Norman Foster Ramsey Jr. was an American physicist who was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of the separated oscillatory field method, which had important applications in the construction of atomic clocks. A physics professor at Harvard University for most of his career, Ramsey also held several posts with such government and international agencies as NATO and the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Among his other accomplishments are helping to found the United States Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Fermilab. The Nobel Prize in Physics 1989, announced October 12, 1989. Norman F. Ramsey (1/2), “for the invention of the separated oscillatory fields method and its use in the hydrogen maser and other atomic clocks”. Hans G. Dehmelt (1/4), “for the development of the ion trap technique”. Wolfgang Paul (1/4), “for the development of the ion trap technique”. Norman F. Ramsey: born 1915, Washington, D.C., USA. Hans G. Dehmelt: born 1922, Görlitz, Prussia (now Germany). Wolfgang Paul: born 1913, Lorenzkirch, Germany. Wiki link Wiki link Wiki link Data: the Nobel Foundation (CC0).