Albert Vinicio Báez (/ˈbaɪ.ɛz/; November 15, 1912 – March 20, 2007) was a prominent Mexican-American physicist, and the father of singers Joan Baez and Mimi Fariña. He was born in Puebla, Mexico, and his family moved to the United States when he was two years old because his father was a Methodist minister. Baez grew up in Brooklyn and considered becoming a minister before turning to mathematics and physics. He made important contributions to the early development of X-ray microscopes and later X-ray telescopes.[1][2]
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Academic life
3 Retirement
4 References
5 Further reading
Early life[edit]
Baez's father was a Methodist minister who had left Catholicism when his son was two. During his youth, Baez contemplated the ministry.
Baez earned degrees in mathematics from Drew University (BS, 1933) and Syracuse University (MS, 1935).[3] He married Joan Chandos Bridge, the daughter of an Episcopalian priest, in 1936. The couple became Quakers. The two had three daughters (Pauline, Joan and Mimi), then moved to California: Baez enrolled at Stanford's doctoral program in physics. In 1948, Baez co-invented, with his doctoral program advisor, Paul Kirkpatrick, the X-ray reflection microscope for examination of living cells. This microscope is still used in medicine. Baez received …show more content…
Baez took leave for a year to work with UNESCO in 1951, and stationed his family in Baghdad to establish the physics department and laboratory at Baghdad University. In 1959, Baez accepted a faculty position at MIT, and moved his family to the Boston area. In 1960, working with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, he developed optics for an X-ray telescope. Later that year he moved his family to Claremont, California, where he joined the faculty at Harvey Mudd College. From 1961 to 1967, he directed science teaching for UNESCO in
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Academic life
3 Retirement
4 References
5 Further reading
Early life[edit]
Baez's father was a Methodist minister who had left Catholicism when his son was two. During his youth, Baez contemplated the ministry.
Baez earned degrees in mathematics from Drew University (BS, 1933) and Syracuse University (MS, 1935).[3] He married Joan Chandos Bridge, the daughter of an Episcopalian priest, in 1936. The couple became Quakers. The two had three daughters (Pauline, Joan and Mimi), then moved to California: Baez enrolled at Stanford's doctoral program in physics. In 1948, Baez co-invented, with his doctoral program advisor, Paul Kirkpatrick, the X-ray reflection microscope for examination of living cells. This microscope is still used in medicine. Baez received …show more content…
Baez took leave for a year to work with UNESCO in 1951, and stationed his family in Baghdad to establish the physics department and laboratory at Baghdad University. In 1959, Baez accepted a faculty position at MIT, and moved his family to the Boston area. In 1960, working with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, he developed optics for an X-ray telescope. Later that year he moved his family to Claremont, California, where he joined the faculty at Harvey Mudd College. From 1961 to 1967, he directed science teaching for UNESCO in