George B. Kistiakowsky

Biography

Abstract

George Kistiakowsky was Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University (1937-1971). Other institutional affiliations include Princeton University, Los Alamos Laboratory, and the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC). His research interests include thermodynamics, spectroscopy, and chemical kinetics.

Important Dates

November 18, 1900Birth, Kiev (Ukraine).

1925Obtained Dphil in Chemistry, University of Berlin, Berlin (Germany).

1926 – 1930International Education Board Fellow in Physical Chemistry (1926-1928) and Research Associate (1928-1930), Princeton University.

1930 – 1982Assistant to Associate Professor (1930-1937); Professor (1937-1971); Chair, Department of Chemistry (1947-1950); and Emeritus Professor of Chemistry (1971-1982), Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1939Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1941Member, Advisory Committee on Uranium Research, National Academy of Sciences.

1942 – 1944Chief, Division 8 (Explosives), National Defense Research Committee.

1944 – 1945Deputy Leader for the Implosion Program, Ordnance and Engineering Division (1944) and Leader, Explosives Division (1944-1945), Manhattan Project, Los Alamos Laboratory.

1957 – 1963Member (1957-1963) and Chair and Science Adviser to the President (1959-1961), President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

1962 – 1973Chair, Committee on Science and Public Policy (1962-1965) and Vice President (1965-1973), National Academy of Sciences.

1967Awarded National Medal of Science.

1977 – 1982Chair, Council for a Livable World.

December 7, 1982Death.

Occupation

Physical chemist.

Places

Birth

Kiev (Ukraine)

Graduate Education

Berlin (Germany)

Employment

Cambridge (Mass.)

Subjects

Chemical kinetics.

Nuclear arms control.

Nuclear fission.

Physical chemistry.

Thermodynamics.

Relationships

People

Family

Kistiakowsky, Vera

Daughter.

Advisors & Collaborators

Bodenstein, Max, 1871-1942

PhD advisor at University of Berlin.

Gomer, R. (Robert)

Advised by Kistiakowsky while post-doc at Harvard University and both employed at Harvard University.

Gutowsky, Herbert Sander, 1919-

Advised by Kistiakowsky at Harvard University on Problems in Molecular Structure and the Solid State.

Solomon, Arthur K. (Arthur Kaskel), 1912-2002

Advised by Kistiakowsky at Harvard University, "I. The ultra violet absorption spectrum of benzene. II. The chain decomposition of acetaldehyde."

Colleagues

Alvarez, Luis W., 1911-1988

Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Bainbridge, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Tompkins), 1904-1996

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Baker, William O. (William Oliver), 1915-2005

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Bardeen, John

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Beadle, George Wells, 1903-1989

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Berkner, Lloyd V. (Lloyd Viel), 1905-1967

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Bradbury, Norris, 1909-1997

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project and Project Trinity, Manhattan Project.

Brode, Robert B. (Robert Bigham), 1900-1986

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Bronk, Detlev W. (Detlev Wulf), 1897-1975

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Brooks, Harvey

Both employed at President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Calvin, Melvin, 1911-1997

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Chance, Britton

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978

Both employed at Harvard University.

Critchfield, Charles Louis, 1910-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Diamond, R. M.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Doty, Paul M., 1920-2011

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project and Project Trinity, Manhattan Project.

Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Fussell, Lewis

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Garwin, Richard L.

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee.

Gilliland, Edwin Richard, 1909-1973

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Greisen, Kenneth

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Haskins, Caryl P. (Caryl Parker), 1908-2001

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Henderson, Robert W. (Robert Wesley), 1914-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Herschbach, Dudley R.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Hirschfelder, Joseph Oakland, 1911-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Hoffman, Joseph G. (Joseph Gilbert), 1909-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Hornig, Donald F., 1920-2013

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Killian, James Rhyne, 1904-1988

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Kirkwood, John Gamble, 1907-1959

Both employed at Harvard University.

Koski, Walter

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Land, Edwin Herbert, 1909-1991

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Linschitz, Henry, 1919-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Loeb, Robert F. (Robert Frederick), 1895-1973

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Long, Franklin A., 1910-1999

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

MacLeod, Colin M. (Colin Munro), 1909-

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

McElroy, William David, 1917-

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Morrison, Philip

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Neddermeyer, Seth H. (Seth Henry), 1907-1988

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Parsons, William Sterling, 1901-1953

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Pierce, John R. (John Robinson), 1910-2002

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Piore, Emanuel Ruben, 1908-2000

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Press, Frank, 1924-

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Purcell, Edward M.

