\tBrowse the article Leo Szilard\tLeo Szilard
Szilard, Leo (1898–1964), a Hungarian-American physicist who was instrumental in developing nuclear reactors. Early in 1939, at Columbia University, Szilard proved conclusively that as uranium releases energy it releases neutrons, which can then begin a chain reaction by “splitting” other uranium nuclei.
Szilard and Enrico Fermi took charge of the first phase of the atomic bomb project in 1940. In 1942, at the University of Chicago, they obtained the first controlled chain reaction, using uranium surrounded by graphite.
Szilard was born in Budapest, Hungary, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Berlin, where he taught physics (1925–32). He conducted nuclear research in British and American laboratories, and became a United States citizen in 1943. In 1946 he became a professor of biophysics at the University of Chicago. After World War II Szilard became a leader in movements urging international non-military control of nuclear energy. He shared the 1959 Atoms for Peace Award for his wartime work in developing nuclear reactors.