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George Placzek (September 26, 1905 - October 9, 1955) was a Czech physicist.

Born in Brno
Brno

Brno is the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1243, although the area had been settled since the 5th century. Today Brno has 403,304 inhabitants and is the seat of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, Supreme Court, Supreme Administrative Court, Supreme Prosecutor's Office and Ombudsman....
, Moravia
Moravia

Moravia is a Historical regions of Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. It takes its name from the Morava River, Central Europe which rises in the northwest of the region....
, he studied physics in Prague
Prague

Prague is the Capital and World's largest cities of the Czech Republic. Its official name is Hlavn? mesto Praha, meaning Prague, the Capital City....
 and Vienna
Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
. He worked with Hans Bethe
Hans Bethe

Hans Albrecht Bethe was a Germany-United States physicist, and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis....
, Edward Teller
Edward Teller

Edward Teller was a Jewish-Hungarian-American theoretical physics physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb", even though he claimed that he did not care for the title....
, Rudolf Peierls
Rudolf Peierls

Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls, , was a Germany-born British physicist. Rudolph Peierls had a major role in Britain's nuclear program, but he also had a role in many modern sciences....
, Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg

Werner Heisenberg was a German Theoretical physics who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory....
, Victor Weisskopf, Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi

Enrico Fermi was an Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, and for his contributions to the development of Quantum mechanics, nuclear physics and particle physics, and statistical mechanics....
, Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr

Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Denmark physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922....
, Lev Landau
Lev Landau

Lev Davidovich Landau was a prominent Soviet Union physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. His accomplishments include the co-discovery of the density matrix method in quantum mechanics, the quantum mechanical theory of diamagnetism, the theory of superfluidity, the theory of second order phase tra...
, Edoardo Amaldi
Edoardo Amaldi

Edoardo Amaldi was an Italy physicist.He was the co-founder of CERN, ESA, and the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics....
, Emilio Segrè, Leon van Hove
Léon Van Hove

L?on Van Hove was a Belgium physicist and a former Director General of CERN. He developed a scientific career spanning mathematics, solid state physics, Particle physics and nuclear physics to cosmology....
 and many other prominent physicists of his time. His wife, Els Placzek (née Andriesse) was an ex-wife of a physicist Hans von Halban
Hans von Halban

Hans von Halban was a French physicist, of Austrian-Jewish descent....
.

Placzek's major domains of scientific work involve a fundamental theory of Raman spectroscopy, molecular spectroscopy in gases and liquids, neutron physics and mathematical physics.






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George Placzek (September 26, 1905 - October 9, 1955) was a Czech physicist.

Born in Brno
Brno

Brno is the second-largest city in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1243, although the area had been settled since the 5th century. Today Brno has 403,304 inhabitants and is the seat of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, Supreme Court, Supreme Administrative Court, Supreme Prosecutor's Office and Ombudsman....
, Moravia
Moravia

Moravia is a Historical regions of Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, one of the former Czech lands. It takes its name from the Morava River, Central Europe which rises in the northwest of the region....
, he studied physics in Prague
Prague

Prague is the Capital and World's largest cities of the Czech Republic. Its official name is Hlavn? mesto Praha, meaning Prague, the Capital City....
 and Vienna
Vienna

Vienna is the Capital of Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million...
. He worked with Hans Bethe
Hans Bethe

Hans Albrecht Bethe was a Germany-United States physicist, and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis....
, Edward Teller
Edward Teller

Edward Teller was a Jewish-Hungarian-American theoretical physics physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb", even though he claimed that he did not care for the title....
, Rudolf Peierls
Rudolf Peierls

Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls, , was a Germany-born British physicist. Rudolph Peierls had a major role in Britain's nuclear program, but he also had a role in many modern sciences....
, Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg

Werner Heisenberg was a German Theoretical physics who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory....
, Victor Weisskopf, Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi

Enrico Fermi was an Italian physicist most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, and for his contributions to the development of Quantum mechanics, nuclear physics and particle physics, and statistical mechanics....
, Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr

Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Denmark physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922....
, Lev Landau
Lev Landau

Lev Davidovich Landau was a prominent Soviet Union physicist who made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics. His accomplishments include the co-discovery of the density matrix method in quantum mechanics, the quantum mechanical theory of diamagnetism, the theory of superfluidity, the theory of second order phase tra...
, Edoardo Amaldi
Edoardo Amaldi

Edoardo Amaldi was an Italy physicist.He was the co-founder of CERN, ESA, and the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics....
, Emilio Segrè, Leon van Hove
Léon Van Hove

L?on Van Hove was a Belgium physicist and a former Director General of CERN. He developed a scientific career spanning mathematics, solid state physics, Particle physics and nuclear physics to cosmology....
 and many other prominent physicists of his time. His wife, Els Placzek (née Andriesse) was an ex-wife of a physicist Hans von Halban
Hans von Halban

Hans von Halban was a French physicist, of Austrian-Jewish descent....
.

Placzek's major domains of scientific work involve a fundamental theory of Raman spectroscopy, molecular spectroscopy in gases and liquids, neutron physics and mathematical physics. Together with Otto Frisch, he suggested a direct experimental proof of nuclear fission. Together with Niels Bohr
Niels Bohr

Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Denmark physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922....
 and others, he was instrumental in clarifying the role of Uranium 235 for the possibility of nuclear chain reaction.

During his stay in Landau's circle in Kharkov around 1937, Placzek witnessed reality of the Stalinistic regime. His first-hand experience from this stay influenced political opinions of his close friends, Robert Oppenheimer
Robert Oppenheimer

Julius Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physics and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is best known for his role as the scientific director of the Manhattan Project: the World War II effort to develop the first nuclear weapons at the secret Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico....
 and Edward Teller
Edward Teller

Edward Teller was a Jewish-Hungarian-American theoretical physics physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb", even though he claimed that he did not care for the title....
 in particular.

Later, Placzek was the only Czech at some leading positions in the Manhattan project
Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was the project to develop the first atomic weapon during World War II; involving the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada....
, where he worked from 1943-1946 as a member of the British Mission
Tube Alloys

Tube Alloys was the code-name for the British nuclear weapon directorate during World War II, when the very possibility of nuclear weapons was kept at such a high level of secrecy that it had to be referred to by code even in the highest circles of government....
; first in Canada as the leader of a theoretical division 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....
 and then (since May of 1945) in Los Alamos
Los Alamos

Los Alamos usually refers to the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, United States.It may also refer to:*Los Alamos, California*Los Alamos, New Mexico — the city where the laboratory is located...
, later replacing his friend Hans Bethe
Hans Bethe

Hans Albrecht Bethe was a Germany-United States physicist, and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis....
 as the leader of the theoretical group. Since 1948, Placzek was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study

The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is a center for theoretical research. The Institute is perhaps best known as the academic home of Albert Einstein, John von Neumann, and Kurt G?del, after their immigration to the United States....
 in Princeton
Princeton, New Jersey

Princeton, New Jersey is located in Mercer County, New Jersey, New Jersey, United States. Princeton University has been sited in the town since 1756....
, USA. Placzek's premature death in Zurich was very likely a suicide influenced by his long-time serious illness. Recently, many new facts about George Placzek and his family roots emerged in connection with a Symposium held in Placzek's memory.