View source for Biography:Georges Charpak

{{Short description|Polish-born French physicist}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name        = Georges Charpak
|image       = CHARPAK Georges-24x50-2005 cropped.JPG
|image_size=
|birth_place = Dąbrowica, [[Place:Second Polish Republic|Poland]]<br><small>(present day {{wipe|Ukraine}})</small>
|death_date  = {{death date and age|df=yes|2010|9|29|1924|8|1}}
|death_place = [[Place:Paris|Paris]], France
|nationality = Polish-Jewish<br/>French
|citizenship = French
|field       = [[Physics:Physics|Physics]] 
|known_for   = Megawatts and Megatons<br>[[Physics:MicroMegas detector|MicroMegas detector]]<br>Multiwire proportional chamber
|prizes      = Nobel Prize in Physics (1992)<br>High Energy and Particle Physics Prize (1989)<br>[[Physics:Prix Jean Ricard|Prix Jean Ricard]] (1973)
|alma_mater = École des Mines<br />Collège de France
|religion    =
|spouse=Dominique Vidal (m. 1953; 3 children)
}}

'''Georges Charpak''' ({{IPA-fr|ʃaʁpak|lang}}; born '''Jerzy Charpak''', (1 August 1924 – 29 September 2010) was a Polish-born {{wipe|France}} [[Physicist|physicist]], who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1992.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Earth Times {{!}} News and Information about Environmental Issues |url=https://earthtimes.org/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=earthtimes.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Giomataris | first1 = I. | title = Georges Charpak (1924–2010) | doi = 10.1038/4671048a | journal = Nature | volume = 467 | issue = 7319 | pages = 1048 | year = 2010 | pmid =  20981084|bibcode = 2010Natur.467.1048G | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Georges Charpak: Nobel Physics Prize 1992 |journal=CERN Courier |date=December 1992 |volume=32 |issue=10 |pages=1–6 |url=https://cds.cern.ch/record/1731985?ln=el |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150310002943/https://cds.cern.ch/record/1731985?ln=el |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-03-10 }}</ref>

==Life==
Georges Charpak was born on 1 August 1924<ref>[https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1992/charpak/facts/ "Georges Charpak: Facts"]</ref> as Jerzy Charpak to Jewish parents, Anna (Szapiro) and Maurice Charpak, in the village of Dąbrowica in [[Place:Second Polish Republic|Poland]] (now Dubrovytsia in {{wipe|Ukraine}}). Charpak's family moved from {{wipe|Poland}} to [[Place:Paris|Paris]] when he was seven years old, beginning his study of mathematics in 1941 at the Lycée Saint Louis.<ref name="Scientific Information Service ">CERN {{cite book| url = http://library.web.cern.ch/library/Archives/isad/isacharpak.html| title = Scientific Information Service - Archive| publisher = CERN| access-date = 2012-01-29| archive-date = 2012-02-14| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120214055231/http://library.web.cern.ch/library/Archives/isad/isacharpak.html| url-status = dead}}</ref> The actor and film director André Charpak was his younger brother.

During [[Social:World War II|World War II]] Charpak served in the resistance and was imprisoned by [[Religion:Vichy France|Vichy]] authorities in 1943. In 1944 he was deported to the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, where he remained until the camp was liberated in 1945.

