Harold Urey
Encyclopedia
Harold Clayton Urey was an American physical chemist whose pioneering work on isotope
s earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
in 1934. He played a significant role in the development of the atom bomb
, but may be most prominent for his contribution to theories on the development of organic life from non-living matter.
to Reverend Samuel Clayton Urey and Cora Rebecca Reinoehl. After briefly teaching in rural schools, Urey earned a degree in zoology
from the University of Montana and a Ph.D. in chemistry, studying thermodynamics
under Gilbert N. Lewis
at the University of California at Berkeley.
At Berkeley, Urey was influenced by the work of physicist
Raymond T. Birge and soon joined Niels Bohr
in Copenhagen
to work on atomic structure at the Institute for Theoretical Physics. On his return to the U.S. and between 1924 and 1928, he taught at The Johns Hopkins University
as 'Associate in Chemistry', and then at Columbia
where he assembled a team of associates that included Rudolph Schoenheimer
, David Rittenberg
and T. I. Taylor. After completion of his text with Arthur Ruark, Atoms, Quanta and Molecules, one of the first English texts on quantum mechanics and its applications to atomic and molecular systems, Urey became interested in nuclear systematics. This led to his discovery of deuterium
.
During this time, Urey isolated deuterium by repeatedly distilling a sample of liquid hydrogen
. In 1931, he and his associates went on to demonstrate the existence of heavy water
. Urey was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
in 1934 for this work.
During World War II
, Urey's team at Columbia worked on a number of research programs that contributed towards the Manhattan Project
to develop an atomic bomb for the United States. Most importantly, they developed the gaseous diffusion method to separate uranium-235
from uranium-238
. In autumn 1941, Urey, with G. B. Pegram
, led a diplomatic mission to England to establish co-operation on development of the atomic bomb.
Isaac Asimov
, a student at Columbia at this time, remembers Urey lamenting, perhaps too vehemently, how pained he was that he could do nothing to help the war effort. Asimov pointed out innocently that perhaps the enriched uranium kept at Columbia may have had something to do with the war effort. Urey reddened and changed the subject. He had worried about the German atomic bomb while working on uranium separation at Columbia during the war, was now referring to the most dangerous situation that humanity has ever faced in all history.
After the war, Urey became professor of chemistry at the Institute for Nuclear Studies, then Ryerson professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago
before progressing to honorific offices at the University of California, San Diego
. A UCSD building was named in his honor in the early 1960s, during a time when nearly all buildings other than student dormitories had only generic names. The name of the building is actually the "Frieda and Harold Urey Hall". Urey would have rejected the honor, he hated the architecture of the building, but since it also honored his wife he accepted.
In later life, Urey helped develop the field of cosmochemistry
and is credited with coining the term. His work on oxygen-18
led him to develop theories about the abundance of the chemical elements
on earth and of their abundance
and evolution in the stars. This work was among the pioneering paleoclimatic
research. Urey summarised his work in the book The Planets: Their Origin and Development (1952). Urey speculated that the early terrestrial atmosphere
was probably composed of ammonia
, methane
and hydrogen
; it was one of his Chicago graduate students, Stanley L. Miller, who showed that, if such a mixture be exposed to electric sparks and to water, it can interact to produce amino acids, commonly called the "building blocks of life" (see Miller-Urey experiment
).
Urey died at La Jolla, California, and is buried in the Fairfield Cemetery in DeKalb County, Indiana
. While working at Columbia University, Urey was a resident of Leonia, New Jersey
.
Apart from his Nobel Prize, he also won the J. Lawrence Smith Medal
in 1962, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
in 1966, and the Priestley Medal
of the American Chemical Society
in 1973. In 1964 he received the National Medal of Science
. Named after him are lunar
impact crater
Urey
, asteroid 4716 Urey
and the H. C. Urey Prize
, awarded for achievement in planetary science
s by the American Astronomical Society
. The Harold C. Urey Middle School in Walkerton, Indiana, is also named for him, as is Urey Hall, the chemistry building at Revelle College, UCSD, in La Jolla, California. (The actual name of the building is "Freida and Harold Urey Hall" because the naming committee worried that Dr. Urey might reject the honor, but knew he could not decline an honor to his wife.) UCSD has also established a Harold C. Urey chair whose first holder is Dr. James R. Arnold. Urey Lecture Hall on the University of Montana campus in Missoula, Montana also bears his name.
Isotope
Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but may have a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation...
s earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
in 1934. He played a significant role in the development of the atom bomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
, but may be most prominent for his contribution to theories on the development of organic life from non-living matter.
Biography
Urey was born in Walkerton, IndianaWalkerton, Indiana
Walkerton is a town in Lincoln Township, St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States. The population was 2,144 at the 2010 Census. It is part of the South Bend–Mishawaka, IN-MI, Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
to Reverend Samuel Clayton Urey and Cora Rebecca Reinoehl. After briefly teaching in rural schools, Urey earned a degree in zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
from the University of Montana and a Ph.D. in chemistry, studying thermodynamics
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a physical science that studies the effects on material bodies, and on radiation in regions of space, of transfer of heat and of work done on or by the bodies or radiation...
under Gilbert N. Lewis
Gilbert N. Lewis
Gilbert Newton Lewis was an American physical chemist known for the discovery of the covalent bond , his purification of heavy water, his reformulation of chemical thermodynamics in a mathematically rigorous manner accessible to ordinary chemists, his theory of Lewis acids and...
at the University of California at Berkeley.
