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Uncle Phil and the Atomic Bomb
John Abelson
California Institute of Technology
Philip H Abelson
152 pages
Publisher:
Roberts & Company, USA
The history of the Manhattan project and its successful creation of the atomic bomb during World War II has been well documented. It is not well known, however, that a separate and crucial part of this project was carried out by the US Navy at its Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC. This project, led by the young physicist, Philip Abelson, devised a novel liquid thermal diffusion process for separating the fissionable 235U from 238U. Eventually this process was employed at Oak Ridge and significantly contributed to the construction of the uranium bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.
Most of the biography is from an unpublished autobiographical sketch written by Philip Abselon 20 years ago. Throughout the book, John Abselon stitches the story together with his own insights into his uncle's life, as well as providing the historical backdrop of what was happening at the time. This is the riveting, untold story of a determined, brilliant and highly creative scientist working against the odds at a crucial time in history.
Preface
An Immigrant Family Succeeds in the New World
Riding the Rails
A Start in Physics
With Lawrence at Berkeley: The Discovery of Nuclear Fission
The First Artificial Element
A Manhattan Project of His Own
The Forgotten Father of the Atomic Submarine
New Directions
Epilogue
Bibiography
John Abelson is George Beadle Professor of Biology Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology. Dr Abelson is one of the major figures in the area of gene expression. His work has made possible an understanding of how the products of genes, RNA precursors, are matured to give their functional products. He is also the President and Executive Director of the Agouron Institute, a charitable research organisation that supports new research frontiers and technologies in biology and geology.
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