Walter H.G. Lewin
A 2003 photo of Lewin
Born	(1936-01-29) January 29, 1936 (age 76) Netherlands
Residence	Netherlands, United States
Nationality	Dutch
Fields	Astrophysics
Institutions	MIT
Alma mater	Delft University of Technology
Notable awards	NASA Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement (1978) Alexander von Humboldt Award (1984 and 1991) Guggenheim Fellowship (1984) MIT Science Council Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (1984), W. Buechner Teaching Prize (1988) Everett Moore Baker Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2003)

Walter H. G. Lewin (born January 29, 1936), PhD, is a Dutch American astrophysicist and professor emeritus of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Education and career[link]

He earned his Ph.D. degree in nuclear physics in 1965 at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Walter Lewin went to MIT in January 1966 as a post-doctoral associate, and became an assistant professor later that year.^[1] He joined an X-ray astronomy group at MIT and conducted all-sky balloon surveys with George W. Clark. Through the late seventies, there were about twenty successful balloon flights. These balloon surveys led to the discovery of five new X-ray sources, which doubled the number known at the time. Furthermore, some of these X-ray sources were found to be varying, and some were X-ray flares. The rockets used by other researchers could not have discovered that the X-ray sources varied because they were only in the air for a few minutes, whereas the balloons could be in the air for many hours. The surveys also resulted in the discovery of GX 1+4, which was the first slowly rotating X-ray pulsar found.

Walter Lewin received the "2003 Everett Moore Baker Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching" award. Some of his lectures are available online in video format.

Lewin is also an art enthusiast and collector. He has given one lecture in art history for MIT World.^[2]

Lectures[link]

Many of the Walter Lewin Lectures on Physics at MIT have been shown for over six years on UWTV in Seattle, reaching an audience of about four million people. Lewin personally responded to hundreds of e-mail requests that he received per year from UWTV viewers. For fifteen years he was on MIT Cable TV, with programs aired 24 hours per day helping freshmen with their weekly homework assignments. Videos of Lewin's lectures on Newtonian Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Vibrations and Waves, among others, can be viewed from the MIT OpenCourseWare web site, and easily viewed as video podcasts on The Internet Archive.

A video of Lewin drawing dashed lines on chalkboards during lectures has become a viral video.^[3]

Selected publications[link]

• Lewin, Walter H.G.; Jan van Paradijs, Ronald E. Taam (204-10-27). "X-ray Bursts". Space Science Reviews 62 (3-4): 223–389. Bibcode 1993SSRv...62..223L. DOI:10.1007/BF00196124. 

• D. Pooley, W.H.G. Lewin, S.F. Anderson, H. Baumgardt, A.V. Filippenko, B.M. Gaensler, L. Homer, P. Hut, V.M. Kaspi, B. Margon, S. McMillan, S. Portegies Zwart, M. van der Klis, & F. Verbunt (2003). "Dynamical Formation of Close Binary Systems in Globular Clusters". Astrophysical Journal 591 (2): L131–L134. arXiv:astro-ph/0305003. Bibcode 2003ApJ...591L.131P. DOI:10.1086/377074. 

• J. Miller, A. Fabian, R. Wijnands, R. Remillard, P. Wojdowski, N. Schulz, T. Di Matteo, H. Marshall, C. Canizares, & W. Lewin (2002). "Resolving the Composite Fe K-alpha Emission Line in the Galactic Black Hole Cygnus X-1 with Chandra". Astrophysical Journal 578: 348–356. arXiv:astro-ph/0202083. Bibcode 2002ApJ...578..348M. DOI:10.1086/342466. 

• D. Pooley, W. Lewin, L. Homer, S. Anderson, B. Gaensler, B. Margon, F. Verbunt, J. Miller, D. Fox, V. Kaspi & M. v.d. Klis (2002). "Optical Identifications of Multiple Faint X-ray Sources in the Globular Cluster NGC~6752: Evidence for Numerous Cataclysmic Variables". Astrophysical Journal 569: 405. arXiv:astro-ph/0110192. Bibcode 2002ApJ...569..405P. DOI:10.1086/339210. 

• C. Kouveliotou, J. van Paradijs, G. J. Fishman, M. S. Briggs, J. Kommers, B. A. Harmon, C. A. Meegan, W. H. G. Lewin (1996). "Discovery of a New Type of Burster from the Galactic Center Region". Nature 379 (6568): 799. Bibcode 1996Natur.379..799K. DOI:10.1038/379799a0. 

• M. v.d. Klis, J. Swank, W. Zhang, K. Jahoda, E. Morgan, W. Lewin, B. Vaughan, & J. van Paradijs (1996). "Discovery of Sub millisecond Quasi-periodic Oscillations in the X-ray Flux of Scorpius X-1". Astrophysical Journal 469: L1. arXiv:astro-ph/9607047. Bibcode 1996ApJ...469L...1V. DOI:10.1086/310251. 

• W.H.G. Lewin, G.W. Clark and W.B. Smith (1968). "Observation of an X-Ray Flare from Sco X-1". Astrophysical Journal (Letters) 152: L55. Bibcode 1968ApJ...152L..55L. DOI:10.1086/180177. 

Selected books[link]

• Lewin, Walter; Goldstein, Warren, For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time - A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics, Simon and Schuster, 2011. ISBN 978-1-4391-0827-7
• Lewin, Walter; van der Klis, Michiel (editors), Compact stellar X-ray sources, Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-521-82659-4
• Lewin, Walter H.G.; van Paradijs, Jan; van den Heuvel, Edward P.J., (editors), X-ray binaries, Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-521-41684-1
• Truemper, J.; Lewin, W.H.G.; Brinkmann, W., (editors), The evolution of galactic X-ray binaries, Dordrecht, Holland ; Boston : D. Reidel Pub. Co.; Hingham, MA : Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada by Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1986. ISBN 90-277-2184-X

See also[link]

• Walter Lewin Lectures on Physics
• MIT Physics Department

References[link]

1. ^ Instructor Profile: Walter Lewin at MIT OpenCourseWare (archived 2009)
2. ^ "Looking at 20th Century Art through the Eyes of a Physicist - Walter Lewin (video)", MIT World, January 14, 2004
3. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l789l6np-qA&feature=related

Further reading[link]

• Clark, Kim (2008-01-10). "A New Physics Superstar". US News and World Report. http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/e-learning/2008/01/10/a-new-physics-superstar.html. Retrieved 2009-01-08. 
• Rimer, Sara (2007-12-19). "At 71, Physics Professor Is a Web Star". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/education/19physics.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin. Retrieved 2007-12-19. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Walter Lewin

• Walter Lewin's page at MIT
• MIT Physics Department website
• Walter Lewin's Physics I Course Page with Video Lectures
• Walter Lewin's Physics II Course Page with Video Lectures
• Walter Lewin's Physics III Course Page with Video Lectures
• WalterLewin's Physics I Course on iTunes U (needs iTunes)
• WalterLewin's Physics II Course on iTunesU (needs iTunes)
• WalterLewin's Physics III Course on iTunesU (needs iTunes)
• The Elegant Universe PBS Video featuring Walter Lewin
• Walter Lewin Playlist Appearance on WMBR's Dinnertime Sampler radio show February 4, 2004