Congratulations to Rainer Weiss for discovering gravity waves!

Eugen Tarnow  February 11 2016 01:29:47 PM

When I was an undergraduate at MIT, it was hard to get into a research group because as an undergraduate you are pretty useless!  

The first group that accepted me was the one headed by Rainer Weiss, a professor that reminded me of Groucho Marx.  Instead of a cigar he had a pipe.  

Rainer Weiss really cared about his students.  I found out that I was not suited for experimental physics after almost blowing up a container of liquid helium  a couple of times.  He became my advisor nevertheless and in the end I got to do some theoretical research and went on to do a PhD in physics.

Back then Rainer Weiss proposed a way to detect gravity waves and kept trying to get the project going.  This was 35 years ago.  He did get it going and it was just announced that he succeeded.

I can't think of anyone more deserving!

• Comments [0]