At Berkeley, Urey was influenced by the work of physicist
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...
Raymond T. Birge and soon joined 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...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
to work on atomic structure at the Institute for Theoretical Physics. On his return to the U.S. and between 1924 and 1928, he taught at The Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
as 'Associate in Chemistry', and then at Columbia
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
where he assembled a team of associates that included Rudolph Schoenheimer
Rudolph Schoenheimer
-Bibliography:*[Anon.] "Schoenheimer, Rudolf", Encyclopaedia Britannica, Deluxe CDROM edition...
, David Rittenberg
David Rittenberg
David Rittenberg was a U.S. biochemist who pioneered the radioactive tagging of molecules, enabling detailed studies of metabolism...
and T. I. Taylor. After completion of his text with Arthur Ruark, Atoms, Quanta and Molecules, one of the first English texts on quantum mechanics and its applications to atomic and molecular systems, Urey became interested in nuclear systematics. This led to his discovery of deuterium
Deuterium
Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen. It has a natural abundance in Earth's oceans of about one atom in of hydrogen . Deuterium accounts for approximately 0.0156% of all naturally occurring hydrogen in Earth's oceans, while the most common isotope ...
.
During this time, Urey isolated deuterium by repeatedly distilling a sample of liquid hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
. In 1931, he and his associates went on to demonstrate the existence 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...
. Urey was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in chemistry, physics, literature,...
in 1934 for this work.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Urey's team at Columbia worked on a number of research programs that contributed towards the 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...
to develop an atomic bomb for the United States. Most importantly, they developed the gaseous diffusion method to separate uranium-235
Uranium-235
- References :* .* DOE Fundamentals handbook: Nuclear Physics and Reactor theory , .* A piece of U-235 the size of a grain of rice can produce energy equal to that contained in three tons of coal or fourteen barrels of oil. -External links:* * * one of the earliest articles on U-235 for the...
from uranium-238
Uranium-238
Uranium-238 is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature. It is not fissile, but is a fertile material: it can capture a slow neutron and after two beta decays become fissile plutonium-239...
. In autumn 1941, Urey, with G. B. Pegram
G. B. Pegram
George Braxton Pegram was an American physicist who played a key role in the technical administration of the Manhattan Project.-Life:...
, led a diplomatic mission to England to establish co-operation on development of the atomic bomb.
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
, a student at Columbia at this time, remembers Urey lamenting, perhaps too vehemently, how pained he was that he could do nothing to help the war effort. Asimov pointed out innocently that perhaps the enriched uranium kept at Columbia may have had something to do with the war effort. Urey reddened and changed the subject. He had worried about the German atomic bomb while working on uranium separation at Columbia during the war, was now referring to the most dangerous situation that humanity has ever faced in all history.
After the war, Urey became professor of chemistry at the Institute for Nuclear Studies, then Ryerson professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
before progressing to honorific offices at the University of California, San Diego
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego, commonly known as UCSD or UC San Diego, is a public research university located in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States...
. A UCSD building was named in his honor in the early 1960s, during a time when nearly all buildings other than student dormitories had only generic names. The name of the building is actually the "Frieda and Harold Urey Hall". Urey would have rejected the honor, he hated the architecture of the building, but since it also honored his wife he accepted.
In later life, Urey helped develop the field of cosmochemistry
Cosmochemistry
Cosmochemistry or chemical cosmology is the study of the chemical composition of matter in the universe and the processes that led to those compositions. This is done primarily through the study of the chemical composition of meteorites and other physical samples...
and is credited with coining the term. His work on oxygen-18
Oxygen-18
Oxygen-18 is a natural, stable isotope of oxygen and one of the environmental isotopes.18O is an important precursor for the production of fluorodeoxyglucose used in positron emission tomography...
led him to develop theories about the abundance of the chemical elements
Abundance of the chemical elements
The abundance of a chemical element measures how relatively common the element is, or how much of the element is present in a given environment by comparison to all other elements...
on earth and of their abundance
Abundance of the chemical elements
The abundance of a chemical element measures how relatively common the element is, or how much of the element is present in a given environment by comparison to all other elements...
and evolution in the stars. This work was among the pioneering paleoclimatic
Paleoclimatology
Paleoclimatology is the study of changes in climate taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth. It uses a variety of proxy methods from the Earth and life sciences to obtain data previously preserved within rocks, sediments, ice sheets, tree rings, corals, shells and microfossils; it then...
research. Urey summarised his work in the book The Planets: Their Origin and Development (1952). Urey speculated that the early terrestrial atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere
The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...
was probably composed of ammonia
Ammonia
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
, methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
and hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
; it was one of his Chicago graduate students, Stanley L. Miller, who showed that, if such a mixture be exposed to electric sparks and to water, it can interact to produce amino acids, commonly called the "building blocks of life" (see Miller-Urey experiment
Miller-Urey experiment
The Miller and Urey experiment was an experiment that simulated hypothetical conditions thought at the time to be present on the early Earth, and tested for the occurrence of chemical origins of life. Specifically, the experiment tested Alexander Oparin's and J. B. S...
