insider.si.edu: Harold Urey; the man who explored from earth to moon [by] Alvin and Virginia Silverstein. Illustrated by Lee J. Ames
- #news
- #headline
Figure timeline
Harold Urey
Harold Clayton Urey was an American physical chemist who conducted pioneering work on isotopes. He earned the 1934 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his discovery of heavy hydrogen." He played a significant role in the development of the atom bomb, as well as contributing to theories on the development of organic life from non-living matter.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
science · American physical chemist (1893–1981) · astronomer · chemist · physical chemist · physicist · university teacher · writer · zoologist · also Harold Urey, Harold Clayton Urey, Harold C. Urey, Urey
Born 29 April 1893 · Died 5 January 1981 · Q179777
43 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
5 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Award
- Award
2025· 1 entry
1981· 1 entry
Died 1981-01-05.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #death
1975· 1 entry
Awarded V. M. Goldschmidt Award (1975).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1973· 1 entry
Won Priestley Medal (1973).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
1972· 1 entry
Won American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal (1972).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
1970· 1 entry
Awarded Linus Pauling Award (1970).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1969· 3 entries
Won Arthur L. Day Medal (1969).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Won Leonard Medal (1969).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Awarded Chemical Pioneer Award (1969).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1966· 2 entries
Won Golden Plate Award (1966).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Won Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1966).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
1964· 2 entries
Won National Medal of Science (1964).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Received the National Medal of Science
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1963· 1 entry
Awarded Remsen Award (1963).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1962· 3 entries
Won J. Lawrence Smith Medal (1962).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Awarded Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (1962).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1966, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1966, and the Priestley Medal of the American Chemical Society in 1973
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1960· 1 entry
Along with Stanley Miller, Hans Suess, and Jim Arnold
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1958· 2 entries
Reached the University of Chicago's retirement age of 65, but he accepted a post as a professor at large at the new University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and moved to La Jolla, California
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Accepted a post as a professor at large at the new University of California, San Diego (UCSD), where he helped create the science faculty
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1957· 1 entry
Awarded Guthrie Lecture (1957).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1950· 1 entry
Awarded Silliman Memorial Lectures (1950).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1947· 1 entry
Awarded Foreign Member of the Royal Society (1947).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1946· 2 entries
Awarded Liversidge Award (1946).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
It became the principal isotope separation plant in the early post-war period
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1943· 1 entry
Won Franklin Medal (1943).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
1940· 1 entry
Won Davy Medal (1940).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
1939· 2 entries
Urey was recognized as a world expert on isotope separation
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
And 1940, Urey published two papers on the separation of heavier isotopes in which he proposed centrifugal separation
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1935· 1 entry
Some Thermodynamic Properties of Hydrogen and Deuterium
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1934· 3 entries
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry — for his discovery of heavy hydrogen.
- #nobel
- #award
- #honour
Awarded Willard Gibbs Award (1934).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1934).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1933· 1 entry
By Lewis, who had the resources of the University of California at his disposal
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1932· 1 entry
And was its first editor, serving in that capacity until 1940
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1931· 1 entry
Began work with the separation of isotopes that resulted in the discovery of deuterium
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1929· 1 entry
Urey became an associate professor of chemistry at Columbia University, where his colleagues included Rudolph Schoenheimer, David Rittenberg, and T
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1923· 2 entries
Was awarded a fellowship by the American-Scandinavian Foundation to study at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Urey was awarded a fellowship by the American-Scandinavian Foundation to study at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, where he met Werner Heisenberg, Hans Kramers, Wolfgang Pauli, Georg von Hevesy, and John Slater
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1921· 1 entry
Urey enrolled in a PhD program at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied thermodynamics under Gilbert N
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1911· 1 entry
Obtained a teacher's certificate from Earlham College, and taught in a small school house in Indiana
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1893· 2 entries
Born 1893-04-29.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth
In Walkerton, Indiana, the son of Samuel Clayton Urey, a school teacher and a minister in the Church of the Brethren, and his wife, Cora Rebecca née Reinoehl
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event