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Arnold Boris Arons was born on November 23, 1916 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He received his M.E. degree in 1937 and his M.S. degree in 1940, both in physical chemistry from the Stevens Institute of Technology. In 1943, he earned his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Harvard University. Arons began working at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) in 1942 as a graduate student of E. Bright Wilson and joined the staff in 1943 full-time in the Underwater Explosives Research Laboratory, where he worked under Robert Cole as a leader of the group that made shock wave measurements on the first atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946.

Arons left WHOI to accept a position as assistant professor of Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology in 1946, were he continued to conduct research on aspects of explosion phenomena and shock wave propagation until 1952. At this time, he was named a professor of Physics at Amherst College and turned his research attention from the reflection of acoustic pulses to physical oceanography and meteorology, in particular the study of abyssal oceanic circulation and cloud physics. Arons continued to work at WHOI as a non-resident staff member until 1968, when he was named professor of Physics at the University of Washington. He continued his relationship with WHOI through his service as a trustee and corporator for the remainder of his life.

Arons taught at the University of Washington from 1968 until his retirement in 1982, where he founded the Physics Education Group, a program that prepares teachers for physics instruction at high school and introductory college levels, published a number of articles, and received the UW Distinguished Teaching Award in 1973. The previous year he was awarded the Oersted Medal by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) in recognition of his contributions to the teaching of physics and physics education research. Arons also served as president of AAPT and was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering in 1982 from Stevens Institute of Technology. After his retirement in 1982, Arons continued to teach through workshops in the Seattle area and published several workbooks and textbooks concerned with teaching introductory physics. Arnold Arons died on February 28, 2001.