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Philip Hauge Abelson (April 27, 1913 – August 1, 2004) was an American physicist, editor-in-chief and science writer. Trained as a nuclear physicist, he co-discovered the element neptunium, worked on isotope separation in the Manhattan Project, and wrote the first study of nuclear marine propulsion for submarines. He later worked on a broad range of scientific topics and related public policy, including organic geochemistry, paleobiology and energy policy.
Abelson served as editor-in-chief of the journal Science from 1962–84, president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington from 1971–78, and president of the American Geophysical Union from 1972-74. His frequent in Science, both during and after his term as editor, became known for their strident and thought-provoking views. A collection of 100 of his editorials was published as a book, entitled Enough of Pessimism. He may have been the original source of the phrase 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence'.
Abelson was a key contributor to the Manhattan Project during World War II, while working with the Naval Research Laboratory. Although he was not formally associated with the atom bomb project, the Thermophoresis isotope separation technique that he invented at the Philadelphia Navy Yard was used in the S-50 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and proved a critical step in creating the large amount of nuclear fuel required for building atomic bombs.
After the war, he turned his attention under the guidance of Ross Gunn to applying nuclear power to naval propulsion. While not written at an engineering-design level, he wrote the first physics report detailing how a nuclear reactor could be installed in a submarine, providing both propulsion and electric power." The Atomic Energy Submarine", Phillip Abelson, March 28, 1946 His report anticipated the nuclear submarine's role as a missile platform. This concept was later supported by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover and others. Under Rickover, the concept became reality in the form of , the world's first nuclear submarine.
In 1946, he returned to work at the Carnegie Institution, which published his report "Atomic Energy Submarine," in March of that year."Underway on Nuclear Power" -- The Man Behind the Words: Eugene P. "Dennis" Wilkinson, Vice Admiral USN. The American Nuclear Society. From 1953 until 1971 he served as the director of the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geophysical Laboratory, and as president from 1971 to 1978, and as a trustee from 1978 on. From 1962 to 1984 he was editor of Science, one of the most prestigious academic journals, and served as its acting executive officer in 1974, 1975 and 1984. From 1972 until 1974 he served as the president of the American Geophysical Union.
Abelson was outspoken and well known for his opinions on science. In a 1964 editorial published in Science magazine, Abelson identified overspecialization in science as a form of bigotry. He outlined his view that the pressure towards specialization beginning in undergraduate study and intensifying in PhD programs leads students to believe that their area of specialization is the most important, even to the extreme view that other intellectual pursuits are worthless. He reasoned that such overspecialization led to obsolescence of one's work, often through a focus on trivial aspects of a field, and that avoidance of such bigotry was essential to guiding the direction of one's work.
In a 1965 article he described his work in paleobiology and reported evidence of amino acids recovered from fossils hundreds of millions of years in age and in rocks dating over a billion years old. He estimated that based on his experiments alanine would be stable for billions of years.
Abelson may have been the original source of the phrase 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence', which he used in 1978 and was subsequently popularised by Carl Sagan.Rao, K.R., 1978, Psi: Its place in nature. Journal of Parapsychology vol 42.
Perhaps his most famous work from this time period is an editorial entitled "Enough of Pessimism" ("enough of pessimism, it only leads to paralysis and decay"). This became the title of a 100 essay collection.
During the 1970s he became interested in the problem of world energy supplies. Books on the topic include Energy for Tomorrow (1975), from a series of lectures at the University of Washington, and Energy II: Use Conservation and Supply. He pointed out the possibilities of mining the Athabascan tar sands, as well as oil shale in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. In addition, he urged conservation and a change of attitude towards public transit.
After 1984, he remained associated with the magazine. Some have claimed him to be an early skeptic of the case for global warming on the basis of a lead editorial in the magazine dated March 31, 1990, in which he wrote, "If the global warming situation is analyzed applying the customary standards of scientific inquiry one must conclude that there has been more hype than solid fact." However, this contrasts what is said in a US National Research Council, Energy and Environment report on which his name appears along with Thomas F. Malone over a decade earlier in 1977:
Abelson died on August 1, 2004, from respiratory complications following a brief illness. He was married to Neva Abelson, a distinguished research physician who co-discovered Rh factor testing (with L. K. Diamond). Their daughter, Ellen Abelson Cherniavsky, worked as an aviation researcher for the MITRE corporation in Virginia.
The mineral abelsonite is named after Abelson in recognition of his contribution to organic geochemistry.
The Philip and Neva Abelson Hall at Washington State University was named in his honor.
The AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize is named after Philip Abelson.
Philip H. Abelson (1985). 9780871682741, American Association for the Advancement of Science. ISBN 9780871682741
Awards and legacy
Abelson received many distinguished awards, including the National Medal of Science in 1987, National Science Foundation - The President's National Medal of Science the National Science Foundation's Distinguished Achievement Award, the American Medical Association's Scientific Achievement Award, the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award and the Waldo E. Smith Award in 1988. In 1992 he was awarded the Public Welfare Medal, the National Academy of Sciences's highest honor. He was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society in 1949 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1958. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1961.
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Categories: 1913 Births, 2004 Deaths, 20th-century American Physicists, American Nuclear Physicists, Manhattan Project People, Discoverers Of Chemical Elements, National Medal Of Science Laureates, Kalinga Prize Recipients, Deaths From Respiratory Failure In The United States, Neptunium, University Of California, Berkeley Alumni, Washington State University Alumni, Fellows Of The American Academy Of Arts And Sciences, Fellows Of The American Physical Society, Writers From Tacoma, Washington, Members Of The National Academy Of Medicine, Members Of The American Philosophical Society
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