Joseph Rotblat
Joseph Rotblat (born November 4, 1908 in Warsaw; died August 31, 2005 in London) was a Polish-British physicist, radiobiologist and peace activist. He was one of the few participants in the Manhattan Project who broke with it for ethical reasons. In 1995 he received the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded jointly to him and the Pugwash movement for their efforts to diminish the role of nuclear weapons in international politics and, in the longer term, to eliminate them.
Early life and education
Joseph Rotblat was born in Warsaw into a Jewish family as one of seven children. From 1914 he lived at 53 Nowolipki Street, in a tenement house near today’s square named after him. As a child he experienced poverty: his family, once well-off, suffered a sharp decline after World War I.
At first he studied on his own, then attended evening schools. He studied physics at the Free Polish University and later at the University of Warsaw. In 1938 he defended his doctorate in physics, based on research into radioactivity. He continued his research in Paris and Liverpool.
Scientific career
In 1939, thanks to an invitation from James Chadwick, he left for Great Britain. He worked on the use of radioactive isotopes in medicine. In 1944-1945 he participated in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. He withdrew from work on the atomic bomb when he concluded that Germany would not manage to build its own nuclear weapon before the end of the war, and that the new weapon might also be used in postwar rivalry between the great powers.
After the war he settled permanently in Great Britain. From 1949 he was professor of physics at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. Among other subjects, he studied the effects of ionizing radiation on the human body.
Work for peace
He was a co-author of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto of 1955, which appealed to humanity to reduce the nuclear threat. In 1957 he co-organized the first Pugwash conference, bringing together scientists from around the world working for arms control and world peace. For many years he served as secretary general of the Pugwash movement.
Nobel Peace Prize
In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in international politics and, in the longer term, to eliminate them.
Honors
- Nobel Peace Prize (1995)
- Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta
- knighthood in the United Kingdom
- honorary memberships in many scientific societies
Commemoration
- In 2009, a commemorative plaque dedicated to Rotblat was unveiled in Warsaw on Nowolipki Street.
- In 2018, the square at the junction of Nowolipki and Smocza streets was named after Joseph Rotblat.
- His name is carried by educational programs and initiatives connected with peace and ethics in science.
- He appears in numerous publications and documentaries as an example of a scientist guided by moral responsibility.