Arthur Ashkin (1922–2020)

Abstract

Arthur Ashkin was the father of optical trapping. Using focused laser beams, he manipulated particles ranging in size from atoms to cells and their components. In 2018, aged 96, he shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for "optical tweezers and their application to biological systems". He also made pioneering discoveries about the forces that light exerts. Ashkin — 'Art' to most of us— died on 21 September, aged 98.