Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Obitury : Hans Bethe, Father of Nuclear Astrophysics
Hans Bethe, Father of Nuclear Astrophysics, Dies at 98:
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Hans Bethe, who discovered the violent force behind sunlight, helped devise the atom bomb and eventually cried out against the military excesses of the cold war, died late Sunday. He was 98, among the last of the giants who inaugurated the nuclear age.
His death was announced by Cornell University, where he worked and taught for 70 years. A spokesman said he died quietly at home.
Except for the war years at Los Alamos, N.M., Dr. Bethe lived in Ithaca, N.Y., an unpretentious man of uncommon gifts. His students called him Hans and admired his muddy shoes as much as his explaining how certain kinds of stars shine. For number crunching, in lieu of calculators, he relied on a slide rule, its case battered. 'For the things I do,' he remarked a few years ago, 'it's accurate enough.'......
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By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Hans Bethe, who discovered the violent force behind sunlight, helped devise the atom bomb and eventually cried out against the military excesses of the cold war, died late Sunday. He was 98, among the last of the giants who inaugurated the nuclear age.
His death was announced by Cornell University, where he worked and taught for 70 years. A spokesman said he died quietly at home.
Except for the war years at Los Alamos, N.M., Dr. Bethe lived in Ithaca, N.Y., an unpretentious man of uncommon gifts. His students called him Hans and admired his muddy shoes as much as his explaining how certain kinds of stars shine. For number crunching, in lieu of calculators, he relied on a slide rule, its case battered. 'For the things I do,' he remarked a few years ago, 'it's accurate enough.'......
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