John Goodenough, the oldest Nobel laureate in history and a key figure in the creation of the lithium-ion battery, passed away at the age of 100.
According to the University of Texas at Austin, where he served as an engineering professor, he passed away on Sunday.
According to Jay Hartzell, president of the University of Texas at Austin, “John’s legacy as a brilliant scientist is immeasurable.”
Millions of electric vehicles are powered by lithium-ion batteries all over the world.
He was referred to as a “dedicated public servant, a sought-after mentor, and a brilliant yet humble inventor” by the University of Texas.
At the age of 97, Dr. Goodenough received the Chemistry Nobel Prize for his work on batteries, which included the creation of the lithium-ion battery.
Modern portable gadgets like laptops and mobile phones were made possible thanks to the technological revolution triggered by the small, strong battery. The powering of larger modern technologies, such solar panels, depends heavily on the batteries.
Dr. Goodenough, who was born in Germany in 1922 to American parents, was raised in the northeastern US and participated in World War II as a meteorologist in the US army. He graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s in mathematics and from the University of Chicago with a doctorate in physics.
Irene Wiseman, his wife, died in 2016. She was married to him.
According to Mr. Hartzell, his discoveries “improved the lives of billions of people throughout the world.” “Throughout the many decades of his career, he was a leader at the forefront of scientific research, and he never stopped looking for cutting-edge energy-storage solutions.”
Dr. Goodenough began his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he spent 24 years and contributed to the creation of computer random-access memory.
There, he contributed to the development of the present theory of magnetism, which has been essential to the development of communications.
Dr. Goodenough responded that he did not “think about it too much” when asked by the BBC’s John Humphrys in 2016 how it felt to know that his discoveries had altered how people live.
He said, “I’m really happy that I’ve done something for the people of this globe. He made light of the fact that he did not own a cell phone at the time, joking that he disliked being “bothered.”
According to the University of Texas, the lecturer had a “infectious laugh” and was well recognized for his quick wit. The university said that “that laugh could be heard echoing through UT engineering buildings.”
Dr. Goodenough and his team at the University of Texas have conducted research on novel energy storage techniques, including the use of a glass battery.
