Philip Abelson

Philip Abelson
Philip Abelson
Born	April 27, 1913 Tacoma, United States
Died	August 1, 2004 (aged 91) Bethesda, United States
Nationality	American
Fields	Nuclear physics
Alma mater	Washington State University University of California, Berkeley
Known for	Discovery of neptunium, isotope separation techniques
Notable awards	Kalinga Prize (1972) National Medal of Science (1987) Public Welfare Medal (1992) Vannevar Bush Award (1996)

Philip Hauge Abelson (April 27, 1913 – August 1, 2004) was an American physicist, a scientific editor, and a science writer.

Abelson was born on April 27, 1913, in Tacoma, Washington. 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 the Physical Review in February 1939. From 1939 until 1941, he worked as an assistant physicist at the Carnegie Institution in Washington DC. 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 laureate Luis Alvarez they isolated the material, and became the co-discoverer of neptunium on 8 June 1940 with Edwin McMillan. McMillan was awarded the Nobel Prize for this discovery among other elements.

Abelson was a key contributor to the Manhattan Project during World War II, while working with the Naval Research Laboratory. Although he was not formally associated with the atom bomb project, the liquid thermal diffusion isotope separation technique that he invented at the Philadelphia Navy Yard was used in the S-50 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and proved a critical step in creating the large amount of nuclear fuel required for building atomic bombs.