Willard Frank Libby (1908–80) was an American physical chemist best known for developing radiocarbon dating, a revolutionary method for determining the age of archaeological and geological samples. He received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1960 for his contributions.
Born in Grand Valley, Colorado, he studied chemistry at the University of California-Berkeley, earning his PhD in 1933. His early research on radioactivity led to advancements in Geiger counter technology. During World War II, he worked on uranium enrichment for the Manhattan Project at Columbia University. After the war, he became a professor at the University of Chicago, where he developed radiocarbon dating in 1949. This method, based on the decay of carbon-14, transformed archaeology and paleontology by providing accurate dating for organic materials.
In 1954, Libby was appointed to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, where he advocated for nuclear energy and atmospheric testing. He later joined the University of California-Los Angeles, as a professor and director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics.
His most influential work, Radiocarbon Dating (1952,) detailed the groundbreaking method that continues to shape scientific research in archaeology and geology.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Willard Libby
The future of the world, dependent as it is upon atomic energy, requires more understanding and knowledge about the atom.
—Willard Libby
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