Gerhart Friedlander (July 28, 1916 – September 6, 2009)[1] was an American nuclear chemist who worked on the Manhattan Project.

Gerhart Friedlander
Friedlander's Los Alamos identity photo
Born(1916-07-28)July 28, 1916
Munich, German Empire
DiedSeptember 6, 2009(2009-09-06) (aged 93)
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
Scientific career
FieldsNuclear chemistry
InstitutionsBrookhaven National Laboratory

Friedlander was born in Munich, and fled Nazi Germany for the United States in 1936. After emigrating, he studied with Glenn Seaborg at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a PhD in 1942. In 1943, he joined the Manhattan Project, and in 1944 became the leader of the radioactive lanthanum (RaLa) group in the Chemistry Division.[2]

After the war, he was a research associate at General Electric from 1946-1948, lectured at Washington University in St. Louis in 1948, and then spent the bulk of his career at Brookhaven National Laboratory, where he served as head of the chemistry department between 1968 and 1977.[3][2] He conducted fundamental research into the mechanics of nuclear reactions, developing models that remained in use at the time of his death. Friedlander also played a leading role in advocating for and preparing a gallium solar-neutrino experiment, which evolved into the GALLEX experiment in Italy.[4]

Along with Joseph W. Kennedy, he was the co-author of Nuclear and Radiochemistry, a classic textbook on nuclear chemistry.

References

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  1. ^ Glaser, Vicki (September 12, 2009). "Gerhart Friedlander, Nuclear Chemist, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved September 12, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Gerhart Friedlander". Atomic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  3. ^ United States Atomic Energy Commission Program of Off-site Research in Chemistry: an Ad Hoc Panel Report. United States Atomic Energy Commission, Technical Information Service Extension. 1964. p. 19.
  4. ^ Diane Greenberg (14 December 2007). "Gerhart Friedlander Honored as Senior Chemist Emeritus". Retrieved 3 April 2021.
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