Hans von Halban
Encyclopedia
Hans von Halban was a French physicist
, of Austria
n-Jewish descent.
for Vienna
in the 1850s. His grandfather, Heinrich Blumenstock, was a senior official in the Habsburg Empire and was ennobled by Emperor Franz Joseph I in the 1880s, taking the name of Ritter
Heinrich Blumenstock von Halban. The surname Blumenstock was subsequently dropped by the family, as was the use of 'von' after the Second World War. His mother's family was from Bohemia
and his great-grandfather, Moritz von Fialka, was a colonel
in the Austro-Prussian War
of 1866.
Although converted to Catholicism
, the family were never religiously observant. Hans Halban was a convinced secularist.
, where his father, Hans von Halban Sr. was a professor
of physical chemistry
. The family moved to Zürich
in 1928. Halban finished his doctoral studies in physics
at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
, Zurich in 1936.
He then worked for a year with the nuclear physicist Niels Bohr
at the Institute of Physics, University of Copenhagen
. In collaboration with Otto Frisch he discovered that heavy water
had very low neutron
absorption compared with ordinary water.
In 1937 Halban was invited to join the team of Frédéric Joliot-Curie
at the Collège de France
in Paris
. The team also included Francis Perrin
and Lew Kowarski
. In 1939 the group measured the mean number of neutrons emitted during nuclear fission, and established the possibility of nuclear chain reactions and nuclear energy production. In August the group showed that the rate of fission in Uranium Oxide was increased by immersion in ordinary water.
During the same summer, the government of Édouard Daladier
was able to purchase 185 kg of heavy water
from Norsk Hydro
in Norway
and secretly fly it to France, for the use of the Collège de France team.
and the documentation of their research, as instructed by Joliot-Curie
. He escaped France, via Clermont-Ferrand
and Bordeaux
, to England
. He was invited by Churchill
's government to continue his research at Cambridge University. In 1942, along with British and other European "refugee scientists", Halban was sent to Montreal
as head of the research laboratories at the Montreal Laboratory
, part of the nascent Manhattan Project
.
Halban was divorced from his first wife, Els (nėe Andriesse, who later married the Czech physicist George Placzek
), and in 1943 married Aline Strauss (nėe de Gunzbourg), who had escaped France in 1941 with her young son Michel.
Following the Liberation of Paris
in August 1944, Halban returned on a visit to London
and Paris, where he saw Joliot-Curie
for the first time since leaving France. Although he maintained that he did not divulge any nuclear secrets to his previous boss (Joliot-Curie), General Groves
, the head of the Manhattan Project, had Halban removed from his job in Montreal, and replaced by John Cockcroft
. Furthermore, Halban was not allowed to leave North America for a year, nor to work.
after the war. Instead, he was invited back to England by Frederick Lindemann (Lord Cherwell) to lead a team at the Clarendon Laboratory
at Oxford University, closely connected to the Atomic Energy Research Establishment
(the Harwell Laboratory).
After eight productive years at Oxford, Halban was invited back to France in 1954 by the Prime Minister, Pierre Mendès-France
, to direct the building of a nuclear research laboratory at Saclay
, outside Paris, which greatly expanded the French Commissariat à l'énergie atomique
(Atomic Energy Commission). He took up the appointment in 1955, following his divorce from his wife Aline, who shortly afterwards married Isaiah Berlin
. The CEA Saclay laboratory developed the independent French nuclear bomb and oversaw the development of French civil nuclear energy.
with his third wife, Micheline (nėe Lazare-Vernier).
He died on 28 November 1964 from complications following an unsuccessful heart operation at the American Hospital of Paris
, leaving three children: Catherine Maud, from his first marriage, and Pierre (Peter) and Philippe from his second. He is buried in Larchant
, near Paris
.
forwarded the work of Halban and Lew Kowarski, from Cambridge to the Royal Society
. He asked that the papers be held as they were not appropriate for publication during the war. In 2007, the Society discovered the documents during an audit of their archives.
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, of Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n-Jewish descent.
