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AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectJames Chadwick
Dates
October 20, 1891 – July 24, 1974
Authorized Form of Name
Chadwick, James, 1891-1974
Additional Forms of Names
Chadwick, James, Sir, 1891-
Chadwick, James, Sir, 1891-1974
Biography
Abstract
James Chadwick (1891-1974) was a nuclear physicist. He was awarded the 1935 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the neutron". He worked at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory from 1943-1946 as the Head of the British Mission attached to the Manhattan Project.
Important Dates
October 20, 1891Birth, Cheshire (England).
1911Obtained BSc honours in Physics, Manchester University, Manchester (England).
1911 – 1913Research Assistant, Physical Laboratory, Manchester University, Manchester (England).
1913Obtained MsC in Physics, Manchester University, Manchester (England).
1913 – 1914Research scientist, Imperial Physical and Technical Institute (Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt).
1921Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge (England).
1921 – 1935Fellow, Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge (England).
1927Fellow, Royal Society.
1932Awarded Hughes Medal, Royal Society.
1932Member, Pontifical Academy of Sciences (Pontificia Accademia delle scienze).
1932Published "The Possible Existence of a Neutron”.
1932Member, American Physical Society.
1935Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the neutron".
1935 – 1948Lyon Jones Chair of Physics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool (England).
1940 – 1941Member, MAUD Committee.
1943 – 1946Head of British Mission attached to Manhattan Project, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, Los Alamos (N.M.).
1945Knighted.
1946Foreign Member, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen).
1946Awarded Melchett Medal.
1946Member, Royal Society of Edinburgh.
1946Awarded Transenter Medal.
1946Awarded United States Medal for Merit.
1948 – 1962Master, Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge (England).
1950Awarded Faraday Medal.
1950Awarded Copley Medal.
1951Awarded the Franklin Medal, Franklin Institute.
1957 – 1962Member, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.
1967Awarded Guthrie Medal.
July 24, 1974Death, Cambridge (England).
Occupation
Nuclear physicist.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Atomic bomb -- Japan -- Blast effect.
Relationships
People
Family
Chadwick, Aileen Stewart-Brown
Wife.
Chadwick, Anne Mary Knowles
Mother.
Chadwick, John Joseph
Father.
Advisors & Collaborators
Bieler, Etienne Samuel, 1895-
Advised by Chadwick at University of Cambridge.
Ellis, C. D. (Charles Drummond), 1895-1980
Advised by Chadwick at University of Cambridge.
Geiger, Hans, 1882-
PhD advisor at Imperial Physical and Technical Institute (Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt).
Advised by Chadwick at University of Cambridge in nuclear physics.
Gray, Louis Harold, 1905-1965
Advised by Chadwick at Trinity College, University of Cambridge.
Pollard, Ernest C. (Ernest Charles), 1906-1997
Advised by Chadwick at University of Cambridge.
Collaborated on Manhattan Project.
PhD advisor at University of Cambridge.
Thomson, G. P. (George Paget), 1892-1975
Collaborated on the MAUD Committee, lead by Thomson.
Colleagues
Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Additional
Amaldi, Edoardo
Attwood, Vincent
Bainbridge, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Tompkins), 1904-1996
Blackett, P. M. S. (Patrick Maynard Stuart), Baron Blackett, 1897-1974
Bretscher, Egon, 1901-1973
Cockcroft, John, Sir, 1897-1967
Dirac, P. A. M. (Paul Adrien Maurice), 1902-1984
Feather, N. (Norman)
Gowing, Margaret
Grosse, Aristid von, 1905-1985
Howie, Mildred Evelyn Carter
Kowarski, Lew
Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958
Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)
Merrison, A. W.
Nix, Foster Cary, 1905-
Occhialini, Giuseppe, 1907-1993
Oliphant, Mark, 1901-2000
Oppenheimer, Frank, 1912-1985
Peierls, Rudolf E. (Rudolf Ernst), 1907-1995
Placzek, G. (George), 1905-1955
Richardson, O. W. (Owen Willans), 1879-1959
Robson, J. M. (John Michael), 1920-1980
Rosenfeld, L. (Leon), 1904-1974
Runcorn, S. K.
Sayles, Todd A.
Shapiro, Maurice M. (Maurice Mandel), 1915-
Shenstone, A. G. (Allen Goodrich)
Thomson, J. J. (Joseph John), 1856-1940
Ward, F. A. B. (Francis Alan Burnett)
Wertenstein, Ludwik, 1887-1945
Wilson, Charles Thomson Rees, 1869-1959
Institutions
Major Positions
Gonville and Caius College
Fellow and Master, part of Cambridge University.
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
Head of British Mission attached to Manhattan Project.
Manhattan Project (U.S.)
Head of British Mission attached to Manhattan Project, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory.
Physikalisch-Technische Reichsanstalt (Germany)
Research Scientist.
University of Liverpool. Physics Department
Lyon Jones Chair of Physics.
