Origins & Early Life

George Fitzgerald Smoot III (February 20, 1945 – September 18, 2025) was an American astrophysicist and cosmologist. He shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics with John C. Mather "for their discovery of the black body form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation". This work helped further the Big Bang theory of the universe using the Cosmic Background Explorer.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

According to the Nobel Prize committee, "the COBE project can also be regarded as the starting point for cosmology as a precision science." In 2007, Smoot donated $500,000 to fund the Berkeley Center for Cosmological Physics, and an additional amount from his Nobel Prize money, less travel costs, to the East Bay Community Foundation, a charity. Smoot had been at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 1970. He was Chair of the Endowment Fund "Physics of the Universe" of Paris Center for Cosmological Physics. Apart from being elected a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, Smoot had been honored by several universities worldwide with doctorates or professorships. He was also the recipient of the Gruber...

Enduring Legacy & Impact

The historical impact and works continue to influence the modern world.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Alan Mulally — Contemporary (Born in 1945) (1945): Aerospace executive credited with revitalizing Boeing and saving Ford Motor Company.
• Anne Frank — Contemporary (Died in 1945) (1945): German-born diarist whose secret writings documented life in hiding during the Holocaust.
• Anne Murray — Contemporary (Born in 1945) (1945): Pioneering Canadian country and pop vocalist with a 40-year global career.
• Alasdair MacIntyre — Contemporary (Died in 2025) (2025): Influential Scottish-American philosopher known for virtue ethics and political theory.
• Alfred Brendel — Contemporary (Died in 2025) (2025): Czech-born Austrian pianist, composer, and scholar renowned for Beethoven.
• Assata Shakur — Contemporary (Died in 2025) (2025): Black American activist, revolutionary, and fugitive known for her political militancy.
• Adalbert Gyrowetz — Shared historical date (02-20 · Born) (1763): Czech-Austrian composer known for symphonies and string quartets.
• Ansel Adams — Shared historical date (02-20 · Born) (1902): Iconic photographer and environmentalist celebrated for the American West's landscapes.
• Adrien-Marie Legendre — Shared historical date (09-18 · Born) (1752): Pioneering French mathematician known for Legendre polynomials and least squares method.
• Ben Carson — Shared historical date (09-18 · Born) (1951): Pioneering neurosurgeon and political figure known for academic and government service.
• 1945 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1945
• February 20 (02-20) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on February 20
• 2025 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 2025
• September 18 (09-18) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on September 18