JEWISH SCIENTISTS - Spotlight on Scientists Who Are Jewish by John Whiteaker

Rivka Carmi

jwhiteaker — 2021-12-22 18:39:46 UTC

Rivka Carmi is a medical geneticist, neonatologist, pediatrician, the first woman to be appointed president of an Israeli university (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), and a feminist trailblazer who broke the glass ceiling for women in academia.

Albert Einstein

2700619 — 2022-01-11 19:45:06 UTC

Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory of relativity, but he also made important contributions to the development of the theory of quantum mechanics. Relativity and quantum mechanics are together the two pillars of modern physics. His mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc², which arises from relativity theory, has been dubbed "the world's most famous equation". His work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. He received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect", a pivotal step in the development of quantum theory. His intellectual achievements and originality resulted in "Einstein" becoming synonymous with "genius".

In 1905, a year sometimes described as his annus mirabilis ('miracle year'), Einstein published four groundbreaking papers that outlined the theory of the photoelectric effect, explained Brownian motion, introduced special relativity, and demonstrated mass-energy equivalence. Einstein thought that the laws of classical mechanics could no longer be reconciled with those of the electromagnetic field, which led him to develop his special theory of relativity. He then extended the theory to gravitational fields; he published a paper on general relativity in 1916, introducing his theory of gravitation. In 1917, he applied the general theory of relativity to model the structure of the universe. He continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the thermal properties of light and the quantum theory of radiation, which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light.

However, for much of the later part of his career, he worked on two ultimately unsuccessful endeavors. First, despite his great contributions to quantum mechanics, he opposed what it evolved into, objecting that nature "does not play dice". Second, he attempted to devise a unified field theory by generalizing his geometric theory of gravitation to include electromagnetism. As a result, he became increasingly isolated from the mainstream of modern physics.

Einstein was born in the German Empire, but moved to Switzerland in 1895, forsaking his German citizenship (as a subject of the Kingdom of Württemberg) the following year. In 1897, at the age of 17, he enrolled in the mathematics and physics teaching diploma program at the Swiss Federal polytechnic school in Zürich, graduating in 1900. In 1901, he acquired Swiss citizenship, which he kept for the rest of his life, and in 1903 he secured a permanent position at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. In 1905, he was awarded a PhD by the University of Zurich. In 1914, Einstein moved to Berlin in order to join the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1917, Einstein became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics; he also became a German citizen again, this time Prussian.

In 1933, while Einstein was visiting the United States, Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. Einstein, of Jewish origin, objected to the policies of the newly elected Nazi government; he settled in the United States and became an American citizen in 1940. On the eve of World War II, he endorsed a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt alerting him to the potential German nuclear weapons program and recommending that the US begin similar research. Einstein supported the Allies but generally denounced the idea of nuclear weapons.

Gerty Theresa Cori

2700940 — 2022-01-12 15:38:22 UTC

Gerty Theresa Cori was an Austro-Hungarian-American biochemist who in 1947 was the third woman to win a Nobel Prize in science, and the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for her significant role in the "discovery of the course of the catalytic conversion of glycogen". Born: August 15, 1896 Died: October 26, 1957 Known for: Carbohydrate metabolism; The Cori cycle; Identification of Glucose 1-phosphate.

Rosalind Franklin

Kaden2700046 — 2022-01-12 19:54:37 UTC

Rosalind Franklin, in full Rosalind Elsie Franklin, (born July 25, 1920, London, England—died April 16, 1958, London), British scientist best known for her contributions to the discovery of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), a constituent of chromosomes that serves to encode genetic information. Franklin also contributed new insight on the structure of viruses, helping to lay the foundation for the field of structural virology.

Franklin attended St. Paul’s Girls’ School before studying physical chemistry at Newnham College, University of Cambridge. After graduating in 1941, she received a fellowship to conduct research in physical chemistry at Cambridge. But the advance of World War II changed her course of action: not only did she serve as a London air raid warden, but in 1942 she gave up her fellowship in order to work for the British Coal Utilisation Research Association, where she investigated the physical chemistry of carbon and coal for the war effort. Nevertheless, she was able to use this research for her doctoral thesis, and in 1945 she received a doctorate from Cambridge. From 1947 to 1950 she worked with Jacques Méring at the State Chemical Laboratory in Paris, studying X-ray diffraction technology. That work led to her research on the structural changes caused by the formation of graphite in heated carbons—work that proved valuable for the coking industry.

