Berni Alder
Berni Alder · Science & Medicine
Physical chemist, pioneer of molecular dynamics computer simulation
1925, Duisburg, Germany — 2020, El Cerrito, California, USA
Germany · United States (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory · UC Davis, California)
Berni Alder is recognized among Jewish contributors to Science & Medicine — Physical chemist, pioneer of molecular dynamics computer simulation
Born to a Jewish family in Duisburg, Alder fled Nazi Germany as a boy and eventually settled in the United States, working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In the 1950s, with Thomas Wainwright, he invented molecular dynamics — using early computers to simulate the motion of many interacting atoms — and used it to demonstrate the Alder transition, a phase change in hard-sphere systems. His method turned the computer into a fundamental instrument of physics and chemistry, now used across the sciences; he won the 2001 Boltzmann Medal.
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Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Chemistry
Physical chemist, pioneer of molecular dynamics computer simulation
Source: Jinfo.org — Jews in Chemistry
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