![Winner of the 1939 Nobel Prize for Physics](https://www.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/XBD9703-01192-1-330x330.jpg)
![Ernest O. Lawrence examining 37-1/2 inch vacuum chamber with the lid removed.](https://www.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/XBD9806-01541.jpg)
Lawrence invented the cyclotron, a particle accelerator that ushered in a new era of physics. By whirling particles around to boost their energies and smashing them into a target, researchers could study atomic nuclei.
![Group of individuals at the Berkeley Lab 184-inch cyclotron site.](https://www.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/XBD200106-00932.jpg)
Lawrence’s Radiation Laboratory or “Rad Lab” evolved into what is now the multi-disciplinary Berkeley Lab. Lawrence established the practice of team science for complex challenges, encouraging contributions from people across disciplines and roles in pursuit of breakthroughs.
![Telegram from the Western Union announcing a Nobel Prize.](https://www.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/XBD200106-00939.jpg)
Lawrence received the 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics for “the invention and development of the cyclotron and for results obtained with it, especially with regard to artificial radioactive elements.”
![Ernest Orlando Lawrence and Edwin McMillan at the canteen by Coke machine.](https://www.lbl.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/XBD9806-01540-1-890x653.jpg)
Explore hundreds of images of Lawrence’s personal and professional life in the Berkeley Lab archive.