In 1951 Franklin joined the Biophysical Laboratory at King’s College, London, as a research fellow. There she applied X-ray diffraction methods to the study of DNA. When she began her research at King’s College, very little was known about the chemical makeup or structure of DNA. However, she soon discovered the density of DNA and, more importantly, established that the molecule existed in a helical conformation. Her work to make clearer X-ray patterns of DNA molecules laid the foundation for James Watson and Francis Crick to suggest in 1953 that the structure of DNA is a double-helix polymer, a spiral consisting of two DNA strands wound around each other.
(Source https://www.britannica.com)

Richard Feynman

27001601 — 2022-01-15 01:49:52 UTC

Richard Phillips Feynman was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as his work in particle physics for which he proposed the parton model.

Born: May 11, 1918, New York, NY

Died: February 15, 1988, Los Angeles, CA

Elie Metchnikoff

2700619 — 2022-01-18 20:43:50 UTC

Mechnikov was born in the village Ivanovka, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire, now located in Kupiansk Raion, Kharkiv Oblast in Ukraine. He was the youngest of five children of Ilya Ivanovich Mechnikov, an officer of the Imperial Guard.^[8] His mother, Emilia Lvovna (Nevakhovich), the daughter of the writer Leo Nevakhovich, largely influenced him on his education, especially in science.^[23]^[4] The Nevakhovich family was Jewish.^[8]The family name Mechnikov is a translation from Romanian, since his father was a descendant of the Chancellor Yuri Stefanovich, the grandson of Nicolae Milescu Spataru. The word "mech" is a Russian translation of the Romanian "spadă" (sword), which originated with Spătar (Sword-bearer). His elder brother Lev became a prominent geographer and sociologist.^[24]

Leo Tolstoy and Élie Metchnikoff

He entered Kharkov Lycée in 1856 where he developed his interest in biology. Convinced by his mother to study natural sciences instead of medicine, in 1862 he tried to study biology at the University of Würzburg, but the German academic session would not start by the end of the year. So he enrolled at Kharkov Imperial University for natural sciences, completing his four-year degree in two years.

In 1864, he traveled to Germany to study marine fauna on the small North Sea island of Heligoland. He was advised by the botanist Ferdinand Cohn to work with Rudolf Leuckart at the University of Giessen. It was in Leuckart's laboratory that he made his first scientific discovery of alternation of generations (sexual and asexual) in nematodes and then at Munich Academy. In 1865, while at Giessen, he discovered intracellular digestion in flatworm, and this study influenced his later works. Moving to Naples the next year he worked on a doctoral thesis on the embryonic development of the cuttle-fish Sepiola and the crustacean Nebalia. A cholera epidemic in the autumn of 1865 made him move to the University of Göttingen, where he worked briefly with W. M. Keferstein and Jakob Henle.

In 1867, he returned to Russia to get his doctorate with Alexander Kovalevsky from the University of St. Petersburg. Together they won the Karl Ernst von Baer prize for their theses on the development of germ layers in invertebrate embryos.

Career[edit]

Mechnikov was appointed docent at the newly established Imperial Novorossiya University (now Odessa University). Only twenty-two years of age, he was younger than his students. After being involved in a conflict with a senior colleague over attending scientific meetings, he transferred to the University of St. Petersburg in 1868, where he experienced a worse professional environment. In 1870 he returned to Odessa to take up the appointment of Titular Professor of Zoology and Comparative Anatomy.^[8]^[23]

In 1882 he resigned from Odessa University due to political turmoils after the assassination of Alexander II. He went to Sicily to set up his private laboratory in Messina. He returned to Odessa as director of an institute set up to carry out Louis Pasteur's vaccine against rabies; due to some difficulties, he left in 1888 and went to Paris to seek Pasteur's advice. Pasteur gave him an appointment at the Pasteur Institute, where he remained for the rest of his life.^[8]

Metchnikoff, c.1910–1915

Mechnikov became interested in the study of microbes, and especially the immune system. At Messina he discovered phagocytosis after experimenting on the larvae of starfish. In 1882 he first demonstrated the process when he inserted small citrus thorns into starfish larvae, then found unusual cells surrounding the thorns. He realized that in animals which have blood, the white blood cells gather at the site of inflammation, and he hypothesised that this could be the process by which bacteria were attacked and killed by the white blood cells. He discussed his hypothesis with Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Claus, Professor of Zoology at the University of Vienna, who suggested to him the term "phagocyte" for a cell which can surround and kill pathogens. He delivered his findings at Odessa University in 1883.^[8]

