1882-1961

American physicist who was awarded the 1946 Nobel Prize for Physics for work in high-pressure physics. Bridgman's self-tightening joint allowed him to extend the range of pressures under which substances could be studied from 3,000 to 100,000 atmospheres. His work later served as the basis for General Electric's development of synthetic diamonds. Bridgman is also known for his "operational" philosophy of scientific methodology, according to which science should restrict itself to concepts definable by specific physical operations.