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Rice, Oscar Knefler, 1903-1978

Both employed at Harvard University.

Robertson, H. P. (Howard Percy), 1903-1961

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Schaffer, W. F.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Seaborg, Glenn T. (Glenn Theodore), 1912-1999

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Smith, Cyril Stanley, 1903-1992

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Stevens, W. A.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Tenney, Gerold

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Tukey, John W. (John Wilder), 1915-2000

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Weinberg, Alvin Martin, 1915-2006

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Weiss, Paul S.

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Williams, John H. (John Harry), 1908-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000

Both employed on Project Trinity, Manhattan Project.

York, Herbert F. (Herbert Frank)

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Zinn, Walter H. (Walter Henry), 1906-2000

Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).

Additional

Agnew, Harold M.

Dryden, Hugh L. (Hugh Latimer), 1898-1965

Ford, Vincent, 1907-2001

Furnas, C. C. (Clifford Cook), 1900-1969

Groueff, Stephane

Kauzmann, Walter, 1916-

Kovach, Eugene G.

Nernst, Walther, 1864-1941

Institutions

Major Positions

Harvard University. Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology

Assistant to Associate Professor; Professor; Department Chair; and Emeritus Professor of Physics.

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

Deputy Leader for the Implosion Program, Ordnance and Engineering Division, and Leader, Explosives Division, Manhattan Project.

Manhattan Project (U.S.)

Deputy Leader for the Implosion Program, Ordnance and Engineering Division, and Leader, Explosives Division, Los Alamos Laboratory.

Princeton University. Department of Chemistry

International Education Board Fellow in Physical Chemistry and Research Associate.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Council for a Livable World

Chair.

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Obtained DPhil in Chemistry (1925).

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member; Member, Advisory Committee on Uranium Research; Chair, Committee on Science and Public Policy; Vice President.

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development. National Defense Research Committee

Chief, Division 8 (Explosives).

United States. President's Science Advisory Committee

Member and Chair and Science Adviser to the President.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

George B. Kistiakowsky diary, 1959-1960.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Library

Abilene, KS 67410, USA

George B. Kistiakowsky papers, 1928-1982.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Herbert F. York papers, 1958-1999.

Mandeville Special Collections Library

University of California, San Diego

9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA

International Science and Technology Journal interviews, 1962-1967.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Notes on physics courses given at Los Alamos, 1943-1946.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Reminiscences of Los Alamos [sound recording] : a lecture series at the University of California, Santa Barbara, 1975.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Reminiscences of wartime Los Alamos [sound recording], 1975.

Library. Dept. of Special Collections

University of California, Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

Stanislaw Ulam papers, 1916-1984.

Library.

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Subject

Atoms for Peace Award records, 1944-1972.

Institute Archives and Special Collections

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.I.T. Libraries, Rm. 14N-118, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

C. C. Furnas papers, 1918-1969.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Library

Abilene, KS 67410, USA

Convocation on Science and Human Values records, 1952.

Archives and Special Collections

Mount Holyoke College

8 Dwight Hall, 50 College Street, South Hadley, MA 01075-6425, USA

John Von Neumann papers, 1912-1996 (bulk 1935-1957).

Manuscript Division

Library of Congress

James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA

Oral history interview with Eugene G. Kovach, 2001 June 28 and 29.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Frederick Seitz, 1982 October 6 and 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Frederick Seitz, 1994 July 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harold M. Agnew, 2006 May 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Henry Linshitz, 1988 February 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Herbert F. York, 1986 February 7.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Norris Edwin Bradbury, 1976 February 11.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Vera Kistiakowsky, 1976 April 27, May 11, 26, June 15, August 26, and September 1.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Wolfgang Kurt Hermann Panofsky, 1973 May 15 and 1974 March 6 and June 3.

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

Twenty-four minutes to checkmate, [unpublished manuscript] 1953-1957.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Library

Abilene, KS 67410, USA

Walter Kauzmann papers, 1940-1993.

Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library

Princeton University

65 Olden Street, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA

Published Resources

Author

A scientist at the White House : the private diary of President Eisenhower's Special Assistant for Science and Technology / George B. Kistiakowsky ; with an introd. by Charles S. Maier.

Subject

George Kistiakowsky Physics Today obituary.