Hans Albrecht Bethe – July 2, 1906–March 6, 2005. Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967 for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. Head of the Theoretical Division developing the first atomic bombs, and also played an important role in the development of the larger hydrogen bomb.

Bethe later campaigned together with Albert Einstein in the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists against nuclear testing and the nuclear arms race. He influenced the White House to sign the ban of atmospheric nuclear tests in 1963 and Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (SALT I) in 1972.

He is one of the few scientists who can claim a major paper in his field every decade of his career, which spanned nearly sixty years. Freeman Dyson called Bethe the “supreme problem solver of the 20th century.”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Bethe

This lecture was recorded late in his life. The pace is slow, but the thought is lucid.

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