William Klemperer | |
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Born | New York City, US | 6 October 1927
Died | 5 November 2017 | (aged 90)
Alma mater | Harvard University (A.B.), University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Chemist |
Institutions | Harvard University |
Doctoral advisor | George C. Pimentel |
William A. Klemperer (October 6, 1927 – November 5, 2017) was an American chemist, chemical physicists and molecular spectroscopists. Klemperer is most widely known for introducing molecular beam methods into chemical physics research, greatly increasing the understanding of nonbonding interactions between atoms and molecules through development of the microwave spectroscopy of van der Waals molecules formed in supersonic expansions, pioneering astrochemistry, including developing the first gas phase chemical models of cold molecular clouds that predicted an abundance of the molecular HCO+ ion that was later confirmed by radio astronomy.[1]