DOCSLIB.ORG

Dr. Leo Szilard Dead at 66 Death Came Quietly Yesterday to Dr

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Dr. Leo Szilard Dead at 66 Death Came Quietly Yesterday to Dr Dr. Leo Szilard Dead at 66 Death came quietly yesterday to Dr. Leo Szilard, 66, whose urging caused Dr. Albert E instein t o suggest work on the atomic bomb. and who devoted th est of hu; life to efforts to prevent the loosing of the invention on n1ankind. Page 32. ) - ) New York ]{eralb m'tioutte Sunday, May 31, 1964 Man Behind the A-Bomh-Dr. Leo Szilard Dies On March 3, 1939, Dr. Leo Enrico Fermi in starting the He came to the United him to "speak directly and television discussions about Weinberg shared the $150,000 Szilard and Dr. Walter H. first sustained nuclear chain States in 1938 and resumed personally to the American peace, quarrreled with Dr. Atoms for Peace award o! _ Zinn conducted a nuclear reaction at the University of his researches at Columbia people" on Russian proposals Teller about U. S. atomic po­ the Ford Motor Company experiment at Columbia Uni­ Chicago. University, working t here for postwar esettlement. The licy and continued to think Fund. versity, which Dr. Szilard The rest of his life w-as de­ until 1940. He , Dr. Fermi State Department refused up ways of averting an atomic At the University of Chb later described in there voted to efforts to keep lm­ and other scientists wel·e him permission to communi­ war. cago, Dr. Szilard did research _ words: manity from destroying itself greatly frustrated by the cate with Stalin and he pub­ In 1961 , he founded a in the biophysics of aging.,. "Everything was ready and with the atomic and hydro­ refusal of military leaders to lished it as an open letter in "Council for a Liveable and, in 1959, announced a all we had to do was to turn gen bombs. listen to their warning that the "Bulletin of tl)e Atomic World" of which he was vice­ theory that an individual's a switch, lean back and His battles for peace er.ded the Germans were working Scientists." president at his death. In lifespan is predestined by the watch the screen of a tele­ early yesterday morning on nuclear fission. They He, Dr. Einstein, Harold C. 1962. writing a guest column number of "aging hits" on vision tube. If flashes of light when the brilliant, much­ . chose Dr. Einstein to present Urey and others had already for John Crosby In The Her­ the human cell. Of that and . appeared on the screen. that honored scientist was found t!heir case to Ml'. Roosevelt formed the Emergency· Com­ a.ld Tribune, he suggested a another theory developed at ~ would mean that neutrons dead in bed in his home at because they thought his mittee of Atomic Scientists to lobby for peace, with a mem­ the same time, he quipped we re emitted in the fission La Jolla, Calif. He was 66. name would attract attention. plead for international con­ bership of 100,000 persons that "It will take my col­ process of uranium. and this. Dr. Szilard was a short. Dr. Szilard composed the trol of "the unleashed power with an average annual in­ leagues at least 15 years to " in turn, would mean that heavy m1n, with a maf> sive letter which Dr. Einstein of the atom." come of $7,500. Each would prove t hem wrong." _ tbe large-scale liberation of head, \\'hose moods ranged signed. It began : One of his propos2 ls to in­ give 2 per cent of his income He was a trusted adviser atomic energy was just sure peace was that the to promote peace. of Dr. Jonas Salk and was , from ebullience to irascibility "Some recent work by appointed a non-resident . around the corner. We and who had a gift _for the E. Fermi and L. Szilard, the United States and Rus­ Dr. Szilard was not only turned the switch and we sia each give the other the fellow of the Salk Institute : epigram which d • flates an which has been communi­ brilliant, but had the strength for Biological Studies in saw the flashes. We watched ego, includiag his own as cated to me in manuscript, population of a major city of his convictions. When an them for a little while and Dr. Leo Szilard as hostages against a nuclear 1962. He retired from the often as not. leads me to expect that the ailment was diagnosed as University of Chicago a few : then we switched everything element uranium may be war. cancer of the bladder, he Dr. Szilard was born in Many other scientists con­ months ago and moved _to : off and went home. That Budapest, Hungary, and be­ tmned into a new andr project at the University of vetoed his doctors' decision night I knew the world was sidered his warnings extreme La Jolla as a resident !el-., came one of an enormously important source of energy Chicago, wheere their efforts to operate and prescribed low of the institute. headed for grief." ln the immediate future. and his solution bizarre, but X-ray treatment for it. He talented band of Hungarian Dr. Szilard was not swayed by His most recent work was Then Dr. Szilard helped Jewish scientists who left Certain aspects of the situa­ led to the development of survived the cancer. the crowd. One of hi'.!