Joseph Rotblat

Joseph Rotblat
Los Alamos badge photograph, 1944
Born
Józef Rotblat

(1908-11-04)4 November 1908
Died31 August 2005(2005-08-31) (aged 96)
London, United Kingdom
NationalityPolish-British
Alma mater
Known for
SpouseTola Gryn
Awards
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
Institutions
ThesisDetermination of a number of neutrons emitted from a source (1950)
Doctoral advisorJames Chadwick

Sir Joseph Rotblat KCMG CBE FRS (4 November 1908 – 31 August 2005) was a Polish and British physicist.[2] During World War II he worked on Tube Alloys and the Manhattan Project, but left the Los Alamos Laboratory on grounds of conscience after it became clear to him in 1944 that Germany had ceased development of an atomic bomb.

His work on nuclear fallout was a major contribution toward the ratification of the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. A signatory of the 1955 Russell–Einstein Manifesto, he was secretary-general of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs from their founding until 1973 and shared, with the Pugwash Conferences, the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize "for efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international affairs and, in the longer run, to eliminate such arms."[3]

  1. ^ "Joseph Rotblat". Great Lives. Series 26. Episode 6. 13 January 2012. BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Manhattan Project: People > Scientists > JOSEPH ROTBLAT". www.osti.gov. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nobel Prize was invoked but never defined (see the help page).