His theory, that certain white blood cells could engulf and destroy harmful bodies such as bacteria, met with scepticism from leading specialists including Louis Pasteur, Behring and others. At the time, most bacteriologists believed that white blood cells ingested pathogens and then spread them further through the body. His major supporter was Rudolf Virchow, who published his research in his Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin (now called the Virchows Archiv).^[23] His discovery of these phagocytes ultimately won him the Nobel Prize in 1908.^[9] He worked with Émile Roux on calomel (mercurous chloride) in ointment form in an attempt to prevent people from contracting the sexually transmitted disease syphilis.^[25]

In 1887, he observed that leukocytes isolated from the blood of various animals were attracted towards certain bacteria.^[26] The first studies of leukocyte killing in the presence of specific antiserum were performed by Joseph Denys and Joseph Leclef, followed by Leon Marchand and Mennes between 1895 and 1898. Almoth E. Wright was the first to quantify this phenomenon and strongly advocated its potential therapeutic importance. The so-called resolution of the humoralist and cellularist positions by showing their respective roles in the setting of enhanced killing in the presence of opsonins was popularized by Wright after 1903, although Metchnikoff acknowledged the stimulatory capacity of immunosentisitized serum on phagotic function in the case of acquired immunity.^[27]

This attraction was soon proposed to be due to soluble elements released by the bacteria^[28] (see Harris^[29] for a review of this area up to 1953). Some 85 years after this seminal observation, laboratory studies showed that these elements were low molecular weight (between 150 and 1500 Dalton (unit)s) N-formylated oligopeptides, including the most prominent member of this group, N-Formylmethionine-leucyl-phenylalanine, that are made by a variety of replicating gram positive bacteria and gram negative bacteria.^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33] Mechnikov's early observation, then, was the foundation for studies that defined a critical mechanism by which bacteria attract leukocytes to initiate and direct the innate immune response of acute inflammation to sites of host invasion by pathogens.^[^{citation needed}^]

The issues of aging occupied a significant place in Mechnikov's works.^[34] Mechnikov developed a theory that aging is caused by toxic bacteria in the gut and that lactic acid could prolong life. Based on this theory, he drank sour milk every day. He wrote The Prolongation of Life: Optimistic Studies, in which he espoused the potential life-lengthening properties of lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus).^[35]^[36] He attributed the longevity of Bulgarian peasants to their yogurt consumption.^[37] This concept of probiotics was influential in his lifetime, but became ignored until the mid-1990s when experimental evidences emerged.^[16]^[38]

Felix Bloch

27003861 — 2022-01-20 15:29:09 UTC

Born: October 13 1905 | Died: September 10 1983
Felix Bloch was a Swiss-American physicist and Nobel physics laureate who worked mainly in the U.S. He and Edward Mills Purcell were awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for "their development of new ways and methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements."

In carrying out this resonance experiment, Bloch realized that magnetic moments of nuclei in general could be measured by resonance methods. This idea led to the discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance, which Bloch originally called nuclear induction.

Otto Frisch

2700464 — 2022-01-20 16:13:17 UTC

Born: October 1, 1904
Died: September 22, 1979

Otto Robert Frisch FRS was an Austrian-born British physicist who worked on nuclear physics. With Lise Meitner he advanced the first theoretical explanation of nuclear fission and first experimentally detected the fission by-products.

Gabriel Lippmann

27006651 — 2022-01-26 17:58:19 UTC

Gabriel Lippmann was born of French parents at Hollerich, Luxembourg on August 16, 1845. The family moved to Paris and he received his early education at home. In 1858 he entered the Lycée Napoleon and ten years later he was admitted to the École Normale. His school career was not markedly successful, for he concentrated only on the work which interested him and neglected that which did not appeal to his taste, and he failed the examination which would have qualified him as a teacher. In 1873, he was appointed to a Government scientific mission visiting Germany to study methods for teaching science: he worked with Kühne and Kirchhoff in Heidelberg and with Helmholtz in Berlin. Lippmann joined the Faculty of Science in Paris in 1878 and in 1883 he was appointed Professor of Mathematical Physics. Three years later he became Professor of Experimental Physics, succeeding Jamin, and he was appointed Director of the Research Laboratory which was subsequently transferred to the Sorbonne. He retained this position until his death.

Lippmann, of original and independent mind, made many valuable fundamental contributions to many different branches of physics, especially electricity, thermodynamics, optics and photochemistry. In Heidelberg he studied the relationship between electrical and capillary phenomena: this led to the development, amongst other instruments, of his extraordinarily sensitive capillary electrometer.