~ pithy a paper "Qn Memory and·. guide the world into the their native land to pursue tion which has arisen seem the atomic bomb. Dr. Szllard became an Recall," resulting from his · atomic age with its grief and to call for watchfulness and, comments concerned demo­ American citizen In 1943 and their studies in the great Even before the first two cracy and education: theoretical work on opera­ terror, but always trying to if necessary, quick action on atomic bombs were used, Dr. was appointed professor of turn the awesome nuclear German uniwrsities. They in­ tion of the central nervous ' cluded the late physicists Dr. tJhe part of the Administra­ Szilard was urging interna­ OUTSPOKEN biophysics at the University system. It is to be published ' discove ry into a promise of tion. I believe therefore that tional control of the new en­ of hicago in 1946. He took a in three parts __in The Pro- ' a richer and better era. Theodore von Karman and Dr. John von Neumann; Dr. it is my duty to bring to ergy. In March, 1945, he "I'm all in favor of the leave from the university in ceedings of the National DEVOTED Edward Teller. father of the your attention the following wrote a memorandum to democratic principle that one 1959 to work on a public Academy of Sciences. The ~ atom bomb: Dr. Eugene P. facts and recommendations." President Roosevelt, advo­ idiot is as good as ont genius, health grant in New York first part is to appear in the Wi th a group of other sci­ Wigner. this year's Nobel A warning followed, which cating reciprocal control by but I draw the line when City. He had also held a pro­ June issue. entists, he persuaded Dr. laureate in phystcs. and Dr. sounds naive today: the United States. Russia and someone takes the next step fessorship at Brandeis Uni­ His wife, Dr. Gertrud Albert Einstein to write to Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, emi­ "This new phenomenon Great Britain. "We would and concludes that two idiots versity since W53. Weiss Szilard, was his phy­ President Franklin D. Roose­ are better than one genius.'' In April, 1960, Dr. Szilard, nent b1ologist. would also lead to the con­ then perhaps have a chance sician and attended him at velt about the possibilities of Wi•th the rise of Hitler of ljving through this century He appeared continually on Dr. Zinn and Dr. Alvin M. the time of his death. nuclear fission, expressing struction of bombs, and it they left Germany, one by ls conceivable-though much without having ouar cities the belief that it could lead to one. Dr. Szilard went to destroyed," he said. construction of bombs and less certain-that extremely England, where he began powerful bombs of a new type warning that Nazi Germany work in nuclear physics, but PERSISTENT was already working on the rna y thus be constructed." left because of the '·betrayal Dr. Szilard, Dr. Fermi and In November. 1947, he tried process. ' of Czechoslavakia" in the Later, he participated with other scientists next found to send a letter to Russian Munich Pact with Hitler. themselves working on the Premier Josef Stalin, urging "'tlj:'O:•K, :l t::'l.l'l/">lr 11~.1) ?li' ·''1M "tlll:l \1l'O '1' .m~r:: i'f!:.1 '10il M::l1:>? ••n 1":$ 11,n1~ l ,~,.,::1, 'Ni:''C'!J - ,,~~'C ,~~ mm:n 11W.'1JK ;w :-rp•o•~>? il'1:J~ 0;1l1:l 111.li1?1:ll tl1tllt 11•li:$D '11ll''i 1tt•? 66 ~ll 111.l i'll'iK 0'1'.)'::21 tl>JV'111:l .nmr11::1 ,,~ vr tl1!i'l .il"llt-'11 11'~1tlKl'l :-rrJ::l£1,, 11~NI.l ,1'1N.,O .,,o ;31 n'ltl7n;, .c'l'llv11 .c'.,P' 1942 11l~::~ tl'Kv'")...l~<~ 1?nil-z-::­ i'ltllV:l lll ll11.l? /11::1'1 tl"''l'. '1lt"K "tit iT~ 7;:, - 0"1C'll l'11'11l'1ll ·n, :n:.:!l~ '11ll'~ •tllm~ ll'li:JI.l,:J .n•1'ni'.,.,l.l n•n?l• ·::~::~ Vl1 np•o•!>.1 l'1 ·'Y"i~, i'1'11:lll'::ln .1 ';l1 I\1J.!V i"lo'il "lK tlll 1M' 1'1l('l•tlo 11:l1 .11'1:•1tlK ·:.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • I. I. Rabi Papers [Finding Aid]. Library of Congress. [PDF Rendered Tue Apr
    I. I. Rabi Papers A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 1992 Revised 2010 March Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms998009 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm89076467 Prepared by Joseph Sullivan with the assistance of Kathleen A. Kelly and John R. Monagle Collection Summary Title: I. I. Rabi Papers Span Dates: 1899-1989 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1945-1968) ID No.: MSS76467 Creator: Rabi, I. I. (Isador Isaac), 1898- Extent: 41,500 items ; 105 cartons plus 1 oversize plus 4 classified ; 42 linear feet Language: Collection material in English Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Physicist and educator. The collection documents Rabi's research in physics, particularly in the fields of radar and nuclear energy, leading to the development of lasers, atomic clocks, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to his 1944 Nobel Prize in physics; his work as a consultant to the atomic bomb project at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and as an advisor on science policy to the United States government, the United Nations, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during and after World War II; and his studies, research, and professorships in physics chiefly at Columbia University and also at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.
