Gell-Mann, Murray
Gell-Mann, Murray (1929-), a United States physicist. He developed the theory, published in 1964, that protons, neutrons, and other basic subatomic particles are themselves composed of smaller particles, which he called quarks. Evidence supporting this theory was discovered in later experiments by others, and in 1969 Gell-Mann was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics.
Gell-Mann was born in New York City. He was a precocious child and attended various schools for the gifted before entering college at age 15. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1948 and his doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1951. Gell-Mann taught at the University of Chicago, 1952-54, and at the California Institute of Technology, 1955-93. He became the director of physics at the Santa Fe Institute in 1993.
Gell-Mann wrote The Quark and the Jaguar (1994).