Edward Condon (2.07.1902-26.03.1974) was an American physicist and a member of the National Academy of Sciences (1944). He was born in Alamogordo. He graduated in 1924 from the University of California (Berkeley). He continued his studies in Göttingen and Munich, in 1928 — 37 he worked at Princeton University and in 1937—45 at the Westinghouse laboratory; in 1945 — 51 he was director of the National Bureau of Standards (Washington) and in 1956 — 63 professor at Washington University in St Louis. From 1963 he was professor at the University of Colorado.
His research was in the fields of quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics, molecular spectroscopy and the theory of solids. Independently of G. Gamow and together with R. Gurney he constructed the theory of alpha decay (1928). Together with B. Cassen he introduced the concept of isotopic spin in 1936 (independently of W. Heisenberg), with G. Breit he established the charge independence of nuclear forces, and with him too he developed the first theory of proton-proton scattering. He is known for the Franck — Condon principle in the theory of molecules. In 1935, together with G. Shortley, he drew up a table of the electron configurations of atoms.
A member of a number of academies of sciences.