Professor
Rainer Weiss
(
–
)
1932
2025
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
;
Cambridge, MA
Physicist; Astronomer; Educator
Area
Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Specialty
Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Earth Sciences
Elected
1998
Most current research focused on the detection of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources as a working member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). Prior research was in studies of the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR) from balloon platforms and later by the COBE satellite. The measurements established the blackbody nature of the radiation and the intrinsic primeval structure of the universe. Earliest work was in atomic physics and the development of the atomic clock.
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