After ''classes préparatoires'' studies at Lycée Saint-Louis in Paris and later at Lycée Joffre in Montpellier,<ref>[http://www.lyceejoffre.net/cpge/blog/2010/10/15/georges-charpak-1924-2010/#more-899 "Tribulations d'un immigré d'Europe centrale, Georges Charpak"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324223102/http://www.lyceejoffre.net/cpge/blog/2010/10/15/georges-charpak-1924-2010/#more-899 |date=2012-03-24 }} on Lycée Joffre website {{in lang|fr}}</ref> he joined in 1945 the Paris-based École des Mines, one of the most prestigious engineering schools in France. The following year he became a naturalized French citizen. He graduated in 1948, earning the French degree of ''Civil Engineer of Mines'' (''Ingénieur Civil des Mines'' equivalent to a Master's degree) becoming a pupil in the laboratory of [[Biography:Frédéric Joliot-Curie|Frédéric Joliot-Curie]] at the Collège de France during 1949,<ref name="Scientific Information Service "/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Charpak |first=Georges |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wm9FPYS_JxEC&dq=Georg+Charpak+thesis+very+low+energy+emission&pg=PR7 |title=Research on Particle Imaging Detectors |date=1995 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-02-1902-4 |language=en}}</ref> the year after Curie had directed construction of the first ''atomic pile'' within France.<ref>"Frédéric Joliot - Biography". [https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/1935/joliot-fred-bio.html Nobelprize.org.] 29 Jan 2012  + [ ''atomic pile'' = [http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/fermi/pile.html fi] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126061143/http://www.fi.edu/learn/case-files/fermi/pile.html |date=2012-01-26 }} + [http://www.anl.gov/Science_and_Technology/History/Anniversary_Frontiers/10photo.html anl] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218065133/http://www.anl.gov/Science_and_Technology/History/Anniversary_Frontiers/10photo.html |date=2012-02-18 }} +  [http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pile?region=us us]{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} ]</ref> While at the Collège, Charpak secured a research position<ref name="Scientific Information Service "/> for the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He received his PhD in 1954<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Charpak |first1=G. |last2=Suzor |first2=F. |date=1954-05-01 |title= Étude expérimentale des électrons de l'atome résiduel éjectés de leurs orbites lors de la désintégration de <sup>32</sup>P|journal=Journal de Physique et le Radium |language=French |volume=15 |issue=5 |pages=378–380 |doi=10.1051/jphysrad:01954001505037802|osti=4395224 }}</ref> in [[Physics:Nuclear physics|nuclear physics]] at the Collège de France, receiving the qualification after having written a thesis on the subject of very-low-energy radiation due to disintegration of nuclei (Charpak & Suzor).<ref name="Scientific Information Service "/><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1051/jphysrad:01959002006064700 |url=http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/23/61/12/PDF/ajp-jphysrad_1959_20_6_647_0.pdf |title=Étude des électrons et des raies X d'autoionisation émis simultanément avec le rayonnement β du prometheum 147 |year=1959 |last1=Suzor |first1=F. |last2=Charpak |first2=G. |journal=Journal de Physique et le Radium |language=French |volume=20 |issue=6 |pages=647–648 }}</ref>

In 1959,  he joined the staff of [[Organization:CERN|CERN]] ([[Organization:CERN|European Organization for Nuclear Research]]) in [[Place:Geneva|Geneva]], where he invented and developed<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1016/0029-554X(70)90872-4|title = Investigation of some properties of multiwire proportional chambers|journal = Nuclear Instruments and Methods|volume = 88|issue = 1|pages = 149–161|year = 1970|last1 = Bouclier|first1 = R.|last2 = Charpak|first2 = G.|last3 = Dimčovski|first3 = Z.|last4 = Fischer|first4 = G.|last5 = Sauli|first5 = F.|last6 = Coignet|first6 = G.|last7 = Flügge|first7 = G.|bibcode = 1970NucIM..88..149B}}</ref> the multiwire proportional chamber. The chamber was patented and that quickly superseded the old bubble chambers, allowing for better data processing.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Giomataris|first1=Ioannis|title=Georges Charpak-a true man of science|journal=CERN Courier|date=December 2010|volume=50|issue=10|pages=33–36|url=https://cds.cern.ch/record/1734475}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Catapano|first1=Paola|title=Georges Charpak: hardwired for science|journal=CERN Courier|date=March 2009|volume=42|issue=2|pages=24–28|url=https://cds.cern.ch/record/1734347}}</ref> This new creation had been made public during 1968.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-12-31 |title=Milestones:CERN Experimental Instrumentation, 1968 |url=https://ethw.org/Milestones:CERN_Experimental_Instrumentation,_1968 |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=ETHW |language=en}}</ref> Charpak was later to become a joint inventor with Nlolc and Policarpo of the scintillation drift chamber during the latter parts of the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Aprile |first1=Elena |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tsnHM8x6cHAC&dq=drift+chamber+Charpak+patent&pg=PA198 |title=Noble Gas Detectors |last2=Bolotnikov |first2=Aleksey E. |last3=Bolozdynya |first3=Alexander I. |last4=Doke |first4=Tadayoshi |date=2007-02-27 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-3-527-60963-5 |language=en}}</ref> He eventually retired from CERN in 1991. In 1980, Georges Charpak became professor-in-residence at École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles in Paris (ESPCI) and held the Joliot-Curie Chair there in 1984.  This is where he developed and demonstrated the powerful applications of the particle detectors he invented, most notably for enabling better health diagnostics. 
He was the co-founder of a number of start-up in the biolab arena, including Molecular Engines Laboratories, Biospace Instruments and SuperSonic Imagine – together with [[Biography:Mathias Fink|Mathias Fink]]. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences on 20 May 1985.