Family
He was descended on his father's side from Polish Jews, who left KrakówKraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
for Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in the 1850s. His grandfather, Heinrich Blumenstock, was a senior official in the Habsburg Empire and was ennobled by Emperor Franz Joseph I in the 1880s, taking the name of Ritter
Ritter
Ritter is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second lowest rank within the nobility, standing above "Edler" and below "Freiherr"...
Heinrich Blumenstock von Halban. The surname Blumenstock was subsequently dropped by the family, as was the use of 'von' after the Second World War. His mother's family was from Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
and his great-grandfather, Moritz von Fialka, was a colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the Austro-Prussian War
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...
of 1866.
Although converted to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, the family were never religiously observant. Hans Halban was a convinced secularist.
Education and Research
Hans Halban was educated in LeipzigLeipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, where his father, Hans von Halban Sr. was a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of physical chemistry
Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
. The family moved to Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
in 1928. Halban finished his doctoral studies in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
, Zurich in 1936.
He then worked for a year with the nuclear physicist Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
at the Institute of Physics, University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
. In collaboration with Otto Frisch he discovered that heavy water
Heavy water
Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
had very low neutron
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
absorption compared with ordinary water.
In 1937 Halban was invited to join the team of Frédéric Joliot-Curie
Frédéric Joliot-Curie
Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie , born Jean Frédéric Joliot, was a French physicist and Nobel laureate.-Early years:...
at the Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The team also included Francis Perrin
Francis Perrin
Francis Perrin was a French physicist,the son of Nobel prize-winning physicist Jean Perrin.- Physicist :Francis Perrin was born in Paris and attended École Normale Supérieure in Paris.In 1928 he obtained a doctorate in mathematical sciences from the faculté des sciences of Paris, based upon a...
and Lew Kowarski
Lew Kowarski
Lew Kowarski was a naturalized French physicist, of Russian-Polish descent. He was a lesser known but important contributor to nuclear science.-Early life:...
. In 1939 the group measured the mean number of neutrons emitted during nuclear fission, and established the possibility of nuclear chain reactions and nuclear energy production. In August the group showed that the rate of fission in Uranium Oxide was increased by immersion in ordinary water.
During the same summer, the government of Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier
Édouard Daladier was a French Radical politician and the Prime Minister of France at the start of the Second World War.-Career:Daladier was born in Carpentras, Vaucluse. Later, he would become known to many as "the bull of Vaucluse" because of his thick neck and large shoulders and determined...
was able to purchase 185 kg of heavy water
Heavy water
Heavy water is water highly enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium; e.g., heavy water used in CANDU reactors is 99.75% enriched by hydrogen atom-fraction...
from Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro
Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is the fourth largest integrated aluminium company worldwide. It has operations in some 40 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state holds a 43.8 percent...
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and secretly fly it to France, for the use of the Collège de France team.
Second World War
With the German occupation of Paris in May 1940, Halban and Kowarski left Paris with the supply of heavy water, a gramme of radiumRadium
Radium is a chemical element with atomic number 88, represented by the symbol Ra. Radium is an almost pure-white alkaline earth metal, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, becoming black in color. All isotopes of radium are highly radioactive, with the most stable isotope being radium-226,...
and the documentation of their research, as instructed by Joliot-Curie
Frédéric Joliot-Curie
Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie , born Jean Frédéric Joliot, was a French physicist and Nobel laureate.-Early years:...
. He escaped France, via Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
and Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He was invited by Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's government to continue his research at Cambridge University. In 1942, along with British and other European "refugee scientists", Halban was sent to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
as head of the research laboratories at the Montreal Laboratory
Montreal Laboratory
The Montreal Laboratory in Montreal, Quebec, Canada was established by the National Research Council of Canada to undertake nuclear research, and to take over some of the scientists and projects from the Tube Alloys nuclear project in Britain...
, part of the nascent Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
.
Halban was divorced from his first wife, Els (nėe Andriesse, who later married the Czech physicist George Placzek
George Placzek
Georg Placzek was a Czech physicist.Born in Brno, Moravia, Placzek studied physics in Prague and Vienna. He worked with Hans Bethe, Edward Teller, Rudolf Peierls, Werner Heisenberg, Victor Weisskopf, Enrico Fermi, Niels Bohr, Lev Landau, Edoardo Amaldi, Emilio Segrè, Leon van Hove and many other...
