Alexander Dalgarno was born in London in 1928, and spent his childhood there. He was educated in mathematics and atomic physics at
University College, London, earning a
Ph.D. in
theoretical physics in 1951 under the joint supervision of
Harrie Massey and
Richard Buckingham. He was an academic at the
Queen's University, Belfast from 1951 to 1967 where he worked with Sir
David Bates and rose from assistant lecturer to professor. In the 1950s, he laid the foundations for long-range atomic interaction studies which are of critical importance for today's interest in
Bose–Einstein condensates. In 1967, he moved to
Harvard University to join their department of astronomy and held the positions of acting director of
Harvard College Observatory, chairman of the department of astronomy, associate director of the
Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian and director of the
Institute for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Physics. Dalgarno's research covered three main areas: theoretical atomic and
molecular physics,
astrophysics and
aeronomy (the study of the upper atmosphere). He made contributions in
theoretical chemistry,
scattering theory,
atmospheric physics &
chemistry and
astrophysics and was the author of more than 600 publications.
Sir David Bates wrote in 1988 that "There is no greater figure than Alex in the history of atomic physics and its applications." Known as the "father of
molecular astrophysics", Dalgarno was also a physicist at the
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and was formerly the editor of the
Astrophysical Journal Letters. Dalgarno was also cited in the
Nebula Award winning novel
The Quantum Rose by
Catherine Asaro, a science-fiction novel based on Asaro's doctoral work while she was a Ph.D. student with Dalgarno. He married Barbara Kane, from whom he was later divorced, and had four children. Later married to Emily Izsak - divorced. ==Awards==