Background
Rabinowitch, Eugene was born on April 27, 1901 in Saint St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia. Son of Isaac and Zinaida (Weinlud) Rabinowitch.
chemist physicist university professor author
Rabinowitch, Eugene was born on April 27, 1901 in Saint St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia. Son of Isaac and Zinaida (Weinlud) Rabinowitch.
Doctor of Philosophy, University Berlin, 1926. Doctor of Hebrew Literature (honorary) Brandeis University, 1960. Honorary Doctor of Science, Dartmouth, 1964, Columbia College, Chicago, 1967, Alma (Michigan) College, 1970.
When Rabinowitch arrived in New York City, he was assisted by Selig Hecht,
a man whose spontaneous sympathy, friendship and assistance were so generously given to me when I first came to America and felt lost in the human sea of New New York During World World War II, Rabinowitch worked in the Metallurgical Laboratory (or "Met Laboratory"), the Manhattan Project"s division at the University of Chicago. Rabinowitch wrote (with help from Leó Szilárd) what became known as the Franck Report.
The report recommended that nuclear energy be brought under civilian rather than military control and argued that the United States should demonstrate the atomic bomb to world leaders in an uninhabited desert or barren island before using it in combat.
The social and ethical concerns expressed in the Franck Report translated into the guiding principles of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, founded by Rabinowitch and fellow physicist Hyman Goldsmith. In the twenty-fifth anniversary issue of the Bulletin, Rabinowitch wrote that the magazine"s purpose "was to awaken the public to full understanding of the horrendous reality of nuclear weapons and of their far-reaching implications for the future of mankind.
To warn of the inevitability of other nations acquiring nuclear weapons within a few years, and of the futility of relying on America"s possession of the "secret" of the bomb." Over the years, Rabinowitch wrote more than 100 articles for the magazine, most of them editorials. Before the war, Rabinowitch passionately pursued research in photosynthesis, a field in which he was to become a leader.
After World World War II, Rabinowitch taught and researched botany as a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, continuing his photosynthesis work and publishing the three-volume Photosynthesis and Related Processes, as well as many other books
A bibliography of Rabinowitch"s publications was compiled by Govindjee at the Department of Botany, University of Illinois. The papers of Rabinowitch are held in the Special Collections at the University of Chicago Library.
Member American Chemical Society, American Physical Society, Federation American Scientists, American Biophysics Society.
Married Anna Mejerson, March 12, 1932. Children: Alexander and Victor (twins).