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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectPhilip Hauge Abelson
Dates
April 27, 1913 – August 1, 2004
Authorized Form of Name
Abelson, Philip Hauge
Additional Forms of Names
Abelson, Philip H.
Abelson, Philip Hauge, 1913-2004
Biography
Abstract
Philip Abelson spent most of his career at Carnegie Institution of Washington, moving from Assistant Physicist (1939), Director of the Geophysical Lab to President (1971-1978).
Important Dates
April 27, 1913Birth, Tacoma (Wash.).
1933Obtained B.S., Washington State University, Pullman (Wash.).
1935Obtained M.S. in Physics, Washington State University, Pullman (Wash.).
1939Obtained PhD in nuclear physics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley (Calif.).
1939 – 1941Assistant Physicist (1939-1941), Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington (D.C.).
1941 – 1946Associate Physicist (1941-1942), Physicist (1942-1945), Senior Physicist (1944-1945), Principal Physicist (1945-1946), Naval Research Laboratory, United States Navy, Washington (D.C.).
1944 – 1945Civilian-In-Charge, Navy Yard Branch, Philadelphia, Naval Research Laboratory, United States Navy.
1946 – 1978Chair of Biophysics Section, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (1946-1953); Director of Geophysical Laboratory (1953-1971); and President (1971-1978), Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington (D.C.).
1949 – 1957Chair of Committee on Radiation Cataracts, National Research Council, Washington (D.C.).
1950 – 1953Chair, Subcommittee on Shock, National Research Council.
1956 – 1959Member, Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry Study Section, National Institutes of Health.
1958 – 1960Member, Physical Biology Training Grants Committee, National Institutes of Health.
1959Elected member, National Academy of Sciences.
1959 – 1963Member, Plowshare Advisory Committee, United States Atomic Energy Commission.
1959 – 1965Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research, Washington (D.C.).
1960 – 1963Member, General Advisory Committee, United States Atomic Energy Commission.
1960 – 1963 Scientific Councilor, National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases.
1962 – 1984Editor, Science, Washington (D.C.).
1968 – 1971Member, Council, National Academy of Sciences.
1972Awarded Kalinga Prize, UNESCO.
1972President, Cosmos Club.
1972 – 1974President, American Geophysical Union (AGU).
1974 – 1975Acting Executive Director, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
1974 – 1984Member, Board of Directors, Washington Gas Light Company, Washington (D.C.).
1978 – 1981Member, Council, National Academy of Sciences.
1985 – 1987Natural Science Fellow, Resources for the Future.
1987National Medal of Science Physical Sciences Laureate.
August 1, 2004Death, Bethesda (Md.).
Occupation
Physicist and science writer.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Family
Cherniavsky, E. A.
Daughter.
Martin, Neva
Wife, married in 1936.
Advisors & Collaborators
Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958
PhD advisor at University of California, Berkeley, "An investigation of the products of the disintegration of uranium by neutrons."
McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-
Co-discoverer of Neptunium.
Colleagues
Both employed at Carnegie Institition of Washington.
Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Vestine, E. H. (Ernest Harry), 1906-1968
Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Both employed at Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Additional
Babcock, Horace W.
Groueff, Stephane
Larson, Clarence E. (Clarence Edward), 1909-
MacDonald, Gordon J. (Gordon James), 1929-2002
McCrea, William Hunter
Newell, Homer E. (Homer Edward), 1915-1983
Institutions
Major Positions
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Assistant Physicist and President.
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
Chair, Biophysics Section.
Carnegie Institution of Washington. Geophysical Laboratory
Director.
Naval Research Laboratory (U.S.)
Associate Physicist; Physicist; Senior Physicist; Principal Physicist; and Civilian-In-Charge, Navy Yard Branch (Philadelphia).
Professional Activities & Affiliations
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Editor of "Science" who transformed it into the journal it is today and acting Executive Officer.
American Geophysical Union
President and editor of Journal of Geophysical Research.
Cosmos Club (Washington, D.C.)
President.
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Member, Council.
National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases (U.S.)
Scientific Councilor.
National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
Member, Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry Study Section and Member of Physical Biology Training Grants Committee.
National Research Council (U.S.)
Chair, Committee on Radiation Cataracts and Chair, Subcommittee on Shock.
Resources for the Future
Natural Science Fellow.
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
Member, Plowshare Advisory Committee and member of General Advisory Committee.
United States. National Bureau of Standards
University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics
Obtained PhD in nuclear physics.
Washington Gas Light Company
Member, Board of Directors.
Washington State University. Department of Chemistry
Obtained B.S.
Washington State University. Department of Physics
Obtained M.S.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Carnegie Institution of Washington archives, 1900-1990.
Library
Carnegie Institution of Washington
1530 P Street NW, Washington, D C 20005, USA
Clarence E. Larson science and technology oral history collection, 1983-1993.
Special Collections & Archives
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444, USA
Oral History interview with Philip Hauge Abelson, 2002 June 19, 26 and July 3.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Philip Abelson papers, 1939-2000.
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress
James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA
Philip H. Abelson autobiography, undated.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Proceedings [sound recording]: papers presented at the Enrico Fermi and the beginnings of nuclear fission Centennial Conference. 2001 November 15 and 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Responses to History of Geophysics Survey, 1997.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Science files and back issues, 1880-2005.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
1200 New York Avenue Northwest Washington, DC 20005, USA
Subject
Oral history interview with Gordon J. MacDonald, 1993 November 15, 1994 March 18 and 1995 August 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Homer Edward Newell, 1980 July 17 and October 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Horace W. Babcock, 1977, July 25.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Luis Alvarez, 1967 February 14 and 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Norman Ramsey, 1978 December 19, 1979 January 5 and 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with William Hunter McCrea, 1978 September 22.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Stephane Groueff papers, 1955-1975.
Mugar Library Special Collections
Boston University
771 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Vannevar Bush papers, 1921-1974.
Institute Archives and Special Collections
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Published Resources
Author
Uncle Phil and the atomic bomb.