Kai M. Siegbahn
Biographical
Born April 20, 1918, in Lund, Sweden. Parents: Manne Siegbahn and Karin Högbom. Married May 23, 1944, to Anna Brita Rhedin. Three children: Per (1945), Hans (1947) and Nils (1953). Attended the Uppsala Gymnasium; Studied physics, mathematics and chemistry at the University of Uppsala from 1936 until 1942. Graduated in Stockholm 1944. Docent in physics that year. Research associate at the Nobel Institute for Physics 1942 – 1951. Professor of physics at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm from 1951 to 1954. Professor and head of the Physics Department at the University of Uppsala since 1954. Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, Royal Society of Science, Royal Academy of Arts and Science of Uppsala, Royal Physiographical Society of Lund, Societas Scienti arum Fennica, Norwegian Academy of Science, Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Membre du Comite International des Poids et Mesures, Paris, President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP).
| Awards |
| The Lindblom Prize 1945 |
| Björkén Prize 1955 |
| Celsius Medal 1962 |
| Sixten Heyman Award, University of Gothenburg 1971 |
| Harrison Howe Award, Rochester 1973 |
| Maurice F. Hasler Award, Cleveland 1975 |
| Charles Frederick Chandler Medal, Columbia University, New York 1976 |
| Björkén Prize 1977 |
| Torbern Bergman Medal 1979 |
| Pittsburgh Award of Spectroscopy 1982 |
| Doctor of Science, honoris cause |
| University of Durham 1972 |
| University of Basel 1980 |
| University of Liège 1981 |
| Upsala College, New Jersey, 1982 |
| Research in physics covering atomic and molecular physics, nuclear physics, plasma physics and electron optics. Main research activity in the field of electron spectroscopy, ESCA. Books: Beta- and Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy, 1955; Alpha-, Beta- and Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy, 1965; ESCA-Atomic, Molecular and Solid State Structure Studied by Means of Electron Spectroscopy, 1967; ESCA Applied to Free Molecules, 1969. |
| Surveys on ESCA |
| Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London A, 33 – 57, 1970 |
| Electron Spectroscopy, Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, McGrawHill, 1971 |
| Perspectives and Problems in Electron Spectroscopy, Proc. Asilomar Conference 1971, Ed. D. A. Shirley, North Holland, 1972 |
| Electron Spectroscopy-A New Way of Looking into Matter, Endeavor 32, 1973 |
| Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis, Proc. of Conf. on Atomic Physics 3, Boulder, 1972, Ed. S.J. Smith and G. K. Walters, Plenum, 1973 |
| Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis (together with C.J. Allan), MTP Int. Rev. of Science, Vol. 12, Analytical Chemistry, Part 1, Butterworths, 1973 |
| Electron Spectroscopy-An Outlook, Proc. Namur Conference 1974, Elsevier 1974 |
| Electron Spectroscopy and Molecular Structure, Pure and Appl. Chem. 48, Pergamon, 1976 |
| Electron Spectroscopy for Solids, Surfaces, Liquids and Free Molecules, in Molecular Spectroscopy, Ch. 15, Heyden 1977 |
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
Kai M. Siegbahn died on 20 July 2007.
Nobel Prizes and laureates
Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.
See them all presented here.
