Karle, Jerome

Karle, Jerome (kärl) [key], 1918–, American physicist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Univ. of Michigan, 1943. He worked on the Manhattan Project before beginning a career at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. There, with Herbert Hauptman, he concentrated his studies on crystalline matter. They were awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of a mathematical model known as the “direct method.” Devised in the 1950s and 60s, the innovation greatly improved methods for analyzing three-dimensional molecular structures.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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