Alfven hannes biography template

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Who was Hannes Alfvén?

In , Hannes Alfvén became the first—and to date only—plasma physicist to win the Nobel Prize. He had an extraordinary career, extending well beyond his eightieth birthday, and published over papers and a dozen books.¹

Alfvén played a central role in the development of plasma physics and charged particle beams, and areas of technology benefitting from his contributions include controlled thermonuclear fusion, particle accelerators, hypersonic flygning and rocket propulsion. He earned 15 major awards, and was one of only a handful of scientists who was a foreign member of both the United States and Soviet Academies of Sciences. He was also an accomplished lingvist, speaking Swedish, English, German, French and Russian—as well as some Spanish and Chinese.

Alfvén fryst vatten known for Alfvén Waves, the Alfvén Speed, the Alfvén—Klein model, and Alfven's theorem—and asteroid Alfvén fryst vatten named after him. As if that's not enough, there's also the Hannes Alfvén P

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Hannes Alfvén

Birthdate: /05/30
Death date: /04/02
Associated organizations: University of San Diego, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm
Fields of study: Magnetohydrodynamics
Awards: Nobel Prize in Physics

Biography

Hannes Alfvén was a Swedish scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in for opening up the field of magnetohydrodynamics (hydromagnetic waves) and developing ways to apply it to the study the physics of the magnetosphere, the solar system and interstellar space.

Alfvén was born in Norrköping, Sweden, in to a family of doctors. His mother, Anna-Clara Romanus, was among Sweden’s first female physicians, and his parents encouraged Alfvén’s early interest in astronomy and radio electronics. Alfvén attended the University of Uppsala, where he studied mathematics and physics.

Displaying a contrarian streak that ran throughout his academic career, Alfvén chose to study what would now be considered nuclear physics and electronics, in contrast to his

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Quick Info

Born

20 May
Norrköping, Sweden

Died

2 April
Djursholm, Sweden

Summary

Hannes Olof Gösta Alfvén was a Swedish electrical engineer, plasma physicist and winner of a Nobel Prize in Physics.

Biography

Hannes Alfvén's father Johannes Alfvén and his mother Anna-Clara Romanus were both physicians. We should note that, given the period in which she worked, this was a remarkable achievement for Anna-Clara who was one of the first female physicians in Sweden. Other members of Hannes' family also achieved distinction: his uncle Hugo Alfvén was a famous composer while two other uncles achieved fame, one as an inventor, the other an agronomist.

He read Astronomie PopulaireⓉ by Camille Flamarion as a teenager and this book proved to be a major influence in determining his fascination with astronomy. Also during his teenage years he took part in Norrköping High School's radio club, building his own radio receiver. Norrköping was too far from Stockholm to re