Philip hauge abelson biography definition

American physicist and scientific editor (1913–2004)

Philip Hauge Abelson (April 27, 1913 – August 1, 2004) was an American physicist, scientific editor and science writer. Trained as a nuclear physicist, he co-discovered the element neptunium, worked on isotope separation in the Manhattan Project, and wrote the first study of nuclear marine propulsion for submarines. He later worked on a broad range of scientific topics and related public policy, including organic geochemistry, paleobiology and energy policy.

Abelson served as editor-in-chief of the journal Science from 1962–84, president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington from 1971–78, and president of the American Geophysical Union from 1972-74. His frequent editorials in Science, both during and after his term as editor, became known for their strident and thought-provoking views. A collection of 100 of his editorials was published as a book, entitled Enough of Pessimism. He may have been the original source of the phrase 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence'.

Life

Abelson was born on April 27, 1913, in Tacoma, Washington, to Norwegian immigrant parents. He attended Washington State University, where he received degrees in chemistry and physics, and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), where he earned his PhD in nuclear physics. As a young physicist, he worked for Ernest Lawrence at the UC Berkeley. He was among the first American scientists to verify nuclear fission in an article submitted to Physical Review in February 1939. From 1939 until 1941, he worked as an assistant physicist at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C. It was while he was here that he worked on a substance that emitted beta rays and was produced by irradiation of uranium with neutrons. After he collaborated with the Nobel Prize laureateLuis Alvarez they isolated the material, and became the co-discoverer of neptunium

Subseries 1.1: Publications and speeches, 1937-1984

Publications

1937-1940

1946-1950

1952-1953

1954-1955

1956-1957

1958-1959

1960-1961

1962

1963

1964

1965

1966

1967

1968 (including unpublished item: "Keynote Address: The Future of Science and Its Effects on Society")

1969

1970 (including unpublished item: "Toward a More Livable Environment," address presented upon receipt of the third Mellon Institute Award, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1970 April 10)

1971

1972 (including unpublished item: "Science in the Seventies," address delivered at Carnegie Institution, Washington, D.C., 1972 May 4)

1973 (including unpublished item;"The Emerging Energy Crisis," address delivered at Dickinson College Joseph Priestley Celebration, Carlisle, PA, 1973 March 9)

1974

Publications

Speeches, including unpublished items: "William Walden Rubey," remarks at the Memorial Service held at the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 1974 April 27; also "Energy for Tomorrow," Jessie and John Danz Lecture Series, University of Washington, Seattle, 1974 November 19, 20, 21 [note: later published as Philip H. Abelson, Energy for Tomorrow (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1975)]

1975

1976

1977

1978 (including unpublished item: "Opportunities for Scientists and Engineers," commencement address at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 1978 May 23)

Science editorials and speeches

1979 (including unpublished items: "Industrial Research," abstract of address before Iowa Academy of Science, 1979 April 20; "New Directions in Toxicology," remark

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born April 27, 1913, in Tacoma, WA; died of pneumonia, August 1, 2004, in Bethesda, MD. Physicist, chemist, engineer, biologist, editor, and author. The multitalented Abelson was a revered scientist whose work led to several important advancements and discoveries, including key research that led to the development of the atomic bomb and the first nuclear submarine, the discovery of the element neptunium, and important research on the bacterium E. coli that was instrumental in furthering the science of genetic engineering. Graduating from what is now Washington State University with a B.S. in chemistry in 1933 and an M.S. in physics in 1935, he then earned his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1939. After a year's stint at the Carnegie Institution as a research scientist, Abelson worked at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., during the early 1940s. Here he discovered how to separate isotopes from uranium in a process that was used by the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. His interest in nuclear physics then combined with a talent for engineering as he devised a way to marry nuclear power to propulsion systems that led to the creation of the first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus. Abelson then returned to the Carnegie Institution, where he was chair of biophysics at the department of terrestrial magnetism from 1946 to 1953. While there, he researched the bacteria E. coli, a common organism about which little was known at the time. He literally cowrote the book on the subject, Studies of Biosynthesis in Escherichia Coli (1955). This research later helped genetic scientists tremendously. Meanwhile, Abelson also proved he could assist paleontologists by discovering how amino acids in fossils could survive for millions of years, thus providing scientists with a key tool for analyzing fossil remains. Abelson remained at C

Summary Information

Repository

Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections

Creator

Abelson, Philip Hauge

Title

Philip Hauge Abelson Papers

ID

Cage 741

Date [inclusive]

1937-1989

Date [bulk]

1962-1984

Extent

2 Linear Feet of Shelf Space, 4 boxes

Language

Collection materials are in

Abstract

The Philip H. Abelson papers offer a glimpse into the long and distinguished career of a research scientist and scientific editor. This collection includes publications by Abelson (some reprints and reproductions), notes, newspaper clippings, correspondence, speeches, and an interview transcript.

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Biography/History

Philip Hauge Abelson (1913-2004) was born in Tacoma, WA, to Ellen and Olaf Abelson. Both Ellen and Olaf had attended Washington State College, where Philip Abelson earned his bachelor's (chemistry) and master's (physics) degrees, and also met his wife Neva Martin, a fellow chemistry student. They married in 1936, while Abelson was completing his doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley, Abelson worked with pioneering nuclear scientists Ernest O. Livermore, Edwin McMillan, and Luis Alvarez, all eventual Nobel Prize winners. Abelson and McMillan co-discovered the element neptunium in 1940.

Earning his Ph.D. in 1939, Abelson spent the war years at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C., where he continued his nuclear research and developed the thermal diffusion process for separation of the fissionable Uranium-235 from U-238. Abelson's process, employed at the Oak Ridge laboratory, provided a breakthrough in the Manhattan Project and the eventual deployment of the uranium bomb. He also pursued re