Henri A. Levy (September 12, 1913 – March 25, 2003) was an American physicist and crystallographer who made contributions in the field of neutron scattering by crystalline materials.[1]

Early life and education

Levy was born in Oxnard, California and gained both his bachelor's degree and PhD at Caltech, in 1935 and 1938 respectively. His PhD was supervised by Linus Pauling. [1]

Career

Following a postdoctoral position with Pauling, Levy moved to Clinton Laboratories (now Oak Ridge National Laboratory) where he spent the rest of his career.[1] He built on the work of Ernest O. Wollan and Clifford G. Shull in determining the structure of crystalline solids such as Xenon tetrafluoride,[2] sucrose[3] and glucose[4] using neutron diffraction. His work particularly focused on determining the positions of hydrogen atoms in crystals, something that neutron diffraction can do with higher precision than X-ray diffraction. He pioneered automated methodology for neutron diffraction studies,[5] along with several computer programs for analysis of crystallographic data.[6] He was president of the American Crystallographic Association in 1965.[1] In his later life, Levy worked on electron tomography of large biological complexes, particularly those transcribing DNA.[7]

Legacy

Levy Island, in Crystal Sound, Antarctica, is named in honor of Levy's 1957 work with SW Peterson determining the position of hydrogen atoms in an ice crystal using neutrons.[8][9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Henri A. Levy (1913-2003) IUCR newsletter vol 11(2)".
  2. ↑ Burns, J. H.; Agron, P. A.; Levy, H. A. (1963). "Xenon Tetrafluoride Molecule and Its Thermal Motion: A Neutron Diffraction Study". Science. 139 (3560): 1208–9. Bibcode:1963Sci...139.1208B. doi:10.1126/science.139.3560.1208. PMID 17757912. S2CID 35858682.
  3. ↑ Brown, G. M.; Levy, H. A. (1963). "Sucrose: Precise Determination of Crystal and Molecular Structure by Neutron Diffraction". Science. 141 (3584): 921–3. Bibcode:1963Sci...141..921B. doi:10.1126/science.141.3584.921. PMID 14043338. S2CID 23770600.
  4. ↑ Brown, G. M.; Levy, H. A. (1965). "Alpha-D-Glucose: Precise Determination of Crystal and Molecular Structure by Neutron-Diffraction Analysis". Science. 147 (3661): 1038–9. Bibcode:1965Sci...147.1038B. doi:10.1126/science.147.3661.1038-a. PMID 14245779. S2CID 24902991.
  5. ↑ "Chapter 4: Olympian Feats". ORNL Review. 25 (3 and 4: ORNL: The First Fifty Years). 1992. Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
  6. ↑ "Crystallographic Computing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory 1954 to 1968. William R. Busing". Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  7. ↑ Olins, D. E.; Olins, A. L.; Levy, H. A.; Durfee, R. C.; Margle, S. M.; Tinnel, E. P.; Dover, S. D. (1983). "Electron microscope tomography: Transcription in three dimensions". Science. 220 (4596): 498–500. Bibcode:1983Sci...220..498O. doi:10.1126/science.6836293. PMID 6836293.
  8. ↑ Peterson, S. W.; Levy, H. A. (1957). "A single-crystal neutron diffraction study of heavy ice" (PDF). Acta Crystallographica. 10: 70–76. doi:10.1107/S0365110X5700016X.
  9. ↑ "Name Details: Levy Island (United States Gazetteer)". Australian Antarctic Data Centre. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
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