Felix Bloch

This page addresses only the Swiss physicist, for the man accused of espionage see Felix Bloch (alleged spy)

Felix Bloch
Born	October 23, 1905(1905-10-23) Zurich, Switzerland
Died	September 10, 1983 (aged 77) Zurich, Switzerland
Residence	Switzerland U.S.
Nationality	Swiss
Field	Physics
Institutions	Stanford University
Alma mater	ETH Zurich and University of Leipzig
Academic advisor	Werner Heisenberg
Known for	NMR
Notable prizes	Nobel Prize for Physics (1952)

Felix Bloch (October 23, 1905 – September 10, 1983) was a Swiss physicist, working mainly in the U.S..

Bloch was born in Zürich, Switzerland. He was educated there and at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, also in Zürich. Initially studying engineering he soon changed to physics. Graduating in 1927 he continued his physics studies at the University of Leipzig, gaining his doctorate in 1928. He remained in German academia, studying with Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli, Niels Bohr and Enrico Fermi. In 1933 he left Germany, emigrating to work at Stanford University in 1934. In 1939, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. During WW II he worked on atomic energy at Los Alamos National Laboratory, before resigning to join the radar project at Harvard University. Post-war he concentrated on investigations into nuclear induction and nuclear magnetic resonance, which are the underlying principles of MRI. He and Edward Mills Purcell were awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize for "their development of new ways and methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements."^[1] In 1954–1955, he served for one year as the first Director-General of CERN. In 1961, he was made Max Stein Professor of Physics at Stanford University.

Physics Today 1984, 37(3), pp. 115-116.
Nature 1952, 170, pp. 911-912.
Nature 1954, 174, pp. 774-775.
McGraw-Hill Modern Men of Science, McGraw-Hill, 1966, vol. 1, pp. 45-46.
National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, James T. White & Co., 1921-1984, vol. I, pp. 310-312.

^ - Sohlman, M (Ed.) Nobel Foundation directory 2003. Vastervik, Sweden: AB CO Ekblad; 2003.

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