Professor Lippmann had evolved the general theory of his process for the photographic reproduction of colour in 1886 but the practical execution presented great difficulties. However, after years of patient and skilful experiment, he was able to communicate the process to the Academy of Sciences in 1891, although the photographs were somewhat defective due to the varying sensitivity of the photographic film. In 1893, he was able to present to the Academy photographs taken by A. and L. Lumière in which the colours were produced with perfect ortho-chromatism. He published the complete theory in 1894.

In 1895, Lippmann evolved a method of eliminating the personal equation in measurements of time, using photographic registration, and he studied the eradication of irregularities of pendulum clocks, devising a method of comparing the times of oscillation of two pendulums of nearly equal period. He contributed to astronomy with his invention of the coelostat, a device which immobilizes the image of a star and its surrounding stars so that a photograph may be taken. He was also responsible for many more ingenious devices and improvements to standard instruments to the benefit of many branches of physics.

His work is mainly recorded in communications to the Paris Academy of Sciences where his papers are noted for their conciseness and originality. His method of reproducing colours in photography, based on the interference phenomenon, gained him the Nobel Prize for Physics for 1908.

Professor Lippmann became a member of the Academy of Sciences in 1886 and served as its President in 1912. He was a member of the Board of the Bureau des Longitudes and a Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London.

In 1888 Lippmann married the daughter of the writer V. Cherbuliez, member of the French Academy.

He died at sea on July 13, 1921, during his return from a journey to North America as a member of a mission headed by Marshal Fayolle. Thank you so much to nobelprize.org for this info!

Rita Levi-Montalcini

jwhiteaker — 2022-01-31 17:53:13 UTC

Rita Levi-Montalcini - Italian; (22 April 1909 – 30 December 2012) was an Italian Nobel laureate, honored for her work in neurobiology. She was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with colleague Stanley Cohen for the discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF). From 2001 until her death, she also served in the Italian Senate as a Senator for Life. This honor was given due to her significant scientific contributions. On 22 April 2009, she became the first Nobel laureate to reach the age of 100

James Franck

27006441 — 2022-01-31 18:22:04 UTC

Born: 26 August 1882, Hamburg, German Empire
Died: 21 May 1964 (aged 81) Göttingen, West Germany

was a German physicist who won the 1925 Nobel Prize for Physics with Gustav Hertz "for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom".^[1] He completed his doctorate in 1906 and his habilitation in 1911 at the Frederick William University in Berlin, where he lectured and taught until 1918, having reached the position of professor extraordinarius. He served as a volunteer in the German Army during World War I. He was seriously injured in 1917 in a gas attack and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class.

Franck became the Head of the Physics Division of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft for Physical Chemistry. In 1920, Franck became a Director of the Second Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Göttingen and professor ordinarius of experimental physics. While there he worked on quantum physics with Max Born, who was Director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics. His work included the Franck–Hertz experiment, an important confirmation of the Bohr model of the atom. He promoted the careers of women in physics, notably Hertha Sponer, Lise Meitner and Hilde Levi.

After the xxxx Party came to power in Germany in 1933, Franck resigned his post in protest against the dismissal of fellow academics. He assisted Frederick Lindemann in helping dismissed Jewish scientists find work overseas, before he left Germany in November 1933. Franck moved to the United States after a year at the Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, where he worked at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and then the University of Chicago. During this period he became interested in photosynthesis.

As Director of the Chemistry Division of the Metallurgical Laboratory, Franck participated in the Manhattan Project during World War II. He was also the chairman of the Committee on Political and Social Problems regarding the atomic bomb, which is best known for the compilation of the Franck Report, which recommended that the atomic bombs not be used on the Japanese cities without warning.

Jonas Salk

2022-02-01 17:58:47 UTC

Jonas Edward Salk (/sɔːlk/; born Jonas Salk; October 28, 1914 – June 23, 1995) was an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. He was born in New York City and attended the City College of New York and New York University School of Medicine.^[2]

In 1947, Salk accepted a professorship in the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. It was there that he undertook a project to determine the number of different types of poliovirus, starting in 1948. For the next seven years, Salk devoted himself towards developing a vaccine against polio.

