Felix Bloch

A Swiss-American physicist, Felix Bloch spent most of his career at Stanford University. He is best known for introducing the technique of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMR) as an analytical tool. He worked extensively in solid-state physics, developing a detailed analysis of the behavior of toon meer electrons in crystals. In addition, he was a major figure in research on the X-ray phenomenon, and quantum electrodynamics. NMR uses the fact that atomic nuclei will interact with a magnetic field in such a way that the nuclei will assume particular spatial orientations, representing slightly different energies. The technique was first used to study nuclear particles, but has become a basic tool for analyzing complex organic molecules, and now has medical imaging and industrial applications. Bloch was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1952 for his work on NMR. Block died in 1983. (Bowker Author Biography) toon minder