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Don Lincoln

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Don Lincoln
Born1964
New York City, New York
NationalityAmerican
Alma materRose-Hulman Institute of Technology (B.S.)
Rice University (M.A., Ph.D.)
Known forStudies of Quantum Chromodynamics
Searches for new phenomena
Particle physics detector technology
Public speaking
Science popularization
AwardsEuropean Physical Society HEPP Outreach award (2013)
Fellow of the American Physical Society (2015)
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2016)
American Institute of Physics Gemant Award (2017)
American Association of Physics Teachers Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award (2024)
American Physical Society Dwight Nicholson Medal for Outreach (2024)
Scientific career
FieldsExperimental particle physics
InstitutionsFermi National Accelerator Laboratory
University of Notre Dame

Don Lincoln (born 1964) is an American physicist, author, host of the YouTube channel Fermilab, and science communicator. He conducts research in particle physics at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and was an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame, although he is no longer affiliated with the university.[1] He received a Ph.D. in experimental particle physics from Rice University in 1994. In 1995, he was a co-discoverer of the top quark.[2] He has co-authored hundreds of research papers, and more recently, was a member of the team that discovered the Higgs boson in 2012.[3]

Early life and education

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Don Lincoln was born in 1964. He received a Ph.D. in experimental particle physics from Rice University in 1994.

Career

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Lincoln is a public speaker, science writer, and has contributed many scientific articles to magazines that include Analog Science Fiction and Fact in July 2009, Scientific American in November 2012, and July 2015,[4] and The Physics Teacher many times.[5] He is also the author of books for the public about particle physics. His most recent book is 'Einstein's Unfinished Dream' [6] (2023) and it is published by Oxford University Press. His earlier books include 'Understanding the Universe: From Quarks to the Cosmos (Revised edition)'[7] (2012), 'The Quantum Frontier: The Large Hadron Collider'[8] (2009), and 'The Large Hadron Collider: The Extraordinary Story of the Higgs Boson and Other Things That Will Blow Your Mind'[9] (2014). In 2013, he released a book called 'Alien Universe: Extraterrestrials in our Minds and in the Cosmos',[10] which explains how the common images of extraterrestrials came to enter Western culture, and then goes on to explore what modern physics, chemistry, and biology can tell us about what real intelligent alien life might be like. He has been involved in a number of videos dedicated to disseminating discoveries in particle physics, and since July 7, 2011, has been a keynote speaker for a series produced by Fermilab that explores the range of issues dominating particle physics today in an accessible, and sometimes humorous way. Among the topics included in the series are the Higgs boson, antimatter, the nature of neutrinos, the concepts of the Big Bang, cosmic inflation, the multiverse, leptogenesis, and supersymmetry.[11]

After years of being involved in research using the DZero detector at the Fermilab Tevatron, he joined the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland. Lincoln has co-authored more than 1500 CMS papers.[12] His popularizations also include columns that translate CMS[13] (monthly) and DZero[14] (biweekly) physics measurements for the public. He is also the author of a recurring segment, Physics in a Nutshell, in the Fermilab online newspaper,[15] he blogs for the website of the television series NOVA,[16] and he writes for Live Science,[17] Big Think,[18] and CNN.[19] Additionally, he has created over 100 videos that translate particle physics and cosmology for a lay audience.[20] In collaboration with The Teaching Company, he has released video courses that outlined the scientific community's modern understanding of a theory of everything,[21] common misconceptions of science,[22] and why scientists believe some of the mind-boggling claims of modern physics.[23] After a presentation he gave at Aurora University on March 21, 2024, he was asked, among other questions, for his favorite color and responded with "pastel yellow".

