Roger Gerhard Newton (né Neuweg; November 30, 1924 – April 14, 2018) was a German-born American physicist. Newton was born in

Landsberg an der Warthe Landsberg may refer to: * Landsberg family * Landsberg (surname) Places * Landsberg (district), Bavaria, Germany * Landsberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany * Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany ** Landsberg-Lech Air Base, Germany ** Landsberg Prison, a ...

Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

(present day

Gorzów Wielkopolski Gorzów Wielkopolski (), often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów (formerly ), is a city in Geography of Poland, western Poland, located on the Warta, Warta River. It is one of the two principal cities and seats of the Lubusz Voivodes ...

) on November 30, 1924, to parents Margaret Blume and Arthur Newton, a dentist. Because of their Jewish heritage, Newton's family was targeted by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

.Alt URL
/ref> Though Newton enrolled at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, he and his family moved to Buffalo, New York after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After serving in the United States Army, he applied to various American universities, intending to study physics. Receiving an encouraging reply by John U. Monro at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, he submitted letters of recommendation from his high school teachers and was admitted as a junior, as he had graduated from a German high school. He enrolled in 1947 and completed his bachelor's degree in 1949. Shortly after earning his doctorate under the supervision of

Julian Schwinger Julian Seymour Schwinger (; February 12, 1918 – July 16, 1994) was a Nobel Prize-winning American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work on quantum electrodynamics (QED), in particular for developing a relativistically invariant ...

in 1953, Newton married Ruth Gordon. He worked for the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

until joining the

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

faculty in 1955. He became a full professor in 1960, and was named a distinguished professor in 1978. Over the course of his career, Newton served as associate editor of the ''

American Journal of Physics The ''American Journal of Physics'' is a monthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics. The editor-in-chief is Beth Parks of Colgate University."Current ...

'' and ''

Inverse Problems ''Inverse Problems'' is a peer-reviewed, broad-based interdisciplinary journal for pure and applied mathematicians and physicists produced by IOP Publishing. It combines theoretical, experimental and mathematical papers on inverse problems wit ...

'' (1985-1990) and head editor of the ''

Journal of Mathematical Physics The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' is a peer-reviewed journal published monthly by the American Institute of Physics devoted to the publication of papers in mathematical physics. The journal was first published bimonthly beginning in Januar ...

''. Additionally, he was granted fellowship into the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...

and

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. Newton is well known for his book
Scattering Theory of Waves and Particles
'. Newton died at home on April 14, 2018, aged 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Roger G. 1924 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American physicists 20th-century German physicists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Harvard University alumni 20th-century German Jews Jewish American scientists Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science German academic journal editors United States Army soldiers Indiana University Bloomington faculty People from Gorzów Wielkopolski Scientists from the Province of Brandenburg Emigrants from Allied-occupied Germany to the United States 21st-century American Jews American academic journal editors