In 1946, he enrolled atAmherst College where he majored in mathematics, graduating in 1950. While at Amherst, he operated adiving andmarine salvage company during two summers. He co-authored two books, one on shallow water diving and the other onunderwater photography.
Kendall joined the faculty of theMIT Physics Department in 1961, where he remained until his death in 1999. He was named Julius A. Stratton Professor of Physics in 1991.[4]
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Kendall worked in collaboration with researchers at theStanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) including Friedman and Taylor. These experiments involved scattering high-energy beams ofelectrons fromprotons anddeuterons and heaviernuclei. At lower energies, it had already been found that the electrons would only be scattered through low angles, consistent with the idea that thenucleons had no internal structure. However, the SLAC-MIT experiments showed that higher energy electrons could be scattered through much higher angles, with the loss of some energy. These deep inelastic scattering results provided the first experimental evidence that the protons and neutrons were made up of point-like particles, later identified to be theup anddownquarks that had previously been proposed on theoretical grounds.[5] The experiments also provided the first evidence for the existence ofgluons.
Kendall was not only a very accomplished physicist, but also a very skilled mountaineer and photographer. He did extensive rock climbing inYosemite Valley, followed by expeditions to theAndes,Himalaya andAntarctica, photographing his experiences with large format cameras. He was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1982.[6] On April 7, 2012, theAmerican Alpine Club inducted Kendall into its Hall of Mountaineering Excellence at an award ceremony inGolden, Colorado.[7]
^abcdKakuk, Brian J (1999). "The Wakulla 2 Project: Cutting Edge Diving Technology for Science and Exploration".In: Hamilton RW, Pence DF, Kesling DE, Eds. Assessment and Feasibility of Technical Diving Operations for Scientific Exploration.American Academy of Underwater Sciences.
Henry Way Kendall on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture, December 8, 1990Deep Inelastic Scattering: Experiments on the Proton and the Observation of Scaling
Henry W. Kendall papers, MC-0550. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Distinctive Collections, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