    [Show full text]
  • Leo Szilard in Physics and Information By
    Leo Szilard in Physics and Information by Richard L. Garwin IBM Fellow Emeritus IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 www.fas.org/RLG/ Email: [email protected] Presented in the invited APS session R17 “The Many Worlds of Leo Szilard” Savannah, Georgia April 7, 2014 at 11:21 AM _04/07/2014 Leo Szilard in Physics and Information.doc 1 Abstract: The excellent biography1 by William Lanouette, ``Genius in the Shadows,'' tells it the way it was, incredible though it may seem. The 1972 ``Collected Works of Leo Szilard: Scientific Papers,'' Bernard T. Feld and Gertrud W. Szilard, Editors, gives the source material both published and unpublished. Szilard's path-breaking but initially little-noticed 1929 paper, ``On the Decrease of Entropy in a Thermodynamic System by the Intervention of Intelligent Beings'' spawned much subsequent research. It connected what we now call a bit of information with a quantity k ln 2 of entropy, and showed that the process of acquiring, exploiting, and resetting this information in a one-molecule engine must dissipate at least kT ln 2 of energy at temperature T. His 1925 paper, ``On the Extension of Phenomenological Thermodynamics to Fluctuation Phenomena,'' showed that fluctuations were consistent with and predicted from equilibrium thermodynamics and did not depend on atomistic theories. His work on physics and technology, demonstrated an astonishing range of interest, ingenuity, foresight, and practical sense. I illustrate this with several of his fundamental contributions to nuclear physics, to the neutron chain reaction and to nuclear reactors, and also to electromagnetic pumping of liquid metals.
    [Show full text]
  • EUGENE PAUL WIGNER November 17, 1902–January 1, 1995
    NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES E U G ENE PAUL WI G NER 1902—1995 A Biographical Memoir by FR E D E R I C K S E I T Z , E RICH V OG T , A N D AL V I N M. W E I NBER G Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoir COPYRIGHT 1998 NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS WASHINGTON D.C. Courtesy of Atoms for Peace Awards, Inc. EUGENE PAUL WIGNER November 17, 1902–January 1, 1995 BY FREDERICK SEITZ, ERICH VOGT, AND ALVIN M. WEINBERG UGENE WIGNER WAS A towering leader of modern physics Efor more than half of the twentieth century. While his greatest renown was associated with the introduction of sym- metry theory to quantum physics and chemistry, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for 1963, his scientific work encompassed an astonishing breadth of sci- ence, perhaps unparalleled during his time. In preparing this memoir, we have the impression we are attempting to record the monumental achievements of half a dozen scientists. There is the Wigner who demonstrated that symmetry principles are of great importance in quan- tum mechanics; who pioneered the application of quantum mechanics in the fields of chemical kinetics and the theory of solids; who was the first nuclear engineer; who formu- lated many of the most basic ideas in nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry; who was the prophet of quantum chaos; who served as a mathematician and philosopher of science; and the Wigner who was the supervisor and mentor of more than forty Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Gregg Herken Papers, Circa 1980-1990
    Gregg Herken Papers, circa 1980-1990 Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Institution Archives Washington, D.C. Contact us at [email protected] Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Descriptive Entry.............................................................................................................. 1 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 1 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 3 Gregg Herken Papers https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_252109 Collection Overview Repository: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C., [email protected] Title: Gregg Herken Papers Identifier: Accession 96-060 Date: circa 1980-1990 Extent: 2 cu. ft. (2 record storage boxes) Creator:: Herken, Gregg, 1947- Language: Language of Materials: English Administrative Information Prefered Citation Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 96-060, Gregg Herken Papers Access Restriction Donor permission required, Transferring office; 2/8/1996 Agreement of Transfer; Contact reference staff for details. Descriptive Entry This accession consists personal papers created by military historian Gregg Herken, Chairman of
