Willard Libby
17 December 1908 – 8 September 1980
Willard Frank Libby was an American physical chemist who developed radiocarbon dating, a method of determining the age of organic materials by measuring their carbon-14 content. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1960 for this work, which transformed archaeology, geology, and other sciences.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Willard Libby.
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Life events
Willard Frank Libby was born to a farming family in Colorado.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe earned his doctorate in chemistry at Berkeley and joined its faculty.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe joined the Columbia University team developing gaseous diffusion methods for uranium enrichment.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe became a professor at the Institute for Nuclear Studies at the University of Chicago.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe devised the method of dating organic materials by measuring the decay of carbon-14, revolutionizing archaeology and earth sciences.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe served as a commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe received the prize for his method to use carbon-14 for age determination in archaeology, geology, geophysics, and other branches of science.
Source: en.wikipedia.org