Sir Nevill Mott 1905-96, British physicist. A professor at the Univ. of Bristol (1933-54) and the Univ. of Cambridge (1954-71), Mott won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977 for a lifetime of research into the magnetic and electrical properties of noncrystalline solids. He shared the award with P. W. Anderson and J. H. Van Vleck , who had pursued independent research. Mott's accomplishments include explaining theoretically the effect of light on a photographic emulsion and outlining the transition of substances from metallic to nonmetallic states. He wrote A Life in Science (1995).

Bibliography: See E. A. Davis, ed., Nevill Mott: Reminiscenses and Appreciations (1998).

THE 1970s: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: AWARDS

Nobel Prizes

1970

No award.

1971

Earl W. Sutherland, Jr., wins the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for work on the action of hormones.

1972

Christian Boehmer Anfinsen, Stanford Moore, and William H. Stein, all of the United States, share the Nobel Prize for chemistry for "fundamental contributions to enzyme chemistry."

John Bardeen, Leon N. Cooper, and John R. Schrieffer win the Nobel Prize for physics for the development of the theory of superconductivity.

1973

Norwegian-American physicist Ivar Glaever, Leo Esaki of Japan, and Brian Josephson of England win the Nobel Prize for physics for their work in tunneling in superconductors and semiconductors.

1974

Paul J. Flory wins the Nobel Prize for chemistry for his studies of long-chain molecules.

1975

L. James Rainwater of the United States and Ben Mottelson and Aage Bohr of Denmark win the Nobel Prize for physics for work toward understanding of the atomic nucleus that paved the way for nuclear fusion.

1976

Burton Richter and Samuel C. C. Ting of the United States win the Nobel Prize for physics for the parallel identification of a new class of subatomic particles, psi, or J.

1977

Philip Warren Anderson and John Hasbrouck Van Vleck of the United States, and Sir Nevill Francis Mott of England share the Nobel Prize for physics—Mott and Anderson for research on amorphous semi-conductors, Van Vleck for work on the magnetic properties of atoms.

1978

Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson of the United States and Pyotr L. Kapitsa of the Soviet Union share the Nobel Prize for physics, the Americans for their discovery of microwave background, providing support for the big bang theory, and Kapitsa for work in low-temperature physics.

1979

English-American chemist Herbert C. Brown and German George Wittig win the Nobel Prize for chemistry for work on the introduction of compounds of boron and phosphorus in the synthesis of organic substances.

Steven Weinberg and Sheldon Glashow of the United States and Abdus Salam of Pakistan win the Nobel Prize for physics for establishing a link between electromagnetism and the weak force of radioactive decay.

Philip Warren Anderson 1923-, American physicist, b. Indianapolis, Ind., Ph.D. Harvard, 1949. After graduation he worked at Bell Laboratories; in 1975 he became a professor of physics at Princeton Univ. In 1977 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his investigations into the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems, which allowed for the development of electronic switching and memory devices in computers. Co-researchers Sir Nevill F. Mott and John H. Van Vleck shared the award with Anderson.