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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectMax Delbrück
Dates
November 4, 1906 – March 9, 1981
Authorized Form of Name
Delbrück, Max
Additional Forms of Names
Delbrück, Max, 1906-1981
Biography
Abstract
Max Delbrück was a Professor Emeritus of Biology at the California Institute of Technology (1945-1981). Other institutional affiliations include Vanderbilt University and the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry. His research interests spanned physics and biology.
Important Dates
November 4, 1906Birth, Berlin (Germany).
1930Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen (Germany).
1930 – 1932Rockefeller Fellow, University of Copenhagen and University of Zurich.
1932 – 1937Assistant, Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry (Kaiser Wilhelm Institut fur Chemie), Berlin (Germany).
1937 – 1939Rockefeller Fellow, California Institute of Technology.
1940 – 1945Instructor in Physics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville (Tenn.).
1945 – 1981Assistant Profesor to Associate Professor (1945-1947); Professor (1947-1957); Albert Billings Ruddock Professor (1957-1976); and Emeritus Professor (1976-1981), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).
1949Member, National Academy of Sciences.
1969Awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Alfred D. Hershey and Salvador E. Luria "for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses".
March 9, 1981Death, Pasadena (Calif.).
Occupation
Biophysicist.
Places
Birth
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Advisors & Collaborators
PhD advisor at University of Copenhagen (Københavns universitet).
PhD advisor at University of Göttingen.
Hershey, A. D. (Alfred Day), 1908-
Shared the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Salvador Luria "for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses."
Luria, S. E. (Salvador Edward), 1912-1991
Shared the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with Alfred Hershey "for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses."
Advisor at Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich.
Stanley, H. Eugene (Harry Eugene), 1941-
Advised by Delbrück at University of Cologne.
Colleagues
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Tolman, Richard C. (Richard Chace), 1881-1948
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Additional
Anderson, Thomas Foxen, 1911-1991
Benzer, Seymour
Ellis, Emory L., 1906-2003
Gentner, Wolfgang, 1906-1980
Meitner, Lise, 1878-1968
Moller, C. (Christian), 1904-1980
Pauling, Linus, 1901-1994
Peierls, Rudolf E. (Rudolf Ernst), 1907-1995
Uhlenbeck, George Eugène, 1900-1988
Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002
Weizsacker, Carl Friedrich, Freiherr von, 1912-2007
Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008
Institutions
Major Positions
California Institute of Technology. Division of Biology
Rockefeller Fellow; Assistant Professor to Associate Professor; Professor; Albert Billings Ruddock Professor; Emeritus Professor.
Kaiser Wilhelm Institut fur Chemie
Assistant.
Vanderbilt University. Department of Physics and Astronomy
Instructor.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
Københavns universitet
Rockefeller Fellow.
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Member.
Universität Göttingen
Obtained PhD (Physics).
Universitat Zurich
Rockefeller Fellow.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Faust, eine Historie, 1932.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Max Delbruck papers, 1918-1997 (bulk 1930-1980).
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Subject
Christian Møller papers, 1928-1980.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
Emory L. Ellis papers, 1925-1993.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
J. Craig Venter Institute history of molecular biology collection, 1909-2000.
Archives
J. Craig Venter Institute
4120 Capricorn Lane, La Jolla, CA 92037
Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Niels Bohn Scientific correspondence [microform], 1907-1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr collection of manuscripts by other authors, 1910-1961.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
Niels Bohr scientific correspondence, 1903-1962.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
Niels Bohr scientific correspondence, supplement, 1910-1962.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
Oral history interview with Carl Friedrich Weizsacker, 1986 January 28.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with George Gamow, 1968 April 25 and 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1967 April 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1988 May 4, May 23 and November 28.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Linus Pauling, 1984 May 10.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
120 St. George St., Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A5, Canada
Oral history interview with Seymour Benzer, 1990-1991.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls, 1963 June 17 and 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Wolfgang Gentner, 1971 November 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Thomas Foxen Anderson papers, 1928-1989.
Victor Weisskopf: My life as a physicist, circa 1971.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Wolfgang Pauli letters.
Bibliothek
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
ETH Zentrum, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Published Resources
Author
Creating a physical biology : the Three-Man Paper and early molecular biology
Der Aufbau der Atomkerne : natürliche und künstliche Kernunwandlungen
Mind from matter? : an essay on evolutionary epistemology
Subject
Max Delbrück Physics Today obituary.
"Max Delbrück and the Birth of Molecular Biology," Social Research 32 (1984): 641-673
"Max Ludwig Henning Delbrück: 1906-1981", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
"The Paradox of the Phage Group: Essay Review," Journal of the History of Biology 43 (2010): 183-193
Ordinary geniuses : Max Delbrück, George Gamow, and the origins of genomics and big bang cosmology
Phage and the origins of molecular biology : [essays]
Thinking about science : Max Delbrück and the origins of molecular biology
Thinking about Science: Max Delbrück and the Origins of Molecular Biology (New York : Norton, 1988)