About Philip Abelson
Philip Hauge Abelson (April 27, 1913 – August 1, 2004) was an American physicist, scientific editor and science writer. Trained as a nuclear physicist, he co-discovered the element neptunium, worked on isotope separation in the Manhattan Project, and wrote the first study of nuclear marine propulsion for submarines. He later worked on a broad range of scientific topics and related public policy, including organic geochemistry, paleobiology and energy policy. Abelson served as editor-in-chief of the journal Science from 1962–84, president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington from 1971–78, and president of the American Geophysical Union from 1972-74. His frequent editorials in Science, both during and after his term as editor, became known for their strident and thought-provoking views. A collection of 100 of his editorials was published as a book, entitled Enough of Pessimism. He may have been the original source of the phrase 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence'. == Life == Abelson was born on April 27, 1913, in Tacoma, Washington, to Norwegian immigrant parents. He attended Washington State University, where he received degrees in chemistry and physics, and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), where he earned his PhD in nuclear physics. As a young physicist, he worked for Ernest Lawrence at the UC Berkeley.
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