Saul Perlmutter, Nobel Prize Winner in Physics

Chalk up another Nobel Prize for a UC Berkeley Professor. 

This October Saul Perlmutter and two other scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Perlmutter is currently a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and a faculty senior scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).  He is now also the fifth Nobel winner for UC Berkeley in the past 11 years, and the 22nd Nobelist overall.
 
Perlmutter’s Nobel Prize was awarded for “the discovery of accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.”  Prior to Perlmutter’s research, scientists believed that the universe was contracting.  But due to Perlmutter’s study in supernovae (exploding stars), it has been discovered that the universe is actually expanding at an accelerating rate.  
 
The press release regarding the new discovery stated, “the findings of the 2011 Nobel Laureates in Physics have helped to unveil a Universe that to a large extent is unknown to science. And everything is possible again.”
 
Perlmutter has done revolutionary research and rightly deserves the $1.5 million he has won in funding.  In addition, Perlmutter will be given a parking spot on campus: a much coveted possession given only to Nobel winners 

photo taken by: Paul Preuss