[Congressional Bills 110th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H. Res. 1118 Introduced in House (IH)] 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. RES. 1118 Honoring the life and achievements of John Archibald Wheeler and expressing condolences on his passing. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 17, 2008 Mr. Foster submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Science and Technology _______________________________________________________________________ RESOLUTION Honoring the life and achievements of John Archibald Wheeler and expressing condolences on his passing. Whereas John Archibald Wheeler was born July 9, 1911, in Jacksonville, Florida; Whereas John Wheeler graduated from high school at age 15 and earned a Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University at age 21; Whereas Dr. Wheeler then moved to Copenhagen to work in the field of nuclear physics with pioneering physicist Niels Bohr; Whereas, while still in his 20s, Dr. Wheeler, then a Professor of Physics at Princeton, along with Dr. Bohr in 1939 worked out the first explanation of how the newly discovered nuclear fission actually worked; Whereas Dr. Wheeler spent the war years at Hanford, Washington working on the theoretical understanding of nuclear reactions that led to production of plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki and later worked on the development of the American hydrogen bomb under Project Matterhorn B; Whereas Dr. Wheeler then returned to Princeton where, after discussion with Albert Einstein, he switched from the study of nuclear physics to working on extending the theory of general relativity, including in 1957 creating the concept of wormholes to describe tunnels in space-time and in 1967 coining the term black hole as part of the theory of gravitational collapse; Whereas Dr. Wheeler was a visionary who could see farther on the horizon than most people by way of his physical intuition; Whereas Dr. Wheeler was a beloved academic who trained some of the best minds in the next generation of physicists, a gifted communicator sometimes called a physics poet, and an active researcher for over 70 years; and Whereas Dr. Wheeler was, in the words of Dr. Max Texmark, the last Titan, the only physics superhero still standing until the time of his death on April 13, 2008: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives-- (1) honors the life and accomplishments of Professor John Archibald Wheeler and expresses condolences on his passing; and (2) recognizes the profound importance of Dr. Wheeler's record as a pioneer in nuclear and theoretical physics and a long-time contributor to advancing mankind's understanding of the nature and workings of the universe. <all>