The Life and Science of Harold C. Urey

Matthew Shindell

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780226662084
• eBook ISBN: 9780226662114
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: Biological Sciences

Harold C. Urey (1893–1981), whose discoveries lie at the foundation of modern science, was one of the most famous American scientists of the twentieth century. Born in rural Indiana, his evolution from small-town farm boy to scientific celebrity made him a symbol and spokesman for American scientific authority. Because he rose to fame alongside the prestige of American science, the story of his life reflects broader changes in the social and intellectual landscape of twentieth-century America. In this, the first ever biography of the chemist, Matthew Shindell shines new light on Urey's struggles and achievements in a thoughtful exploration of the science, politics, and society of the Cold War era.
 
From Urey's orthodox religious upbringing to his death in 1981, Shindell follows the scientist through nearly a century of American history: his discovery of deuterium and heavy water earned him the Nobel Prize in 1934, his work on the Manhattan Project helped usher in the atomic age, he initiated a generation of American scientists into the world of quantum physics and chemistry, and he took on the origin of the Moon in NASA's lunar exploration program. Despite his success, however, Urey had difficulty navigating the nuclear age. In later years he lived in the shadow of the bomb he helped create, plagued by the uncertainties unleashed by the rise of American science and unable to reconcile the consequences of scientific progress with the morality of religion.
 
Tracing Urey's life through two world wars and the Cold War not only conveys the complex historical relationship between science and religion in the twentieth century, but it also illustrates how these complexities spilled over into the early days of space science. More than a life story, this book immerses readers in the trials and triumphs of an extraordinary man and his extraordinary times.

Notes

Introduction

1. This narrative is compiled from two separate and slightly differing accounts Urey provided in Stanley Miller, “Harold Urey—Biographical Memoirs (Period 1923–1939)” (typescript, n.d.), p. 10, box 191, folder 9, SM; and Hall and Urey, “As I See It,” 48.

2. Urey, Brickwedde, and Murphy, “A Hydrogen Isotope of Mass 2”; Urey, Brickwedde, and Murphy, “A Hydrogen Isotope of Mass 2 and Its Concentration,” 1.

3. Rather than concede that the definition of isotope should be changed, Soddy in fact argued that deuterium should be considered an element on the grounds that it violated his definition. See Eyring, “The New Point of View in Chemistry.”

4. E. F. A., review of Inorganic Chemistry, 431.

5. The 1930 US Census lists the family as living at 29 Claremont Ave in Manhattan, lists Margaret Strickland as a “roomer,” and indicates that they paid $125 in monthly rent.

6. The 1940 Census lists the family as living at 355 Highland Avenue in Palisades Park, New Jersey, lists Sherman as a servant and indicates that the Urey family paid her an annual salary of $400.

7. Lord Rutherford et al., “Discussion on Heavy Hydrogen: Opening Address.”

8. New York Times, “Our Place in Science.”

9. New York Times.

10. On the effects of World War I on physics and chemistry, see Nye, Before Big Science. The increase in the numbers of American scientists and institutions of science after World War I (and the connection of this new scientific community to Bohr’s institute) is presented in Kevles, The Physicists, chap. 14, “A New Center of Physics.”

11. Although Richards received his bachelor’s and his doctorate from American schools (Haverford and Harvard), he had been raised in England and France, and, like most chemists of his generation, had also studied in Germany prior to taking up a university appointment in the United States. Langmuir studied in Göttingen under the direction of Walther Nernst. By contrast, Urey had studied at the University of Montana and the University of California.

12. Craig, Miller, and Wasserburg, Isotopic and Cosmic Chemistry, iii.

13. New York Times, “Our Place in Science.”

14. Compton, “Science Still Holds Great Promise.”

15. Stevens, “Harold Urey: A Genius Lives in Failing Body.”

16. Harold C. Urey, “Autobiography, 1970” (unpublished manuscript), p. 1, box 1, folder 5, HCU.

17. See Milam and Nye, Scientific Masculinities.

18. The Nobel biography of Urey was originally written for the award presentation in 1934, and was later published in Nobel Foundation, Nobel Lectures, Chemistry 1922–1941. A draft version of this brief biography also exists: [Harold C. Urey], “Biography Prepared for Nobel Prize Committee” (typescript, n.d.), box 1, folder 9, HCU.

19. C. F. Bowman and Bowman, Brethren Society, 23–94.

20. See Cohen et al., “Harold Clayton Urey”; and Arnold, Bigeleisen, and Hutchison, “Harold Clayton Urey.”

21. Urey’s own discussion of his Brethren roots in his autobiography is included primarily to illustrate the roots of his pacifism. A 1970 biographical introduction of Urey prepared by his colleague Joseph Mayer reproduces this point. See Mayer, “[Biography of Harold C. Urey]” (typescript, 1970), box 1, folder 11, HCU.

22. Harold C. Urey to Louis Finkelstein, August 11, 1949, box 44, folder 11, HCU.

23. Harold C. Urey, “The Intellectual Revolution [Revision]” (typescript, 1956), p. 18, box 141, folder 12, HCU.

24. Urey first introduced the “new prophet” idea in 1959. See Harold C. Urey, “Science and Society—Cooper Union Conference” (typescript, November 2, 1959), p. 13, box 141, folder 23, HCU.

25. Harold C. Urey, “Religion Faces the Atomic Age” (typescript, February 3, 1958), p. 4, box 141, folder 15, HCU.

26. R. C. Hall, Lunar Impact, chap. 1, “The Origins of Ranger.”

27. Kevles collected this interview for his ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• introduction   The Making and Remaking of an American Chemist
• one   From Farm Boy to Wartime Chemist
• two   From Industrial Chemistry to Copenhagen
• three   From Novice in Europe to Expert in America
• four   From Nobel Laureate to Manhattan Project Burnout
• five   A Separation Man No More
• six   A Return to Science
• seven   To Hell with the Moon!
• epilogue   A Life in Science
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• List of Archives
• List of Oral History Interviews
• Bibliography
• Index