Origins & Early Life

Carl David Anderson (September 3, 1905 – January 11, 1991) was an American experimental physicist who shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics with Victor Hess for his discovery of the positron, which confirmed the existence of antimatter. Carl David Anderson was born on September 3, 1905, in New York City, to Swedish immigrants, Carl David Anderson Sr. and Emma Adolfina Ajaxson. Anderson received his B.S.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

in Physics and Engineering in 1927, and his Ph.D. in Physics in 1930, both from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Anderson spent the entirety of his career at Caltech; he was Research Fellow (1930–1933) and Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics (1933–1939), before becoming Professor of Physics in 1939, a position he held until his retirement in 1976. In 1946, Anderson married Lorraine Bergman, with whom he had two sons. Anderson died on January 11, 1991, in San Marino, California, at the age of 85.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

His remains were interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. He was a Christian. Under the supervision of Robert Millikan, Anderson began investigations into cosmic rays during the...

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• 1905 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1905
• September 3 (09-03) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on September 3
• 1991 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1991
• January 11 (01-11) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on January 11