    [Show full text]
  • PERSPECTIVES in AMERICAN HISTORY by Leo Szilard Edited By
    OFFPRINT FROM PERSPECTIVES IN AMERICAN HISTORY VOLUME II • 1968 Reminiscences by Leo Szilard edited by Gertrud Weiss Szilard and Kathleen R. Windsor REMINISCENCES* by LEO SZILARD edited by Gertrud Weiss Szilard and Kathleen R. Winsor [EDITORs' NOTE: Leo Szilard at various times considered writing his own biography, but he never did. He had a sense of history, however, and care­ fully preserved, in folde~s marked "History," all correspondence and other documents which he thought to be of historical signiftcance. In 1951, when he seriously contemplated writing the history of the Manhattan Project, he organized the pertinent documents into ten folders, by different topics and time periods. The documents which are appended here come largely from this collection which Szilard selected himself. He also drafted an outline for his memoirs. During a period of serious illness in 1960, which kept him in the hospital for a year, he used a tape recorder-which had been put into his sick room for the purpose of an oral history project-to dictate instead the first draft of The Voice of the Dolphins and Other Stories (New York, 1961), a whimsical history of the future twenty-five years, which seemed vastly more important to him than the history of the past quarter century. However, at times he enjoyed giving interviews to interested visitors. On a few such occasions his wife switched on his tape recorder. What follows is an exact transcription of parts of these tapes, with editing limited to the minimum necessary to change spoken to written English. These highly personal, pungent, and incisive comments by a leading par­ ticipant in three great episodes in recent American history-the migration of intellectuals from Hitler's Europe to America; the development of a nuclear chain reaction; and the effort to prevent the use of atomic bombs and to estab­ lish civilian control of atomic energy-are published here by courtesy of Mrs.
    [Show full text]
  • The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner
    The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner as told to Andrew Szanton The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner as told to Andrew Szanton Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Llbrary of Congress Cataloglng-ln-Publlcatlon Data Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902- The reeolleetlons of Eugene P. Wigner as told to Andrew Szanton I Andrew Szanton. p. eil. Ineludes blbllographleal re fe rene es and Index. I. Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902- 2. Physlelsts--Unlted States- -Slography. 1. Szanton, Andrew. 11. Tltls. QC16.W55 1992 530 ' • 92--d e20 [sI 92-17040 CIP ISBN 978-0-306-44326-8 ISBN 978-1-4899-6313-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-6313-0 © 1992 Andrew Szanton Originally published by Plenum Press in 1992. Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1992 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, rnicrofilrning, recording, or otherwise, without written perrnission from the Publisher q-~tkJod d-fi'~~J~ rz first met Dr. Eugene Wigner while working on an oral J history project at the Smithsonian Institution in Wash­ ington, D.C. Funded by the Sloan Foundation, the Smithson­ ian's Museum of American History was building a video ar­ chive of the personal recollections of those who had worked on the Manhattan Project during the Second World War, building the world's first atomic bomb. I was introduced to Dr. Wigner at a Smithsonian panel in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A few months later, I spent two days in Princeton, New Jersey, and interviewed hirn twice, at length.