Honors

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Lincoln is a Fellow of the American Physical Society,[24] a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,[25] and recipient of the 2013 European Physical Society HEPP Outreach award “for communicating in multiple media the excitement of High Energy Physics to high-school students and teachers, and the public at large”.[26] He also was awarded the 2017 American Institute of Physics Gemant Award for "cultural, artistic or humanistic contributions to physics for achievements in communication and public outreach".[27] In 2024, he received the Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers for "passionate and profound career-long impact in sharing the excitement of contemporary physics topics in ways that interest and inform the general public about the relevance and importance of fundamental physics from cosmology to high energy particle physics through prolific and impactful communication and world-class public outreach programs.”[28] In 2024, he also received the Dwight Nicholson Medal for Outreach from the American Physical Society "for worldwide presentations and publications that educate students and general audiences on the meaning of fundamental scientific research."[29]


References

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  1. ^ "Don Lincoln". University of Notre Dame Department of Physics. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015.
  2. ^ Abachi, S.; et al. (3 April 1995). "Observation of the Top Quark" (PDF). Physical Review Letters. 74 (14): 2632–2637. arXiv:hep-ex/9503003. Bibcode:1995PhRvL..74.2632A. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.2632. hdl:1969.1/181526. PMID 10057979. S2CID 42826202. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 June 2018.
  3. ^ The CMS Collaboration; et al. (2012). "Observation of a new boson at a mass of 125 GeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC" (PDF). Physics Letters B. 716 (1): 30–61. arXiv:1207.7235. Bibcode:2012PhLB..716...30C. doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2012.08.021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Stories by Don Lincoln". Scientific American.
  5. ^ "Advanced Search". Archived from the original on 2016-11-27. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  6. ^ Lincoln, Don (23 February 2023). Einstein's Unfinished Dream: Practical Progress Towards a Theory of Everything. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0197638033.
  7. ^ Lincoln, Don (March 2012). Understanding the Universe: From Quarks to the Cosmos (Revised ed.). World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-4374-44-6.
  8. ^ Lincoln, Don (4 February 2009). The Quantum Frontier: The Large Hadron Collider. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9780801891441.
  9. ^ Lincoln, Don (21 August 2014). The Large Hadron Collider: The Extraordinary Story of the Higgs Boson and Other Stuff That Will Blow Your Mind. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9781421413518.
  10. ^ Lincoln, Don (9 September 2013). Alien Universe: Extraterrestrial Life in Our Minds and in the Cosmos. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 9781421424286.
  11. ^ "Don Lincoln Onscreen". USCMS – via YouTube.
  12. ^ "Author profile for Donald W. Lincoln". Inspire. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Fermilab Today - Result of the Week Archive - 2013". www.fnal.gov.
  14. ^ "Fermilab Today - Result of the Week Archive - 2013". www.fnal.gov.
  15. ^ "Fermilab Today - Physics in a Nutshell Archive - 2015". www.fnal.gov.
  16. ^ Lincoln, Don (8 October 2013). "Higgs and Englert Win Physics Nobel Prize". NOVA. Archived from the original on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  17. ^ "Expert Voices - Don Lincoln". Live Science. 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Big Think".
  19. ^ "Journalism history".
  20. ^ "YouTube playlist". YouTube.
  21. ^ "The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality". English.
  22. ^ "Understanding the Misconceptions of Science". English.
  23. ^ "The Evidence for Modern Physics: How We Know What We Know". English.
  24. ^ "APS Fellow Archive". APS Fellow Archive. American Physical Society. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018.
  25. ^ "2016 AAAS Fellows approved by the AAAS Council". Science. 354 (6315): 981–984. 25 November 2016. Bibcode:2016Sci...354..981.. doi:10.1126/science.354.6315.981. PMID 27885000.
  26. ^ "Awards listing" (PDF). High Energy Particle Physics Board. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2017.
  27. ^ "Don Lincoln Wins 2017 Gemant Award from AIP". American Institute of Physics. 12 April 2017. Archived from the original on 6 April 2018.
  28. ^ "2024 Klopsteg Memorial Lecture Awardee is Don Lincoln". American Association of Physics Teachers. 4 March 2024. Archived from the original on 23 April 2024.
  29. ^ "2024 Dwight Nicholson Medal for Outreach". American Physical Society. 15 October 2024.

External references

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