# Edward Mills Purcell

_American physicist (1912-1997)_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/edward-mills-purcell
Last updated: 2026-11-01

> Edward Mills Purcell was an American physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in Physics with Felix Bloch for his independent discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in liquids and in solids. NMR has become widely used to study the molecular structure of pure materials and the composition of mixtures. Friends and colleagues knew him as Ed Purcell.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 30 August 1912 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183270#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Taylorville ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183270#P19))
- **Died:** 7 March 1997 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183270#P570))
- **Place of death:** Cambridge ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183270#P20))
- **Citizenship:** United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183270#P27))
- **Occupation:** physicist; nuclear physicist; university teacher ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183270#P106))
- **Education:** Harvard University; Purdue University ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183270#P69))
- **Awards:** Nobel Prize in Physics; Oersted Medal; National Medal of Science; Richtmyer Memorial Lecture Award; Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize; Max Delbrück Prize in Biological Physics; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Foreign Member of the Royal Society; Karl G. Jansky Lectureship ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183270#P166))

## Questions

**When was Edward Mills Purcell born?**  
Edward Mills Purcell was born on 30 August 1912 in Taylorville.

**Where did Edward Mills Purcell study?**  
Edward Mills Purcell was educated at Harvard University, Purdue University.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Edward Mills Purcell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Mills_Purcell) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q183270](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q183270) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Edward Mills Purcell.jpg by Unknown author Unknown author (Public domain)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Mills_Purcell.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Edward Mills Purcell, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Edward Mills Purcell.jpg — Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain.

## Cite this page

"Edward Mills Purcell". DigiNepal. Last updated 1 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/edward-mills-purcell. Retrieved 6 November 2026.