Joseph Weber (born 17.05.1919) is an American physicist. He was born in Paterson. He graduated from the Naval Academy (1940). Since 1948 he has worked at the University of Maryland (professor from 1958).
His research was in the field of general relativity, the theory of gravitation, the problem of detecting gravitational radiation, microwave spectroscopy, atomic frequency standards and quantum electronics. In 1952—53 he demonstrated the possibility of amplifying electromagnetic waves by means of stimulated emission and gave the principle of operation of the maser. Independently of N. Bloembergen he proposed (1959) quantum counters. In 1959 — 61 he analysed in detail the possibility of realising in the laboratory a transmitter-receiver scheme for gravitational radiation using the mechanical oscillations of extended masses, and he built the first detector of gravitational waves. He is carrying out experiments to detect them.