Joseph O. Hirschfelder

Joseph Oakland Hirschfelder (May 27, 1911 – March 30, 1990) was an American theoretical chemist who studied atomic and molecular quantum mechanics, the rates of chemical reactions, and the structure and properties of gases and liquids.

Hirschfelder also participated in the Manhattan Project, which created the atomic bomb.

Biography Hirschfelder was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of a Jewish couple, Arthur Douglas and May Rosalie (Straus). He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota from 1927 to 1929 and at Yale University from 1929 to 1931. Hirschfelder received doctorates in physics and chemistry from Princeton University He was an elected member of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science.

His book coauthored with Charles F. Curtiss and Robert Byron Bird, Molecular theory of gases and liquids, is a comprehensive text on the kinetic theories of gases and liquids.

Thin Man plutonium gun test casings at Muroc Army Airfield, as part of Project Alberta in the Manhattan Project. A Fat Man casing can be seen behind them.

Publications

Books

Awards and distinctions 1953 - elected to the National Academy of Sciences 1959 - elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1965 - elected to the Norwegian Royal Society 1976 - the National Medal of Science 1978 - honorary degree from Marquette University