Joseph Rotblat biography

Synopsis

Joseph Rotblat was born November 4, 1908 in Warsaw, Poland. He participated in the U.S. atomic bomb project. After the war, he devoted himself to the peaceful application of nuclear physics. In 1955 he joined a group of scientists arguing for an end to nuclear weapons, and helped to found the annual series of conferences on arms control. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.

Profile

Physicist and anti-nuclear weapons activist, born in Warsaw, Poland. Educated in Poland, he moved to Liverpool University in 1939, then participated in the atomic bomb project in the USA. After the war, he became a British citizen, working first at Liverpool (1945–9) then at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London (1950–76), and devoted himself to the peaceful application of nuclear physics, chiefly in relation to medicine. In 1955 he joined a group of scientists arguing for an end to nuclear weapons, and helped to found the annual series of conferences on arms control in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, in 1957 (the Pugwash Conferences), acting first as secretary-general (1957–73) and later as president (from 1988). His books include Science and World Affairs (1962), Scientists in the Quest for Peace (1972), and A World at the Crossroads (1994). He received the Nobel Peace Prize, along with the Conferences, in 1995.