Georges Charpak was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1992 "for his invention and development of [[Physics:Particle detector|particle detector]]s, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber", with affiliations to both École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles (ESPCI) and CERN. This was the last time a single person was awarded the Physics prize, as of 2020. In 1999, Charpak received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=American Academy of Achievement|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#science-exploration}}</ref>

In France, Charpak was a very strong [[Biography:Pro-nuclear movement|advocate for nuclear power]].  Charpak was a member of the Board of Sponsors of the [[Physics:Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Board of Sponsors |url=https://thebulletin.org/about-us/board-of-sponsors/ |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |language=en-US}}</ref>

Charpak married Dominique Vidal in 1953. They had three children.<ref>{{cite news|title=Georges Charpak dies at 86; French physicist won Nobel Prize|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/08/local/la-me-georges-charpak-20101008|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=October 8, 2010|first=Thomas H.|last=Maugh II}}</ref> The pediatrician Nathalie Charpak (born 1955) is his daughter.

Charpak died on 29 September 2010, in [[Place:Paris|Paris]], at the age of 86.

==Publications==

===Books===
* ''La vie à fil tendu'', co-authored with Dominique Saudinos (1993 Odile Jacob, {{ISBN|2-7381-0214-X}})
* ''Devenez sorciers, devenez savants'', co-authored with Henri Broch (Odile Jacob, {{ISBN|90-5814-005-9}}). Published in English as "Debunked!" by the Johns Hopkins University Press.

===Technical reports===
* Charpak, G. & M. Gourdin. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4260292-sup-anti-sup-system-lectures-delivered-matscience-institute-madras-india-december-january "The K<sup>0</sup>{{overline|K}}<sup>0</sup> System"], European Organization for Nuclear Research, Paris University, (July 11, 1967).
* Charpak, G. [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4142768-evolution-some-particle-detectors-based-discharge-gases "Evolution of Some Particle Detectors Based On the Discharge in Gases"], European Organization for Nuclear Research, (November 19, 1969).
* {{cite journal |doi=10.1016/0029-554X(73)90503-X |osti=4364786 |title=High-accuracy, two-dimensional read-out in multiwire proportional chambers |year=1973 |last1=Charpak |first1=G. |last2=Sauli |first2=F. |journal=Nuclear Instruments and Methods |volume=113 |issue=3 |pages=381–385 |bibcode=1973NucIM.113..381C |url=http://cds.cern.ch/record/186229 }}
* Charpak, G.; Jeavons, A.; Sauli, F. & R. Stubbs, [https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4441064-high-accuracy-measurements-centre-gravity-avalanches-proportional-chambers "High-Accuracy Measurements of the Centre of Gravity of Avalanches in Proportional Chambers"], European Organization for Nuclear Research, (September 24, 1973).
* {{cite journal | last1=Crittenden | first1=J.A. | last2=Hsiung |first2=Y.B. |last3=Kaplan |first3=a.D.M. |last4=Hubbard |first4=J.R. |last5=Mangeot |first5=P. |last6=Peisert |first6=A. |last7=Charpak |first7=G. |last8=Sauli |first8=F. |last9=Brown |first9=C.N. |last10=Childress |first10=S. | title=Inclusive hadronic production cross sections measured in proton-nucleus collisions at √s = 27. 4 GeV | year=1986 | journal=[[Physics:Physical Review D|Physical Review D]] | volume=34 | issue=9 | pages=2584–2600 | doi=10.1103/PhysRevD.34.2584 | pmid=9957451 |osti=7244218|bibcode = 1986PhRvD..34.2584C |display-authors=0| url=https://cds.cern.ch/record/170577 }}

== See also ==

* List of Jewish Nobel laureates

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Nobelprize}} including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1992 ''Electronic Imaging of Ionizing Radiation with Limited Avalanches in Gases''
* [http://www.nobel-winners.com/Physics/georges_charpak.html Georges Charpak] on nobel-winners.com
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120225075506/http://www.patentgenius.com/inventor/CharpakGeorges.html Georges Charpak U.S. Patents]
* {{INSPIRE-HEP author}}
*[http://nobel.bh.org.il/en/persona/charpak-georges/ Georges Charpak], Nobel Luminaries Project, The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot

{{Nobel Prize in Physics Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1992 Nobel Prize winners}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charpak, Georges}}
[[Category:Nobel laureates in Physics]]
[[Category:Accelerator physicists]]

{{Sourceattribution|Georges Charpak}}