University of Manchester. Physics Department
Obtained BSc honours in Physics (1911) and MSc in Physics (1913). Research Assistant, Physical Laboratory.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
Member.
Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Awarded 1951 Franklin Medal.
Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen
Foreign Member.
MAUD Committee, 1940-1941
Member.
Pontificia Accademia delle scienze
Member.
Royal Society (Great Britain)
Fellow and awarded 1932 Hughes Medal.
Royal Society of Edinburgh
Member.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
Member.
University of Cambridge. Department of Physics
Obtained PhD in Physics (1921).
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
James Chadwick conversation with A. W. Merrison, 1968.
Sydney Jones Library. Special Collections and Archives
University of Liverpool
P. O. Box 123, Liverpool L69 3DA
James Chadwick correspondence with F. A. B. Ward, 1938.
Library
Science Museum (Great Britain)
Imperial College Road, London SW7 5NH, England, UK
Oral history interview with James Chadwick, 1969 April 15, 16, 17 and 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Sir James Chadwick papers, 1914-1974.
Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge B3 0DS
Sir James Chadwick papers, 1921-1974.
Sydney Jones Library. Special Collections and Archives
University of Liverpool
P. O. Box 123, Liverpool L69 3DA
Subject
AIP Physics Today Division unpublished letters to the editors, 1972-1983.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Allen Shenstone autobiography, 1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Charles David King collection for his thesis "Chadwick, Liverpool and the bomb" (1997).
Sydney Jones Library. Special Collections and Archives
University of Liverpool
P. O. Box 123, Liverpool L69 3DA
Egon Bretscher papers and correspondence, 1896-1973.
Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge B3 0DS
Eric Sayle recollections, 1942-1947.
Sydney Jones Library. Special Collections and Archives
University of Liverpool
P. O. Box 123, Liverpool L69 3DA
Ernest Rutherford correspondence [microform], 1906-1937.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Files of Ludwik Wertenstein, 1908-1944.
Archiwum (Warszawa)
Polska Akademia Nauk
Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, Poland
Georg von Hevesy scientific correspondence, 1910-1966.
Niels Bohr Archive
Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark
George Placzek papers, 1934-1955, undated.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
J. M. Robson response to 1988 History of Nuclear Physics Survey, 1988.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Kenneth Bainbridge correspondence with James Chadwick and Mark Oliphant, 1973-1974.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
L. H. Gray papers, 1932-1970 (bulk 1944-1965).
Special Collection Library
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
James D. Hoskins Library, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Lecture on Sir James Chadwick, 1978.
Sydney Jones Library. Special Collections and Archives
University of Liverpool
P. O. Box 123, Liverpool L69 3DA
Margaret Gowing papers, 1932-[ongoing].
Museum of the History of Science
Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3AZ
Mildred Howie student research files on cyclotrons, 1939.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Norman Feather papers, 1915-1978.
Archives Centre
Churchill College
Cambridge B3 0DS
Nuclear reminiscences [motion picture].
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
O. W. Richardson papers, 1897-1959 (bulk 1920-1940).
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
University of Texas at Austin
P.O. Drawer 7219, Austin, TX 78713-7219, USA
Oral history interview with Aristid Victor Grosse, 1974 January 11 and April 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Edoardo Amaldi, 1969 April 9 and 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Foster Cary Nix, 1975 June 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Frank Oppenheimer, 1973 February 9 and May 21.
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 Giuseppe Occhialini, 1971 April 5, 6, May 16, 17, and November 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with J. Robert Oppenheimer, 1963 November 18 and 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Joseph Rotblat, 1992-1993.
Sydney Jones Library. Special Collections and Archives
University of Liverpool
P. O. Box 123, Liverpool L69 3DA
Oral history interview with Leon Rosenfeld, 1968 September 3.
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 Maurice Goldhaber, 1967 January 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Maurice Mandel Shapiro, 1978 May 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Milton Stanley Livingston, 1967 August 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Norman Feather, 1971 February 25 and 5 November.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with Philip I. Dee, 1971 November 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Rudolf Ernst Peierls, 1969 August 11, 12 and 13.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with S. Keith Runcorn, 1993 September 16 and 17.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Sir John Cockcroft, 1967 March 28.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Sir Mark Oliphant, 1971 November 3.
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
Private office papers, 1939-1961.
Great Britain, National Archives
Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU, UK
Sir Joseph Rotblat papers.
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
63a Great Russell St., London WC1B 3BJ, UK
Published Resources
Author
Radiations from radioactive substances/ by Sir Ernest Rutherford, James Chadwich, and C. D. Ellis.
Subject
Encyclopaedic Britannica - James Chadwick.
James Chadwick Nobel Prize biography.
The neutron and the bomb: a biography of Sir James Chadwick/ Andrew Brown.
Uranium isotope separation in the U.K. during World War II/ by Thomas Vincent Attwood.