Sheldon Glashow

The American physicist Sheldon Glashow is famed for his discoveries concerning the elementary particles of matter and the interaction of the fundamental forces of nature. In particular he extended our understanding of the relationship of the "weak force" and electromagnetism, accurately predicted the existence of the "charm quark," and co-authored the first grand unified theory of the interaction of electromagnetism with the strong and weak forces. He received the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for his "contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles," including "the prediction of the weak neutral current." Sheldon Glashow was born to immigrant parents in New York City. His early interest in science was encouraged by his parents and older brothers. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1950, along with future fellow Nobelist Steven Weinberg. After earning his undergraduate degree at Cornell University and completing Ph.D. studies at Harvard, he taught at the University of California at Berkeley in the 1960s, and at Harvard for many years thereafter. He is now the Metcalf Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Boston University. In this audio podcast, recorded at the 1984 Achievement Summit in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Dr. Glashow notes that 16 of the 17 fundamental elementary particles of matter have already been discovered; he urges the Academy's student delegates to go out and discover the 17th.