).
Urey died at La Jolla, California, and is buried in the Fairfield Cemetery in DeKalb County, Indiana
DeKalb County, Indiana
DeKalb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. Named for Revolutionary War hero Johann, Baron de Kalb , the county was created by the Indiana legislature in 1835 and organized in 1837. As of 2010, the population was 42,223...
. While working at Columbia University, Urey was a resident of Leonia, New Jersey
Leonia, New Jersey
Leonia is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,937. It is located near the western approach to the George Washington Bridge....
.
Apart from his Nobel Prize, he also won the J. Lawrence Smith Medal
J. Lawrence Smith Medal
J. Lawrence Smith Medal is awarded by the National Academy of Sciences for investigations of meteoric bodies. The medal is in honor of its namesake, J. Lawrence Smith.-Further reading:* Willson, Lee Anne. Presented April 2006....
in 1962, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society
-History:In the early years, more than one medal was often awarded in a year, but by 1833 only one medal was being awarded per year. This caused a problem when Neptune was discovered in 1846, because many felt an award should jointly be made to John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier...
in 1966, and the Priestley Medal
Priestley Medal
The Priestley Medal is the highest honor conferred by the American Chemical Society and is awarded for distinguished service in the field of chemistry. Established in 1922, the award is named after Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen who immigrated to the United States of America in 1794...
of the American Chemical Society
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 161,000 members at all degree-levels and in all fields of chemistry, chemical...
in 1973. In 1964 he received the National Medal of Science
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and...
. Named after him are lunar
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
impact crater
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
Urey
Urey (crater)
Urey is a lunar impact crater located in the narrow niche of terrain between the western halves of the craters Rayleigh and Lyapunov. It lies near the east-northeastern limb of the Moon, and thus appears very foreshortened when viewed from the Earth....
, asteroid 4716 Urey
4716 Urey
4716 Urey is a main-belt asteroid discovered on October 30, 1989 by S. J. Bus at Cerro Tololo.- External links :...
and the H. C. Urey Prize
H. C. Urey Prize
The Harold C. Urey Prize is awarded annually by the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. The prize recognizes outstanding achievement in planetary science by a young astronomer. The prize is named after Harold C. Urey....
, awarded for achievement in planetary science
Planetary science
Planetary science is the scientific study of planets , moons, and planetary systems, in particular those of the Solar System and the processes that form them. It studies objects ranging in size from micrometeoroids to gas giants, aiming to determine their composition, dynamics, formation,...
s by the American Astronomical Society
American Astronomical Society
The American Astronomical Society is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC...
. The Harold C. Urey Middle School in Walkerton, Indiana, is also named for him, as is Urey Hall, the chemistry building at Revelle College, UCSD, in La Jolla, California. (The actual name of the building is "Freida and Harold Urey Hall" because the naming committee worried that Dr. Urey might reject the honor, but knew he could not decline an honor to his wife.) UCSD has also established a Harold C. Urey chair whose first holder is Dr. James R. Arnold. Urey Lecture Hall on the University of Montana campus in Missoula, Montana also bears his name.
Publications
- Urey, H. C.; Grosse, A. V. & G. Walden. "Production of D{Sub 2}O for Use in the Fission of Uranium", Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Manhattan ProjectManhattan ProjectThe 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...
, (June 23, 1941). - Urey, H. C. "Investigation of the Photochemical Method for Uranium Isotope Separation", Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
- Division of War Research, Manhattan ProjectManhattan ProjectThe 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...
, (July 10, 1943). - Suess, H. E. & H. C. Urey. "Abundances of the Elements", Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
- Department of Chemistry and Institute of Nuclear Medicine, United States Geological SurveyUnited States Geological SurveyThe United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
, (July 13, 1955). - Urey, H. C. "Research on the Natural Abundance of Deuterium and Other Isotopes in Nature. Final Report for Period Ending September 30, 1958", University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
(through predecessor agency the Atomic Energy CommissionUnited States Atomic Energy CommissionThe United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
), (October 31, 1959).
Further reading
- Patrick Coffey, Cathedrals of Science: The Personalities and Rivalries That Made Modern Chemistry, Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-19-532134-0
External links
- Biography and Bibliographic Resources, from the Office of Scientific and Technical InformationOffice of Scientific and Technical InformationThe Office of Scientific and Technical Information is a component of the Office of Science within the U.S. Department of Energy...
, United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material... - National Academy of Sciences biography
- A biography
- Annotated bibliography for Harold Urey from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
- Harold Urey - Explaining why he rejects the notion of the moon breaking away from the earth - 1972