Skip to main content

Harold Clayton Urey Biography

Harold Clayton Urey

(Walkerton, Indiana, 1893-La Jolla, California, 1981) American chemist, pioneer in the application of isotope separation techniques, who was awarded the Nobel Prize of Chemistry in 1934 for the discovery of deuterium (heavy isotope of hydrogen).He was also the author of a theory about the origin of life on Earth and other planets.

Harold Clayton Urey

After graduating in Zoology from the University of Montana in 1917 and working as a professor for two years at this university, Urey's fondness for chemistry led him to pursue a doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Berkeley in 1923.After researching with Borh on the theory of structure Atomic, he returned to the United States where he taught chemistry at Johns Hopkins University (1924-1929), Columbia University (1929-1945), the University of Chicago (1945-1952) and the University of San Diego, where He held the position of professor emeritus from 1970 to 1981.

During his teaching, Urey carried out numerous investigations: in 1932 he discovered the heavy isotope of hydrogen (deuterium) and then developed a procedure for obtaining water heavy, work for which he earned two more years t the Nobel Prize in Chemistry burns.

Due to the study and development of separation techniques for different radioactive isotopes, during World War II Urey was part of the project for the creation of the atomic bomb and later in the studies to obtain tritium necessary in the manufacture of the hydrogen bomb.At the end of the manufacturing, he was very active within the group of atomic scientists who advocated international control of the new energy source.

After conducting research on the oxygen-18 isotope, he developed a method to determine the temperature of the oceans during the most recent geological history (up to 180 million years).To do this, he had to determine the relative abundance of the elements on the earth's surface, the Sun and the stars.

Urey also starred in a series of hypotheses about the origin of the Earth and life.According to him, the Earth took place through a cold and continuous accretion of particles, while the life that originated on its surface must have developed in a reducing atmosphere.Based on his theories, the American chemist Stanley Ll.Miller developed a series of experiments on the synthesis of organic compounds from a reducing atmosphere proposed by Urey.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hernando Tellez Biography

Hernando Téllez (Santafé de Bogotá, 1908-1966) Colombian writer and journalist.From a very young age, he showed his journalistic skills, as a contributor to the magazine Universidad directed by Germán Arciniegas, and as an assistant to Enrique Santos in El Tiempo . He was also deputy director of El Liberal and director of the magazine Semana .During the period between 1943 and 1944 he served as Colombian consul in Marseille and senator of the Republic, but he stood out above all for being one of the most complete writers of his time (he was a translator, commentator, short story writer, essayist and literary critic ). In his extensive essay work he dealt with issues of literature, society, politics and everyday life.Téllez was a poet of the essay, as well as profound; He was a great craftsman of the language, a teacher in a sober and effective handling of the language.He was a sensitive observer of daily life, an acute critic of the social and political life of the country...
Post a Comment
Read more

James A. Mirrlees Biography

James A.Mirrlees (Minnigaff, 1936) British economist.He studied at Douglas Ewart High School and Newton Stewart and entered the University of Edinburgh in 1954 to study mathematics, from which he graduated in 1957.From Scotland he left for England after his admission to Trinity College from the University of Cambridge.In this institution he continued his mathematical training, but during his stay in Cambridge there was an approach to economics that led him to do a doctorate in this discipline and which ended in 1963. When Mirrlees finished his studies in Cambridge, began collaborating with Kaldor as a research assistant on issues related to economic growth.From that position he went to the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 1962 and 1963, at which time he was linked to development studies in India.Upon his return to the UK, he obtained a position as Professor of Economics at the University of Cambridge. He held the position unti...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier Biography

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier (Auxerre, France, 1768-Paris, 1830) French engineer and mathematician.He was the son of a tailor, and was educated by the Benedictines.Positions in the Army Scientific Corps were reserved for families of recognized status, so he accepted a military professorship in mathematics. Joseph Fourier During the French Revolution he had a prominent role in his own district, and was rewarded with a candidacy for a chair at the École Polytechnique.Fourier accompanied Napoleon on his eastern expedition of 1798, and was appointed governor of Lower Egypt.Isolated from France by the British fleet, it organized the workshops that the French army had to count on for its ammunition supplies.He also contributed numerous writings on mathematics to the Egyptian Institute that Napoleon founded in Cairo. After the British victories and the capitulation of the French under General Menou in 1801, Joseph Fourier returned to France, where he was appointed prefect of the depa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jorge Dezcallar Biography

Jorge Dezcallar (Palma de Mallorca, 1945) Spanish lawyer and diplomat.Jorge Dezcallar Mazarredo was born on November 3, 1945 in Palma de Mallorca, the oldest of four siblings.After completing his first studies at the College of the Franciscan Fathers in the Mallorcan capital, he studied law at the Complutense University of Madrid, the city to which his father, a colonel of the Marine Corps, had been assigned. After graduating as a lawyer he decided to undertake diplomatic studies.In the family there was already a history of people linked to diplomacy, which undoubtedly sowed Dezcallar's concern to develop his professional work in the foreign service. Jorge Dezcallar His entry into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took place by opposition in August 1971.Between 1972 and 1974 he was stationed in Poland, and from September 1974 to April 1978 he remained at the Consulate General of Spain in New York, where he held various positions.In April 1978, he moved to the Uruguayan embas...
Post a Comment
Read more

Andres Torrejon Biography

Andrés Torrejón (Móstoles, 1736- id. , 1812) Spanish administrator.In 1808 he was one of the two mayors of Móstoles (the other was Simón Hernández) when the May 2 uprising occurred.At the request of the prosecutor of the War Council, Juan Pérez Villamil, both mayors published a statement calling on the people to rise up in arms against the French.
Post a Comment
Read more

Agnes De Mille Biography

Agnes De Mille (New York, 1909- id , 1993) American dancer and choreographer.Niece of C.B.De Mille has collaborated on musical comedies and has moved away from classical ballet in favor of a more popular style ( Rodeo , 1942; A rose for Emily , 1971).She has worked as a consultant in musical comedies and has dedicated herself to recovering the American folk tradition.
Post a Comment
Read more

Adam schaff Biography

Adam Schaff (Lemberg, 1913) Polish philosopher.Professor in Warsaw (1948-1970) and Vienna (since 1970) and member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party (1959-1968), he is the author of works on the theory of knowledge ( The concept and the word , 1946; The problems of the Marxist theory of truth , 1951; Language and knowledge , 1963), on social sciences ( Marxism and the individual , 1965; Alienation as a social phenomenon , 1977) and on politics ( Communism at the crossroads , 1982; Where does the road lead? , 1985).In 1997 his work News of a man with problems was published in Spanish.
Post a Comment
Read more

Ian Richard Kyle Paisley Biography

Ian Richard Kyle Paisley (Belfast, 1926) Ulster ecclesiastic and politician.Founder of the Free Presbyterian Church of Northern Ireland (1951), he opposed the rapprochement between Protestantism and the Vatican and was against the civil rights movement.Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, he rallied Protestant extremists around him in his campaigns against the Catholics of Ulster.Member of the Assembly of Northern Ireland (1973-1974) and of the British Parliament since 1970.Founder of the paramilitary group Ulster Defense Association (1981), between 1990 and 1994 he boycotted the peace talks on several occasions with the British government.In 1999 he was elected MEP.
Post a Comment
Read more

Jose Maria Liceaga Biography

José María Liceaga (Guanajuato, c .1780-?, 1818) Mexican patriot.During the struggle for independence he took part in the attack on Valladolid (1811).He collaborated with Mina in the dissolution of the Congress of Chilpancingo.
Post a Comment
Read more