Post by Physics Archives

Today marks the 120th birthday of renowned theoretical physicist 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦, born on July 2, 1906, in Strasbourg. He made monumental contributions to nuclear physics, astrophysics, quantum electrodynamics and solid-state physics, and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967 for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis — explaining how stars generate energy through fusion. During World War II, he headed the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos as part of the Manhattan Project. After the war, he became a leading voice for nuclear arms control and the responsible use of science. Bethe kept publishing important research well into his nineties, a career spanning nearly seven decades. He died in 2005 at age 98. Physicist Freeman Dyson, once his doctoral student, called him "𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮-𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 20𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺."