Hans Albrecht Bethe
At a glance:
- Series: Dictionary of World Biography: Twentieth Century
- Categories: Social Issues, Reform, and Protest, Science
- Subcategories: Scientists, Physics, Physicists, Nuclear Weapons, Power, Radiation
- Curriculum: 20th & 21st Century European History, German History
Article abstract: Bethe’s work in theoretical nuclear physics explained how stars converted mass to energy and broadened the scientific understanding of subatomic events. Long an influential advocate for restraint in the proliferation of nuclear weapons, he laid the theoretical groundwork for the explosion of the first atom bomb.
Early Life
Hans Albrecht Bethe was the only child of Albrecht Theodore Julius Bethe, an eminent German physiologist, and Anna (Kuhn) Bethe, a musician and playwright. Hans came from a long line of university professors; his...
[The entire page is 2691 words long]
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