1979 Seaborg Award: Raymond G. Davis, Jr.

Award Statement C&EN (Page 2)

Davis was born on Oct. 14, 1914, in Washington, D.C. He obtained both his B.S. (1937) and M.S. (1940) in chemistry from the University of Maryland, and his Ph.D. (1942) in physical chemistry from Yale University.

Davis is best known for his pioneering work with solar neutrinos, particularly in measuring their flux from the sun using the reaction: Neutrino + ³⁷Cl->³⁷Ar + beta.

The surprise finding of 1/10th the flux expected required rethinking of the previously understood solar model. Using his very low background counting technique, Davis was one of the first to show that antineutrinos are not identical to neutrinos. The results of Davis’ work have put realistic limits on neutrino fluxes from extraterrestrial events, such as supernovas, collapsing stars, and gravitational wave sources.

Davis was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2002.

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