Hans Bethe

Hans Bethe
Born	Hans Albrecht Bethe (1906-07-02)July 2, 1906 Strasbourg, Germany
Died	March 6, 2005(2005-03-06) (aged 98) Ithaca, New York, United States
Residence	Germany United States
Nationality	German American
Fields	Nuclear physics
Institutions	University of Tübingen Cornell University University of Bristol University of Manchester
Alma mater	University of Frankfurt University of Munich
Doctoral advisor	Arnold Sommerfeld
Doctoral students	Baird Brandow Peter A. Carruthers Benjamin Day P. S. Epstein Ajoy Ghatak Jeffrey Goldstone John Irwin Roman Jackiw Prabahan Kabir Robert Eugene Marshak Nitya Nath John Negele Ronald Peierls R. Rajaraman Roderick V. Reid Gordon Shaw () M. K. Sundaresan David J. Thouless
Other notable students	Freeman Dyson
Known for	Nuclear physics Stellar nucleosynthesis Quantum electrodynamics Bethe–Salpeter equation Bethe-Slater curve Bethe formula Bethe–Feynman formula Bethe lattice Bethe ansatz Bethe–Weizsäcker formula Bethe–Weizsäcker process
Notable awards	1947 Henry Draper Medal 1957 ForMemRS 1959 Franklin Medal 1961 Eddington Medal 1961 Enrico Fermi Award 1963 Rumford Prize 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics 1975 Nat'l Medal of Science 1989 Lomonosov Gold Medal 1993 Oersted Medal 2001 Bruce Medal 2005 Benjamin Franklin Medal
Spouse	Rose Ewald (married in 1939; two children)
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Hans Albrecht Bethe (German: [ˈhans ˈalbʁɛçt ˈbeːtə]; July 2, 1906 – March 6, 2005) was a German and American nuclear physicist who, in addition to making important contributions to astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics and solid-state physics, won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis.

For most of his career, Bethe was a professor at Cornell University. During World War II, he was head of the Theoretical Division at the secret Los Alamos laboratory which developed the first atomic bombs. There he played a key role in calculating the critical mass of the weapons and developing the theory behind the implosion method used in both the Trinity test and the "Fat Man" weapon dropped on Nagasaki in August 1945.

After the war, Bethe also played an important role in the development of the hydrogen bomb, though he had originally joined the project with the hope of proving it could not be made. Bethe later campaigned with Albert Einstein and the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists against nuclear testing and the nuclear arms race. He helped persuade the Kennedy and Nixon administrations to sign, respectively, the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (SALT I).