Leo Szilard Online
- ️Gene Dannen
Welcome to the world of physicist, molecular biologist, and “scientist of conscience” Leo Szilard (1898-1964).
Szilard conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, and spent the rest of his life trying to protect the world from nuclear weapons.
Szilard’s other inventions included the linear accelerator, cyclotron, and electron microscope.
In his 1929 paper on Maxwell’s Demon, Szilard identified the unit or “bit” of information. The rise of the Information Age shows the importance of his long-unappreciated idea.
Szilard’s name can be pronounced in different ways. In Hungary, it is pronounced SEE-lahrd. English speakers usually pronounce it as ZIL-ahrd or zuh-LAHRD. His name is pronounced by several people who knew him in the videos below.
Photos of Szilard also may be found on these pages:
This page of Einstein: Image and Impact at the AIP Center for History of Physics (Szilard with Einstein)
The Emilio Segre Visual Archives at the AIP Center for History of Physics has 26 pictures online.