Henri A. Levy

Henri A. Levy (September 12, 1913 – March 25, 2003) was an American physicist and crystallographer who made contributions in the field of neutron scattering by crystalline materials.[1]

Levy was born in Oxnard, California and gained both his bachelor's degree and PhD at Caltech, in 1935 and 1938 respectively. His PhD was supervised by Linus Pauling. Following a postdoctoral position with Pauling, Levy moved to Clinton Laboratories (now Oak Ridge National Laboratory) where he spent the rest of his career.[1] He built on the work of Ernest O. Wollan and Clifford G. Shull in determining the structure of crystalline solids such as Xenon tetrafluoride,[2] sucrose[3] and glucose[4] using neutron diffraction. His work particularly focused on determining the positions of hydrogen atoms in crystals, something that neutron diffraction can do with higher precision than X-ray diffraction. He pioneered automated methodology for neutron diffraction studies,[5] along with several computer programs for analysis of crystallographic data.[6]

In his later life, Levy worked on electron tomography of large biological complexes, particularly those transcribing DNA.[7]

Levy Island, in Crystal Sound, Antarctica, is named in honor of Levy's 1957 work with SW Peterson determining the position of hydrogen atoms in an ice crystal using neutrons.[8][9]

He was president of the American Crystallographic Association in 1965.[1]

References
  1. "Henri A. Levy (1913-2003) IUCR newsletter vol 11(2)".
  2. Burns, J. H.; Agron, P. A.; Levy, H. A. (1963). "Xenon Tetrafluoride Molecule and Its Thermal Motion: A Neutron Diffraction Study". Science. 139 (3560): 1208–9. Bibcode:1963Sci...139.1208B. doi:10.1126/science.139.3560.1208. PMID 17757912.
  3. Brown, G. M.; Levy, H. A. (1963). "Sucrose: Precise Determination of Crystal and Molecular Structure by Neutron Diffraction". Science. 141 (3584): 921–3. Bibcode:1963Sci...141..921B. doi:10.1126/science.141.3584.921. PMID 14043338.
  4. Brown, G. M.; Levy, H. A. (1965). "Alpha-D-Glucose: Precise Determination of Crystal and Molecular Structure by Neutron-Diffraction Analysis". Science. 147 (3661): 1038–9. Bibcode:1965Sci...147.1038B. doi:10.1126/science.147.3661.1038-a. PMID 14245779.
  5. "Chapter 4: Olympian Feats". ORNL Review. 25 (3 and 4: ORNL: The First Fifty Years). 1992. Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
  6. "Crystallographic Computing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory 1954 to 1968. William R. Busing". Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  7. Olins, D. E.; Olins, A. L.; Levy, H. A.; Durfee, R. C.; Margle, S. M.; Tinnel, E. P.; Dover, S. D. (1983). "Electron microscope tomography: Transcription in three dimensions". Science. 220 (4596): 498–500. Bibcode:1983Sci...220..498O. doi:10.1126/science.6836293. PMID 6836293.
  8. Peterson, S. W.; Levy, H. A. (1957). "A single-crystal neutron diffraction study of heavy ice" (PDF). Acta Crystallographica. 10: 70–76. doi:10.1107/S0365110X5700016X.
  9. "Name Details: Levy Island (United States Gazetteer)". Australian Antarctic Data Centre. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
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