Szilard, Leo

Leo Szilard was a Hungarian-born scientist who, along with Enrico Fermi in 1955, was awarded a patent for a nuclear fission reactor. In 1942, along with Fermi, he conducted the first controlled nuclear chain reaction. He coordinated the letter from Einstein which was sent to President Roosevelt that led to the commencement of the Manhattan Project. After the Second World War, he became involved in the movement to limit nuclear arms, give control to the civilian populace, and to prevent nuclear war. He also shifted from nuclear physics and engineering to molecular biology. (Source: "Hall of Fame: Inventor's Profile - Leo Szilard." Website of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. 2002. Accessed 20 June 2006. Bellarmine University Library. ‹http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/141.html›.)