Paul Gorenstein

Dr. Gorenstein holds a NASA Medal for Outstanding Scientific Achievement and 5 NASA awards for contributions to new technology. He was a Fellow at the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts and also a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

His career focused on X-ray Astronomy, Instrumentation Development, and Lunar and Planetary Science. He published more than 350 articles on topics including X-ray halos around supernova remnants, the elemental composition of Asteroid 433 Eros, and black holes in nearby galaxies.

Dr. Gorenstein built the primary detector on the Einstein Observatory, the first non-solar X-ray telescope. Colleagues at the Center for Astrophysics described this telescope as " a huge leap forward". Dr. Gorenstein contributed to some of the very early papers in X-ray astronomy with the other “G”s" at the Observatory, Drs.Gursky, and Giacconi, a colleague and Nobel prize winner in Physics.

Born in New York City to immigrant parents from Russia, Dr. Gorenstein attended The Bronx High School of Science. He earned his Bachelors in Engineering Physics from Cornell University and his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He worked at American Science & Engineering, an American manufacturer of advanced X-ray equipment in Cambridge before moving to the Harvard Smithsonian in 1973.

While Dr. Gorenstein formally retired at age 79, he continued his research and study presenting " The Future of High Angular Resolution X-Ray Optics for Astronomy" at age 83 at the 2017 SPIE Optics + Optoelectronics Conference in Prague. Yet, he remained humble throughout his life. When praised for his achievements, he would just respond, "I just work in a smart field".

When not working, Dr. Gorenstein enjoyed long walks along the Charles River, classical music at Tanglewood, black coffee, dark chocolate, and most especially spending time with his daughter Caroline. He is survived by Caroline, her mother Jackie, two nephews Ethan and Gabriel, and two grand nephews Eleazer and Julian.

Service will take place at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA on Monday. A zoom shiva is being planned for a later time. For details, please contact Levine Chapels in Brookline. Paul had too many favorite donation recipients to name; please choose your own if you like.