Siegbahn, Karl Manne Georg, << SEEG bahn, kahrl MAHN nuh YAY awr yuh >> (1886-1978), a Swedish physicist, received the 1924 Nobel Prize in physics for his work with a technique called X-ray spectroscopy. In this technique, scientists study atoms and molecules by analyzing X-ray spectra, bands of X rays scattered and reflected by a substance. Siegbahn developed new types of X-ray tubes and X-ray spectrographs, devices used to photograph X-ray spectra. This equipment enabled him to make more precise measurements.
Siegbahn was born on Dec. 3, 1886, in Orebro, Sweden, and received his doctor’s degree in 1911 from Lund University. In 1937, he became director of the Nobel Institute for Experimental Physics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He died on Sept. 26, 1978. Siegbahn’s son Kai won the 1981 Nobel Prize in physics for helping to develop another technique called high-resolution electron spectroscopy.
See also Siegbahn, Kai Manne Borje .
