Murray Gell-Man: Nobel Prize winning physicist dies at 89

The Nobel-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann, died at the age of 89 in New Mexico. He is credited with bringing order to the universe by helping discover and classifying subatomic particles.

About Murray Gell-Mann

• Background: Murray was born and raised in New York City, US. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Yale University in 1948 and his PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1951. He dominated theoretical particle physics during 1950s and 1960s,
• Nobel Prize Laureate: Gell-Man was honored with Nobel prize in physics in 1969 for his contributions and discoveries relating to the classification of elementary particles and their interactions.
• Achievements
• He is said to have transformed physics by devising a method for sorting subatomic particles into simple groups of eight (8) based on their spin, electric charge and other characteristics. He named this method “eightfold way” after Buddhist Eightfold Path to enlightenment.
• He also developed a theory which identified “quarks”, an indivisible components of Earth’s matter that make up neutrons, protons and other particles. Later Experiments in field of physics confirmed existence of quarks, which now form basis for our physical understanding of the universe.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2019