Isidor Rabi—1944 Nobel Laureate in Physics

Abstract

F e a Institute, Boston, MA (D.P.S.). I sidor Isaac Rabi was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in physics for his development of the atomic and molecular beam magnetic resonance method of observing atomic spectra. This method (developed in the 1930s) made it possible to measure the magnetic properties of atoms, atomic nuclei, and molecules. The method is based on measuring the spin of the protons in the atom’s core, a phenomenon known as nuclear magnetic moments. With the application of Rabi’s magnetic resonance method, several mechanical and magnetic properties, as well as the shape, of an atomic nucleus can be deduced. The precise measurements yielded by this method made possible such subsequent applications as the atomic clock, the maser, the laser, and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging used in diagnostic medicine. Rabi’s method provided the central technique for virtually all molecular and atomic beam experimentation. Isidor Rabi was born on July 29, 1898, in Rymanov, Austria (now in Poland). He was the older of 2 children. When Isidor was 1 year old, his family immigrated to the United States, where they settled in New York City. His father became the owner of a grocery store. Rabi’s early education was obtained in the New York City public schools; for his secondary education, he attended the Manual Training High School in Brooklyn, NY. He won a New York State scholarship that enabled him to attend Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. He started his college career in 1916 as an electrical engineering student but soon transferred to a major in chemistry. He obtained the BS degree in 1919. After college graduation, Rabi worked for 3 years as a chemist before returning, in 1922, to Cornell University for graduate work in chemistry. However, he changed his major to physics and, in 1926, was awarded the PhD degree in physics for a thesis on the measurement of the magnetic properties of crystals. Rabi was awarded a 2-year fellowship for postgraduate work in Europe, where he worked with