Arthur Compton was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927 for discovering the Compton effect, which demonstrated that electromagnetic radiation behaves as both waves and particles. He grew up in an academic family and received his education at the College of Wooster and Princeton University. Throughout his career, Compton held professorships at the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis, where he also served as chancellor from 1945 to 1953. He played a key leadership role during the Manhattan Project. Compton made many significant contributions to the fields of physics and education over his long career.

1. BIOGRAPHY ON ARTHUR COMPTON
Activity guidedBy Sir Vrushabh
Tale
Submitted by
Ritish Das
Roll no 844
Section H

2. Arthur Holly Compton was an American physicist who won the
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927 for his 1923 discovery of the
Compton effect. He is also known for his leadership over the
Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago during
the Manhattan Project, and served as chancellor of Washington
University in St. Louis from 1945 to 1953.
Early life
Arthur Compton was born on September 10, 1892, in Wooster, Ohio, the son of Elias and Otelia Catherine
Compton, who was named American Mother of the Year in 1939.[2] They were an academic family. He
and his two brothers Karl and Wilson were members of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.He also had a
sister named Mary.

3. In June 1916, Compton married Betty Charity
McCloskey, a Wooster classmate and fellow
graduate.[9] They had two sons, Arthur Alan
Compton and John Joseph Compton.
Family

4. Education
Elias was dean of the University of Wooster (later the
College of Wooster), which Arthur also attended. He
graduated from Wooster with a Bachelor of Science degree
and entered Princeton, where he received his Master of Arts
degree in 1914.[7] Compton then studied for his PhD in
physics under the supervision of Hereward L. Cooke, writing
his dissertation on The Intensity of X-Ray Reflection, and
the Distribution of the Electrons in Atoms.In 1919 Compton
was awarded one of the first two National Research Council
Fellowships that allowed students to study abroad. He chose
to go to the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory
in England

5. Career
Compton spent a year as a physics instructor at the University of
Minnesota in 1916–17, then two years as a research engineer with the
Westinghouse Lamp Company in Pittsburgh, where he worked on the
development of the sodium-vapor lamp. In 1923, Compton moved to the
University of Chicago as professor of physics,a position he would occupy
for the next 22 years. After the war ended, Compton resigned his chair as
Charles H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Physics at the
University of Chicago and returned to Washington University in St.
Louis, where he was inaugurated as the university's ninth chancellor in
1946.

6. Compton retired as chancellor in 1954, but remained on the faculty as Distinguished Service
Professor of Natural Philosophy until his retirement from the full-time faculty in 1961. In retirement
he wrote Atomic Quest, a personal account of his role in the Manhattan Project, which was
published in 1956.
Compton’s house in Chicago
Compton at University in Chicago

7. Compton Effect
Returning to the United States, Compton was
appointed Wayman Crow Professor of Physics, and head of
the Department of Physics at Washington University in St.
Louis in 1920. In 1922, he found that X-ray quanta
scattered by free electrons had longer wavelengths and, in
accordance with Planck’s relation, less energy than the
incoming X-rays, the surplus energy having been transferred
to the electrons. This discovery, known as the “Compton
effect” or “Compton scattering”, demonstrated the particle
concept of electromagnetic radiation.

8. His paper concludes by reporting on experiments that verified his derived relation:
The quantity is known as the Compton wavelength of the electron; it is equal to 2.43×10−12 m. The wavelength shift λ′ − λ lies
between zero (for θ = 0°) and twice the Compton wavelength of the electron (for θ = 180°).[17] He found that some X-rays
experienced no wavelength shift despite being scattered through large angles; in each of these cases the photon failed to eject an
electron.
The wave nature of light had been well demonstrated, and the idea that it could have a dual nature was not easily accepted. It was
particularly telling that diffraction in a crystal lattice could only be explained with reference to its wave nature. It earned Compton
the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927.

9. Compton's first book, X-Rays and Electrons, was published in 1926.
In it he showed how to calculate the densities of diffracting materials
from their X-ray diffraction patterns. He revised his book with the help
of Samuel K to produce X-Rays in Theory and Experiment . This
work remained a standard reference for the next three decades.
Compton received many awards in his lifetime, including the Nobel
Prize for Physics in 1927, the Matteucci Gold Medal in 1930, the
Royal Society’s Hughes Medal and the Franklin Institute’s Franklin
Medal in 1940. He is commemorated in various ways. Compton crater
on the Moon is co-named for Compton and his brother Karl.The
physics research building at Washington University in St Louis is
named in his honor as is the university’s top fellowship for
undergraduate students studying math, physics, or planetary science.
Books and Awards

10. Death and Legacy
Compton died in Berkeley, California, from a cerebral hemorrhage on March 15,
1962. He was survived by his wife (who died in 1980) and sons. Compton is buried
in the Wooster Cemetery in Wooster, Ohio.[10] Before his death, he was professor-
at-large at the University of California, Berkeley for spring 1962.
Thankyou