John N. Bahcall

John Norris Bahcall (December 30, 1934 – August 17, 2005) was an American astrophysicist, best known for his contributions to the solar neutrino problem, the development of the Hubble Space Telescope and for his leadership and development of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Bahcall was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He did not take science classes at high school. He was high school state tennis champion and a national debate champion. Bahcall began his university studies at Louisiana State University as a philosophy student on a tennis scholarship, where he considered becoming a rabbi. He transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, still studying philosophy. He took his first physics class as a graduation...