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Jerome Isaac Friedman

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Jerome Isaac Friedman is a famous American physicist. He was born on March 28, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois.

His parents moved to the United States from Russia. His father, Selig Friedman, sold sewing machines. Jerome was very good at making art when he was young. However, everything changed after he read a book about relativity by Albert Einstein. This book made him want to study how the world works. He chose physics over art and went to the University of Chicago.

Jerome's big discovery happened through a special way of testing tiny particles. This method is called deep inelastic scattering.

He worked with two other scientists named Henry Kendall and Richard Taylor. Between 1968 and 1969, they did experiments at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. They shot electrons at protons and neutrons. The way the electrons bounced showed something amazing. It proved that protons are not just solid balls. They actually have a tiny internal structure. This structure is made of even smaller parts called quarks.

This work changed how we see the tiny building blocks of our world. Because of these experiments, Jerome, Henry, and Richard won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1990.

This is one of the highest honors a scientist can receive. Jerome has spent much of his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT. He is an institute professor there. He also works with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. In 2003, he was one of 22 Nobel winners who signed the Humanist Manifesto. He is also an atheist.

Jerome has received many other honors for his life in science.

He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He also belongs to the American Philosophical Society. In 2016, he received the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. Jerome also cares about the future of science research. In May 2008, he signed a letter to President George W. Bush. He was one of 20 American Nobel winners to sign it. They asked for more money for groups like the National Science Foundation. They wanted to make sure science could keep growing.

It is interesting to see how one book can change a life. Jerome could have been a professional artist instead of a scientist. His journey shows how curiosity leads to great discoveries. Most people know about atoms, but Jerome helped us see even deeper. He showed us the quarks that live inside the protons. This is like finding out that a toy is actually made of tiny, hidden pieces. His work helps us understand the very foundation of everything around us.

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