    [Show full text]
  • 75 YEARS Trinity Test the Dawn of America’S Scientific Innovation CONTENTS
    75 YEARS Trinity Test The Dawn of America’s Scientific Innovation CONTENTS 1 THE MANHATTAN PROJECT ........ 4 2 TRINITY TEST - JULY 16, 1945 ...... 6 3 1940s .............................................. 10 4 1950s ..........................................12 5 1960s ..........................................14 1970s ..........................................16 Beyond the advances in nuclear physics 6 and chemistry that made the “ 7 1980s ..........................................18 “ first functional atomic device possible, Trinity was arguably the greatest 1990s ..........................................20 scientific experiment ever conducted. 8 9 2000s ..........................................22 Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty U.S. Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration 10 2010s ..........................................24 11 2020 and FORWARD ..................... 26 1 Manhattan Project: The Origin of the Trinity Test In the 1920s-1930s, a young Hungarian-German physicist Roosevelt responded by launching The Manhattan Project, Leo Szilard led the field of nuclear research, submitting a nationwide network of laboratories and manufacturing patents for a linear accelerator (1928) and cyclotron (1929), facilities designed to collaboratively assist in the before collaborating with Albert Einstein to develop the manufacture of a new atomic weapon. Einstein refrigerator. But when Hitler came into power in 1933, Szilard fled to England, encouraging his friends and family to do the same. In England, he first described the nuclear chain reaction (1933) and patented an early design for a nuclear fission reactor (1934). In 1938, Szilard joined Einstein in the United States, but the rumor that a group of Berlin chemists had split the uranium atom made them so concerned that in 1939, they sent an urgent letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, warning him that that Axis scientists were working to turn new nuclear discoveries into a superweapon.
    [Show full text]
  • Manhattan Project
    The Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project Physics in America: Although Germany, England, and Denmark were the biggest centers of physics research for the first three decades of the 20 th century, the United States’ physics program expanded rapidly beginning in the 1920s. As industry grew and demand for technically-educated professionals increased, more and more young people received undergraduate and graduate degrees. Philanthropic organizations (especially the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations), a uniquely American phenomenon, funded young students’ research and allowed them to visit the famous laboratories of Europe. On the other hand, European physicists increasingly visited the United States on lecture tours, to see the products of American research, or to take positions at one of the country’s many universities (European universities typically had small physics departments and few opportunities for new professors). These Europeans were struck by the vitality of the young American program and the cultural differences between the continents: American physicists tended to be more focused on industry and applied science, and were comfortable interacting with the media or commercializing their work; on the other hand, American research teams were less hierarchical and tended to ignore conventional boundaries between disciplines. The philosophical questions introduced by quantum mechanics did not interest Americans, who were willing to accept the new theory’s utility and move on. A key change in the relationship between American and European physics came in early 1933, when Adolf Hitler took power in Germany. Soon afterwards, he expelled Jewish academics from German universities, immediately affecting roughly a quarter of the German theoretical physics community.
    [Show full text]
  • 70 Years of and Counting
    Federation of American Scientists 70 years of and counting Alexander DeVolpi Retired, Argonne National Laboratory Freeman Dyson Retired, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton University Charles D. Ferguson President, FAS Richard L. Garwin IBM Fellow Emeritus, IBM Thomas J. Watson CHARLES D. FERGUSON Research Center Editor in Chief Frank von Hippel ALLISON FELDMAN Co-Director, Program on Science and Global Managing and Creative Editor Security, Princeton University ___________ Robert S. Norris Senior Fellow for Nuclear Policy, FAS B. Cameron Reed Charles A. Dana Professor of Physics, Alma FAS Public Interest Report College 1725 DeSales Street NW Megan Sethi Suite 600 U.S. Historian and Adjunct Professor, Cal Poly Washington, DC 20036 Pomona and Southern New Hampshire PHONE: 202.546.3300 University FAX: 202.675.1010 Daniel Singer EMAIL: [email protected] Of Counsel, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & The PIR welcomes letters to the editor. Letters Jacobson LLP should not exceed 300 words and may be edited Jeremy J. Stone for length and clarity. Founder, Catalytic Diplomacy ___________ Annual print subscription is $100.00. An archive of FAS Public Interest Reports is available online at: http://fas.org/publications/public-interest- reports/. Cover image: U.S. military observe the explosion during Operation Crossroads Baker, a nuclear test conducted on Bikini Atoll on July 25, 1946. Source: U.S. Department of Defense. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: REINVENTION AND RENEWAL Charles D. Ferguson………………………………………………………………………………..1 THE LEGACY OF THE FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS Megan Sethi………………………………………………………………………………………...5 SCIENTISTS AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS, 1945-2015 Robert S. Norris…………………………………………………………………..…………….....12 GOVERNMENT SECRECY AND CENSORSHIP Alexander DeVolpi……………………………………………………………………………......15 FAS HISTORY, 1961-1963 Freeman Dyson…………………………………………………………………………...………23 FAS IN THE 1960s: FORMATIVE YEARS Daniel Singer………………………………………………………………………………...……26 REVITALIZING AND LEADING FAS: 1970-2000 Jeremy J.
