#3        DR. DALE D. HOPPES, PHYSICIST

            This selection for third place in my Hall of Fame might be a surprise to you because you probably have never heard of this remarkable scientist.  Dale Hoppes was born in Liberty, IN on September 13, 1928, a descendant of 11D11 Anthony Hoppes.  He received a B.S. degree from Purdue University in 1950 and his Ph.D. from the Catholic University of America in 1961. Beginning in 1950, he worked as a nuclear physicist at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in Washington D. C., and later moved to Gaithersburg, MD after the NBS relocated there.

              During the early 1950’s, atom smashers used in high-energy physics produced several particles that did not appear to conform to the well-accepted belief that two physical systems, one of which is a mirror image of the other, must behave in identical fashion. According to the prevailing “parity conversion” postulate of quantum mechanics,

Nature is symmetrical and makes no distinction between right- and left-handed rotations, or between opposite sides of a subatomic particle.  Early in 1956, however, Dr. Tsung Dao Lee of Columbia University and Dr. Chen Ning Yang of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University, made a survey of experimental information on the question of “parity conservation”. They concluded that the evidence then existing neither supported nor refuted parity conservation in the “weak-force interactions” responsible for the emission of beta particles and K-meson decay. They also suggested that parity may not be conserved in weak interactions and proposed a number of experiments that would provide the necessary evidence. Drs. Yang and Lee then turned to their Columbia University friend and colleague Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu for advice on how to pursue their proposed experiment involving beta particle radiation. After further discussions with other scientists, it was decided to carry out the proposed experiment at the Cryogenic Physics Laboratory of NBS. There four NBS employees, Ernest Ambler, Ralph Hudson, Raymond Hayward, and Dale Hoppes, displayed remarkable ingenuity in setting up and conducting a complex experiment involving beta particle decay. On December 27, 1956, they succeeded in demonstrating that beta particles failed to follow the parity postulate. The group worked round the clock to verify their results (with Dale Hoppes on occasion sleeping next to the experimental apparatus until the required temperatures were reached) and succeeded in verifying their results at 2 AM January 9, 1957.  The fall of parity  caused a revolution in quantum physics and earned Nobel Prizes for Drs. Lee and Yang.

.           After my family moved to the Gaithersburg area in 1973, Dale Hoppes and I lived within a mile of each other and sometimes received each other’s mail.  I met him for the first time in 1974 when I decided to return some of his mail in person. He graciously invited me into his home for me to meet his family.  He told me about his hobby of restoring old VW beetles, and I shared some of my knowledge of Hoppes family history with him. He seemed surprised at how much I knew about his Liberty, IN ancestors.

            After playing an important role in conducting the NBS experiment that shattered a fundamental concept of nuclear physics that had been universally accepted for 30 years and that cleared the way for a reconstruction of physical theories, Dale Hoppes had a distinguished career at the NBS and retired as Radioactivity Group Leader in 1992.      

         NBS EXPERIMENTAL TEAM                          DR. DALE D. HOPPES, PH. D.

                           NOBEL LAUREATES

                                   Tsung Dao Lee                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                                                Chen Ning Yang

Harry's Corner
Hall of Fame Introduction
Hall of Fame # 1 - Mark Hoppus
Hall of Fame # 2 - Lowell Hoppes
Hall of Fame # 4 - Walter (Doc) Hoppas
Hall of Fame # 5 - John J. Hoppes
Home