
Douglas D. Osheroff
'Douglas Dean Osheroff' (born
August 1,
1945) is an
American physicist. He shared the
Nobel Prize in Physics in
1996 with
David Lee and
Robert C. Richardson for discovering the
superfluidic nature of
3He. This discovery was made in
1971, while Osheroff was a graduate student at
Cornell.
Osheroff, born in
Aberdeen, Washington, earned his
Bachelor's degree in
1967 from
Caltech, where he was a student of
Richard Feynman. He received a
Ph.D. from
Cornell University in
1973.
He now teaches at
Stanford University in the Departments of Physics and Applied Physics, where he served as chair for a period of time. His research is focused on phenomena that occur at extremely low temperatures.
Osheroff was selected to serve on the
Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' investigation panel, serving much the same role as Richard Feynman did on the
Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' panel.
He currently serves on the board of advisors of
Scientists and Engineers for America, an organization focused on promoting sound science in American government.
Osheroff is left-handed, and he often blames his slight quirks and eccentricities on it. He is also an avid photographer and introduces students at Stanford to medium-format film photography in a freshman seminar titled "The Technical Aspects of Photography." In addition, he has taught the Stanford introductory physics course on
electricity and
magnetism on multiple occasions, most recently in
Spring 2007. This is one of the larger classes at Stanford, with several hundred students enrolled.
External links
★
Nobel Physics Prize Winners 1996
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Nobel autobiography
★
Stanford Physics Department - Osheroff
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Osheroff Learning of his Nobel Prize - Osheroff released this recording from his answering machine, which showed his initial annoyance with a 2.30am phone call.
★
Freeview video interview with Douglas Osheroff by the Vega Science Trust
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Curriculum vitae; awards; quotations on learning, physics, politics, global warming and pizza; links and more