), and in 1943 married Aline Strauss (nėe de Gunzbourg), who had escaped France in 1941 with her young son Michel.
Following the Liberation of Paris
Liberation of Paris
The Liberation of Paris took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the surrender of the occupying German garrison on August 25th. It could be regarded by some as the last battle in the Battle for Normandy, though that really ended with the crushing of the Wehrmacht forces between the...
in August 1944, Halban returned on a visit to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Paris, where he saw Joliot-Curie
Frédéric Joliot-Curie
Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie , born Jean Frédéric Joliot, was a French physicist and Nobel laureate.-Early years:...
for the first time since leaving France. Although he maintained that he did not divulge any nuclear secrets to his previous boss (Joliot-Curie), General Groves
Leslie Groves
Lieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves, Jr. was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II. As the son of a United States Army chaplain, Groves lived at a...
, the head of the Manhattan Project, had Halban removed from his job in Montreal, and replaced by John Cockcroft
John Cockcroft
Sir John Douglas Cockcroft OM KCB CBE FRS was a British physicist. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for splitting the atomic nucleus with Ernest Walton, and was instrumental in the development of nuclear power....
. Furthermore, Halban was not allowed to leave North America for a year, nor to work.
Post-war
Contrary to his expectations, Halban was not invited back to the Collège de FranceCollège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...
after the war. Instead, he was invited back to England by Frederick Lindemann (Lord Cherwell) to lead a team at the Clarendon Laboratory
Clarendon Laboratory
The Clarendon Laboratory, located on Parks Road with the Science Area in Oxford, England , is part of the Physics Department at Oxford University...
at Oxford University, closely connected to the Atomic Energy Research Establishment
Atomic Energy Research Establishment
The Atomic Energy Research Establishment near Harwell, Oxfordshire, was the main centre for atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1990s.-Founding:...
(the Harwell Laboratory).
After eight productive years at Oxford, Halban was invited back to France in 1954 by the Prime Minister, Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre Mendès-France
Pierre Mendès France was a French politician. He descended from a Portuguese Jewish family that moved to France in the sixteenth century.-Third Republic and World War II:...
, to direct the building of a nuclear research laboratory at Saclay
Saclay
Saclay is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.It is best known for the large scientific facility CEA Saclay, mostly dealing with nuclear and particle physics....
, outside Paris, which greatly expanded the French Commissariat à l'énergie atomique
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
The Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives or CEA, is a French “public establishment related to industrial and commercial activities” whose mission is to develop all applications of nuclear power, both civilian and military...
(Atomic Energy Commission). He took up the appointment in 1955, following his divorce from his wife Aline, who shortly afterwards married Isaiah Berlin
Isaiah Berlin
Sir Isaiah Berlin OM, FBA was a British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, regarded as one of the leading thinkers of the twentieth century and a dominant liberal scholar of his generation...
. The CEA Saclay laboratory developed the independent French nuclear bomb and oversaw the development of French civil nuclear energy.
Last years
Due to ill health, Halban was obliged to retire in 1961. He spent the last three years of his life in Paris and Crans-sur-Sierre, SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
with his third wife, Micheline (nėe Lazare-Vernier).
He died on 28 November 1964 from complications following an unsuccessful heart operation at the American Hospital of Paris
American Hospital of Paris
The American Hospital of Paris, founded in 1906, located in Neuilly-sur-Seine, is a private, not-for-profit institution that is considered agréé/non-conventionné under the French system of healthcare. It has 187 surgical, medical, and obstetric beds....
, leaving three children: Catherine Maud, from his first marriage, and Pierre (Peter) and Philippe from his second. He is buried in Larchant
Larchant
Larchant is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region.-External links:* * * *...
, near Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Recently discovered documents
In 1940, James ChadwickJames Chadwick
Sir James Chadwick CH FRS was an English Nobel laureate in physics awarded for his discovery of the neutron....
forwarded the work of Halban and Lew Kowarski, from Cambridge to the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
. He asked that the papers be held as they were not appropriate for publication during the war. In 2007, the Society discovered the documents during an audit of their archives.