The Resume

(November 17, 1902-January 1, 1995)
Born in Budapest, Hungary
Theoretical physicist and mathematician
Applied group theory to physics, resulting in the development of symmetry principles
In the Manhattan Project, headed a team designing nuclear reactors to convert uranium to weapons-grade plutonium
Co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics for ‘contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles ‘ (1963)
Member of the National Bureau of Standards (1947-51), the National Research Council (1951-54), and the General Advisory Council of the Atomic Energy Committee (1952-57,1959-64)
Wrote ‘The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences’ (1960)

Why he might be annoying:

One of his symmetry principles, conservation of parity (essentially, that ‘right’ and ‘left’ are indistinguishable in fundamental particle interactions), was later demonstrated to not always hold for subatomic particles.
He claimed that the United States could recover from a nuclear war more quickly than Germany recovered from World War II.
He wrote, ‘It is not at all natural that ‘laws of nature’ exist, much less that man is able to discover them.’

Why he might not be annoying:

He was fired from a teaching position at Berlin’s Technical University because of his Jewish background (1935).
He was a participant in the meeting between Leo Szilard and Albert Einstein that led to a letter being sent to President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning of the potential consequences of Nazi Germany developing an atomic weapon (August 2, 1939).
He helped Enrico Fermi produce the first controlled nuclear chain reaction (December 2, 1942).
He predicted the existence of metallic hydrogen, which would first be created in a lab 22 years after his death.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Scientists
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 76]
• Hungary for a Bagel [Hungarian Jews]
• I am a Jew who Converted to Christianity
• I am a Jewish Atheist
• I am a Lutheran
• I am an Atheist
• I am Hungarian
• I Died in 1995 (Ranked: 92)
• I Died on Day One [January 1st] (Ranked: 1995)
• I Earned a Doctorate
• I Married in 1979
• I was Home Schooled
• Look at Me, My Picture Is Art
• Manhattan Project
• Nobel Prize for Physics (Ranked: 1963)
• Profiles 46751-47000 (Ranked: 46826)
• Scientists
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19950101)

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying