue premio Nobel de Física en 1959, compartido con Chamberlain, por identificar el antiprotón. Descubrió el tecnecio, primer elemento artificial, el astatino y el plutonio 239 …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Segrè — Segrè, Emilio …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Emilio Gino Segrè — Emilio Segrè (Foto auf seinem Los Alamos Dienstausweis während des 2. Weltkriegs) Emilio Gino Segrè (* 1. Februar 1905 in Tivoli, Italien; † 22. April 1989 in Lafayette, Kalifornien) war ein Itali …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Emilio Segre — Emilio Segrè (Foto auf seinem Los Alamos Dienstausweis während des 2. Weltkriegs) Emilio Gino Segrè (* 1. Februar 1905 in Tivoli, Italien; † 22. April 1989 in Lafayette, Kalifornien) war ein Itali …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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