Rotblat, Sir Joseph definition of Rotblat, Sir Joseph in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Rotblat, Sir Joseph, 1908–2005, British physicist and anti-nuclear weapons activist, b. Warsaw, Poland; grad. Free Univ. of Poland (M.A., 1932), Univ. of Warsaw (Ph.D., 1938), Univ. of Liverpool (Ph.D., 1950). He went to Liverpool on a research fellowship in 1939 and five years later traveled to New Mexico to join the Manhattan Project Manhattan Project, the wartime effort to design and build the first nuclear weapons ( atomic bombs ). With the discovery of fission in 1939, it became clear to scientists that certain radioactive materials could be used to make a bomb of unprecented power. U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. team that developed the atomic bomb atomic bomb or A-bomb, weapon deriving its explosive force from the release of atomic energy through the fission (splitting) of heavy nuclei (see nuclear energy ). The first atomic bomb was produced at the Los Alamos, N.Mex.
..... Click the link for more information. . On learning that Germany could not also produce such a weapon, a supposition that originally had been used to justify development of the bomb, Rotblat became (1944) the only scientist to leave the project. He went back to England, became a British subject, and returned to the Univ. of Liverpool (1945–49) as director of research in nuclear physics, later serving (1950–76) as professor and specialist in medical physics at the Univ. of London. Rotblat cofounded (1946) the Atomic Scientists Association and, along with Einstein Einstein, Albert (īn`stīn), 1879–1955, American theoretical physicist, known for the formulation of the relativity theory, b.
..... Click the link for more information. and other scientists, signed (1955) a document drawn up by Bertrand Russell Russell, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3d Earl, 1872–1970, British philosopher, mathematician, and social reformer, b. Trelleck, Wales.
..... Click the link for more information. that decried nuclear proliferation and warned of the dangers of nuclear war. This manifesto led to the founding (1957) of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. Held in Nova Scotia, these international forums focus on eliminating nuclear arms and have been credited with laying the groundwork for a series of treaties and conventions banning various tests and weapons. Rotblat served as conference secretary-general (1957–73) and president (1988–98). In 1995 he and the Pugwash Conferences were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Rotblat also wrote and edited many books on nuclear physics, nuclear disarmament, and the search for world peace. He was knighted in 1998.