1908-1980

American chemist who won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1960 for his work on the development of radiocarbon dating. He invented techniques for measuring the amount of radioactive carbon in the remains of organisms. This amount then could be used to determine the age of the remains (up to 50,000 years old). Libby also developed a method of separating different forms of uranium. This work proved important in the development of the atomic bomb.