Salk was immediately hailed as a "miracle worker" when the vaccine's success was first made public in April 1955, and chose to not patent the vaccine or seek any profit from it in order to maximize its global distribution.^[2] The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and the University of Pittsburgh looked into patenting the vaccine but, since Salk's techniques were not novel, their patent attorney said "If there were any patentable novelty to be found in this phase it would lie within an extremely narrow scope and would be of doubtful value."^[3]^[4] An immediate rush to vaccinate began in both the United States and around the world. Many countries began polio immunization campaigns using Salk's vaccine, including Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, West Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium. By 1959, the Salk vaccine had reached about 90 countries.^[5] An attenuated live oral polio vaccine was developed by Albert Sabin, coming into commercial use in 1961. Less than 25 years after the release of Salk's vaccine, domestic transmission of polio had been eliminated in the United States.

In 1963, Salk founded the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, which is today a center for medical and scientific research. He continued to conduct research and publish books in his later years, focusing in his last years on the search for a vaccine against HIV. Salk also campaigned vigorously for mandatory vaccination throughout the rest of his life, calling the universal vaccination of children against disease a "moral commitment".^[6] Salk's personal papers are today stored in Geisel Library at the University of California, San Diego.^[7]^[8]

His life’s philosophy is memorialized at the Institute with his now famous quote: “Hope lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk

Nieis bohr

2025-01-08 14:47:40 UTC

Niels Henrik David Bohr, born on October 7, 1885, in Copenhagen, Denmark, was destined to make significant contributions to the world of science. His early life was influenced by his father, Christian Bohr, a renowned physiologist. Growing up in an intellectually stimulating environment, Niels developed a keen interest in the sciences, which would shape his future career.

Bohr pursued his education at the University of Copenhagen, where he earned his doctorate in 1911. His academic journey was marked by a passion for understanding the fundamental principles of physics. During this time, the field of atomic physics was rapidly evolving, and Bohr was keen to make his mark.

In 1913, Bohr introduced his revolutionary model of the atom. This model proposed that electrons orbit the nucleus in discrete energy levels, much like planets orbiting the sun. This idea explained why atoms emit and absorb light at specific wavelengths, providing a clearer understanding of atomic structure. Bohr's model was a significant advancement in atomic physics and set the stage for future discoveries.

Bohr's groundbreaking work on atomic structure earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. However, his contributions did not stop there. Bohr continued to explore the complexities of quantum mechanics, developing the principle of complementarity. This principle posits that objects can exhibit dual natures, such as being both a wave and a particle, and that these aspects are complementary rather than contradictory. This idea was revolutionary and has had a lasting impact on the field of physics.

In 1920, Bohr founded the Institute of Theoretical Physics in Copenhagen. The institute quickly became a hub for leading physicists from around the world, who came to collaborate and share ideas. Bohr's leadership and vision helped establish the institute as a center of excellence in the field of quantum mechanics.

During World War II, Bohr's life took a dramatic turn. With Denmark under Nazi occupation, Bohr was forced to flee to save himself and his family. His escape to Sweden and eventual journey to the United States were perilous, but Bohr's determination ensured his safety. Once in the U.S., Bohr joined the Manhattan Project, contributing to the development of atomic bombs.

Despite his involvement in the Manhattan Project, Bohr was deeply concerned about the ethical implications of atomic weapons. He used his influence to advocate for the peaceful use of atomic energy and to promote international cooperation in scientific research. Bohr's commitment to these causes underscored his belief in the importance of science serving humanity's greater good.

After the war, Bohr continued to work tirelessly, promoting scientific collaboration and the peaceful application of atomic energy. He remained an influential figure in the scientific community, mentoring young physicists and fostering a spirit of inquiry and innovation. Bohr's legacy extended beyond his scientific achievements; he was also a champion of ethical considerations in science.

Bohr's contributions to quantum mechanics and atomic theory have left a lasting impact on the field of physics. His ideas about atomic structure and complementarity continue to shape our understanding of the subatomic world. Bohr's work laid the foundation for many of the advancements in quantum mechanics that followed.

In recognition of his profound influence, element number 107, bohrium, was named in his honor. This tribute highlights the lasting legacy of Niels Bohr and his contributions to science. His work continues to inspire physicists and researchers around the world.

Niels Bohr passed away on November 18, 1962, but his legacy lives on. He is remembered as a pioneering scientist, a mentor to many, and an advocate for the ethical application of scientific knowledge. Bohr's life and work exemplify the pursuit of knowledge and the impact that one individual can have on the world. And in the picture he is the one on the left and Albert Einstein is the one on the right

Albert Einstein

2026-01-06 16:11:23 UTC