Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes ProCon History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture Money Videos
Leon N. Cooper
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Quizzes
Michael Faraday (L) English physicist and chemist (electromagnetism) and John Frederic Daniell (R) British chemist and meteorologist who invented the Daniell cell.
Faces of Science
Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
Physics and Natural Law
Related Questions
Read Next
Commemorative medal of Nobel Prize winner, Johannes Diderik Van Der Waals
7 Nobel Prize Scandals
Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”
Highway Night Traffic Portland, drive, driving, car, automobile.
What's the Difference Between Speed and Velocity?
Alfred Nobel on a large reproduction of the obverse side of the Nobel Prize medal for Peace on the exterior of Nobel Peace Center opened in Oslo, Norway June 11, 2005 to learn about Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and the history of Alfred Bernhard Nobel.
How Do You Get a Nobel Prize?
Discover
The Cheshire Cat is a fictional cat from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. (Alice in Wonderland)
11 Banned Books Through Time
A human Inuit skull in a stone chambered cairn in Ilulissat in Greenland. These ancient graves are pre christian and are at least 2000
14 Tough Questions Answered
Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
Flags That Look Alike
Close up of books. Stack of books, pile of books, literature, reading. Homepage 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society
12 Novels Considered the “Greatest Book Ever Written”
New York NY/ USA- November 23, 2018 Hordes of shoppers throng the Macy's Herald Square flagship store in New York looking for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.
Why Is It Called Black Friday?
Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics
10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time
Thanksgiving Celebration Traditional Dinner Setting Food Concept
Why Is Thanksgiving in the U.S. Celebrated on a Thursday?

Leon N. Cooper

American physicist
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leon-Cooper
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated: • Article History
Quick Facts
Born:
February 28, 1930, New York, New York, U.S.
Died:
October 23, 2024, Providence, Rhode Island (aged 94)
Awards And Honors:
Nobel Prize (1972)

News •

Leon Cooper obituary: Nobel laureate who developed theory of superconductivity • Nov. 20, 2024, 2:08 AM ET (Nature)
Leon Cooper Dies at 94; Nobelist Unlocked Secrets of Superconductivity • Oct. 26, 2024, 4:41 AM ET (New York Times)

Leon N. Cooper (born February 28, 1930, New York, New York, U.S.—died October 23, 2024, Providence, Rhode Island) was an American physicist and winner of the 1972 Nobel Prize for Physics, along with John Bardeen and John Robert Schrieffer, for his role in developing the BCS (for their initials) theory of superconductivity. The concept of Cooper electron pairs was named after him.

Cooper was educated at Columbia University, receiving his Ph.D. in 1954. He taught at Ohio State University in Columbus before joining (1958) the faculty at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, where he was appointed Henry Ledyard Goddard university professor in 1966 and Thomas J. Watson, Sr., professor of science in 1974.

His principal contribution to the BCS theory was the discovery (1956) that electrons, which under normal conditions repel each other, are attracted to each other in superconductors, a phenomenon termed the Cooper electron pairs.

Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
Britannica Quiz
Physics and Natural Law

He lectured extensively abroad and took a special interest in teaching physics to humanities students. His publications include An Introduction to the Meaning and Structure of Physics (1968), Introduction to Methods of Optimization (1970), and Methods and Applications of Linear Programming (1974).

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Mindy Johnston.