    [Show full text]
  • Leo Szilard Papers
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf0z09n7k3 No online items Leo Szilard Papers Mandeville Special Collections Library Mandeville Special Collections Library The UCSD Libraries 9500 Gilman Drive University of California, San Diego La Jolla, California 92093-0175 Phone: (858) 534-2533 Fax: (858) 534-5950 URL: http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/ Copyright 2005 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. Leo Szilard Papers MSS 0032 1 Descriptive Summary Creator: Szilard, Leo Title: Leo Szilard Papers, Date (inclusive): 1898-1998 Extent: 47.30 linear feet(112 archives boxes, 1 records carton, 2 card file boxes, 18 oversize folders) Abstract: Papers of a nuclear physicist, biologist, and advocate of global arms control. Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1898, Szilard moved to Berlin in 1919, where he studied engineering and physics and received his doctorate under Max von Laue at the University of Berlin. He migrated to England in 1933 where he made important discoveries relating to the nuclear chain-reaction. After moving to the United States in the late 1930s, he worked on the Manhattan Project and made significant contributions to the development of the atomic bomb. After World War II he concentrated on the field of biology and became one of the world's leading advocates of global cooperation and arms control. He was associated with many universities, including Oxford, Columbia, and Chicago. In 1951 he married Dr. Gertrude Weiss. In 1963 he became a fellow of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He died in San Diego, California, in 1964. The majority of the materials in the Szilard papers date from the late 1930s to the early 1960s -- the period following Szilard's move to the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Leo Szilard: the Conscience of a Scientist
    Leo Szilard: The Conscience ofa Scientist by Tristram Coffin PHOTOGR APH BY A RNOLD NEWMAN REPRINTED FROM THE FEBRUARY 1964 ISSUE OF HOLIDAY MAGAZINE C 1964 THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY DR. LEO SZILARD has become for many scientists and laymen a symbol of their social responsibility. At sixty-five, after brilliant careers in nuclear physics a nd several other sciences, he continues not only to apply the genius for research that first made him famous, but to express anxiety about the uses to which society puts his work. He is founder of the Council for a Liva ble World, a v enture in wedding ethical sc ience and political action. The scientist, whether he likes it or not, is the superman and the prophet of the 20th Century. He has vastly changed the world by splitting the atom, striding about the universe, conquering plagues, and growing as many as twenty six bushels of wheat to the acre. He has invaded philosophy, military strategy, govern­ ment and management. Scientists are now strewn about the Federal government as economists were during the New Deal. Ph.D.'s in science are so much in demand that a recent issue of the New York Times enticed them with nine pages of ads, nam­ ing salaries and conditions that would please a pasha. The gifts of science are not an unmitigated blessing, as even i~ practitioners admit. Antibiotics and public-health programs have so prolonged life and ~ ncreased the population that there may not be enough room or food for us all by the year 2000.
    [Show full text]
  • Preparative Scale Mass Spectrometry: a Brief History of the Calutron
    ACCOUNT AND PERSPECTIVE Preparative Scale Mass Spectrometry: A Brief History of the Calutron Alfred L. Yergey National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland, USA A. Karl Yergey Department of History, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA Calutrons were developed in the laboratory of E. O. Lawrence at the University of California at Berkeley. They were a modification of the cyclotrons he had invented and used in his Noble Prize winning investigations of the atomic nucleus. At the time their construction was undertaken, calutrons represented the only certain means of preparing enriched uranium isotopes for the construction of a fission bomb. The effort was successful enough that every atom of the 42 kg of 235U used in the first uranium bomb had passed through at least one stage of calutron separation. At peak production, the first stage separators, a tanks, yielded an aggregate 258-g/d 235U enriched to about 10 at. % from its natural abundance level of 0.72 at. %. The second stage separators, b tanks, used the 10 at. % material as feedstock and produced a total 204-g/d 235U enriched to at least 80 at. %. The latter, weapons grade, material was used in fission bombs. Under typical operating conditions, each a tank operated at a uranium beam intensity at the collectors of approximately 20 mA and each b tank at a beam intensity of approximately 215 mA at the collectors. Bulk separation of isotopes for bomb production ceased in 1945. Since that time calutrons have been used to separate stable isotopes, but on a more limited scale than wartime weapons production.
    [Show full text]