Szilard, Leo

Szilard, Leo (1898–1964) biologist and physicist. The Hungarian-born Szilard initially trained as an engineer but switched to chemistry and physics; from 1921 to 1922 he studied at the University of Berlin with Albert Einstein and did research in thermodynamics and in X-ray crystallography. He continued to work with Einstein and others in theoretical physics. In 1933 he moved to Britain to escape the Nazis and began the study of nuclear physics; he came to the United States in 1938 and worked with Enrico Fermi at Columbia University. In 1942 he became chief physicist at the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago; in 1946 he became a half-time professor of biophysics at the Institute of Radiobiology and Biophysics and in 1956 a professor of biophysics at the Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies at the same university. In the 1960s he worked with Jonas Salk at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California. In the three areas in which he worked—theoretical physics, nuclear physics, and theoretical biology-—his work was seminal and led to breakthroughs such as the electron microscope. He also understood early the implications of nuclear power for military strategy, and its dangers, and he was an early advocate of arms control.