Sheldon Lee Glashow
Glashow, Sheldon Lee (1932-), an American physicist, shared the Nobel Prize in physics in 1979 with Steven Weinberg and Abdus Salam. Glashow received the award for his pioneering work on the electroweak theory. This theory, completed in the 1970's, discusses the relationship between two of the four fundamental forces of nature, the electromagnetic force and the weak force. Through these forces, subatomic particles (particles smaller than atoms) interact with each other. The electromagnetic force holds molecules together and keeps electrons in orbit around an atomic nucleus. The weak force causes radioactive decay in the nucleus. The electroweak theory is the first step in unifying all the forces of nature: the weak nuclear force, electro-magnetism, and the strong nuclear force. The result would be the grand unified theory. Glashow also predicted the existence of the charm quark, one of the quarks that make up elementary particles. Particles incorporating charmed quarks were discovered in 1974, fulfilling Glashow's prediction.
Glashow was born in New York City in 1932, the youngest of three sons. His parents, Lewis and Bella Gluchovski, were immigrants from Russia. They settled in New York, where Lewis established a plumbing business, and changed the family name to Glashow.