Daniel R. Altschuler (born 1944 in

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

) is a

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

linked in his professional activity to the

Arecibo radio telescope The Arecibo Telescope was a spherical reflector radio telescope built into a natural sinkhole at the Arecibo Observatory located near Arecibo, Puerto Rico. A cable-mount steerable receiver and several radar transmitters for emitting signals wer ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, where he was director from 1992 to 2003. He is a writer, known for his science outreach work, and is very sensitive to the distinction between science and pseudoscience. In 2010 he received the

Andrew Gemant Award The Andrew Gemant Award is a prize awarded by the American Institute of Physics to a person who has made substantial cultural, artistic, or humanistic contributions to physics. The award is named after Andrew Gemant, a pioneer in materials scie ...

from the American Institute of Physics.

Biography

Daniel Altschuler was born in

, Uruguay, the son of German immigrants. He grew up speaking German at home and Spanish in the street. He entered the Faculty of Engineering at the

Universidad de la República The University of the Republic ( es, Universidad de la República, sometimes ''UdelaR'') is Uruguay's oldest public university. It is by far the country's largest university, as well as the second largest public university in South America and t ...

in Uruguay and then obtained a scholarship to continue studies at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

in Durham, North Carolina, where he earned his bachelor's degree in engineering. He arrived in Puerto Rico in 1979 and entered the faculty of the

Inter-American University The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has c ...

in San Germán. In 1981 he was appointed professor in the Department of Physics at the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

in Río Piedras, San Juan. In 1989 he was invited to work at the

Arecibo Radio Telescope The Arecibo Telescope was a spherical reflector radio telescope built into a natural sinkhole at the Arecibo Observatory located near Arecibo, Puerto Rico. A cable-mount steerable receiver and several radar transmitters for emitting signals wer ...

, and in 1991 he was appointed director of that institution, a position he held until 2003. He then headed the

Observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

’s office for scientific outreach. He completed his graduate studies at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

in Waltham, Massachusetts, where he earned a doctorate in physics, after which he did postgraduate studies at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. His research relates to quasars and hydrogen in

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar System. ...

. His concern about the lack of scientific knowledge across a large sector of the public, and his great interest in scientific dissemination, has motivated him to give conferences and talks across the globe (e.g.

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

). He is Professor of Physics at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras. In 2010 he received the

from the American Institute of Physics for his contribution to science education.

Bibliography

*Cosmology and Elementary Particles (with José F. Nieves), *Hijos de las estrellas, . (''tr. "Children of the stars"'') *Ciencia, pseudociencias y educación (with J. Medín y E. Nuñez) (''tr. "Science, pseudosciences and education"'') *Mokita en blanco y negro. (''tr. "Mokita in black and white"'') *Extraterrestres, humanos, dioses y estrellas, . (''tr. "Aliens, humans, gods and stars"'') *Altschuler, Daniel R.; Salter, Christopher J. (2013). "The Arecibo Observatory: Fifty astronomical years". Physics Today. 66 (11): 43. Bibcode:2013PhT....66k..43A. *The Women of the Moon: Tales of Science, Love, Sorrow, and Courage (With Fernando J. Ballesteros, 2019)

Awards

*2002 Altschuler's book ''Hijos de las estrellas'' received second Prize from the Instituto de Literatura Puertorriqueña. *2004 he received second Prize from periodismo Bolivar Pagan del Instituto de Literatura Puertorriqueña, for his career in publishing articles in the field of scientific outreach. *2005 he received first Prize in literature in Puerto Rico, for the book “Ciencia, pseudociencia y educación” (jointly written with J. Medín y E. Nuñez). *2010 he received the

of the American Institute of Physics.

External links

Daniel Altschuler page at ''wagner.nyu.edu'' (restricted access)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altschuler, Daniel R. 1944 births Living people Uruguayan people of German descent Scientists from Montevideo Uruguayan physicists University of the Republic (Uruguay) alumni Duke University alumni Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni University of Puerto Rico faculty Brandeis University alumni University System of Maryland alumni