Luis Walter Alvarez (1911 - 1988)

Born 13 Jun 1911 in San Francisco, California, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Geraldine Smithwick — married 1936 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States

Died 1 Sep 1988 at age 77 in Alameda, California, United States

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Luis Alvarez is Notable.

Luis Alvarez was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Biography

• Born in San Francisco, California, Luis obtained his PhD in Physics from the University of Chicago in 1936.

• He is known to have worked on project Manhattan during World War II.

• Luis Alvarez was notable as a physicist and as an inventor. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1968 for his discovery of resonance states in particle physics using the hydrogen bubble chamber. which allows scientists to take millions of photos of particle interaction during experiments.

• Luis also helped his son Walter to develop a new scientific theory called the "Alvarez Hypothesis" which proposes that the extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs was the result of an asteroid impact. Walter had discovered a clay strata in Gubbio, Italy, which had an iridium count that was "through the roof" or a lot higher than normal. The strata above and below the clay level, had normal low levels of iridium. Since iridium was known to come from meteorites, perhaps this indicated an impact that may have killed off most of life on earth. Up until 1980, extinctions were believed to have been slow and gradual as per Darwin's theory of evolution.

Sources

• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Walter_Alvarez

• Wikidata: Item Q178344, en:Wikipedia

• Wikitree - Profiles of Nobel Prize Winners
  Space:Nobel_Physicist_Connections

• 1920 census - "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MH4Q-9SQ : accessed 13 April 2020), Louis Alvarez in household of Walter C Alvarez, San Francisco Assembly District 28, San Francisco, California, United States; citing ED 278, sheet 7A, line 19, family 8, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 140; FHL microfilm 1,820,140.

• 1930 census - "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X38J-N6P : accessed 13 April 2020), Luis Alvarez in household of Walter C Alvarez, Rochester, Olmsted, Minnesota, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 20, sheet 17A, line 16, family 500, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1110; FHL microfilm 2,340,845.

• Marriage Record - "Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1920," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q21K-XQHX : 28 November 2018), Luis W Alvarez and Geraldine Smithwick, 15 Apr 1936; citing Marriage, Cook, Illinois, United States, citing Cook County Clerk. Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 102240904.

• 1940 census - "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9Q3-KLN : 29 February 2020), Luis E Alvarez, Tract 5B, Berkeley, Oakland Judicial Township, Alameda, California, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 1-135, sheet 3B, line 41, family 73, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 189.

• Death Record - SSDI - "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JBQW-VMR : 20 May 2014), Luis W Alvarez, 01 Sep 1988; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).

• Obituary - Genealogy Bank - "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPL-QHDL : accessed 13 April 2020), Dr Luis Walter Alvarez, Illinois, United States, 02 Sep 1988; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Chicago Tribune, born-digital text.