1898-1964

Hungarian-born American physicist and a leading contributor to the development of nuclear energy and atomic weapons. One of the first to realize the significance of nuclear fission, Szilard helped Enrico Fermi organize efforts behind the first controlled nuclear chain reaction (1942). His post-war efforts to control nuclear weapons include helping establish the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (1945) and The Council for a Livable World (1962). After World War II Szilard began research in molecular biology, working on aging and memory.