Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2026
09:40
Electron Spin Resonance Micro-imaging of Live Species for Oxygen Mapping
Published on: August 26, 2010
Imagining a 'Jewish atom bomb', constructing a scientific diaspora
Or Rabinowitz1, Yehonatan Abramson1
1The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Social Studies of Science
|February 9, 2022
Summary
This study examines how Chaim Weizmann mobilized a scientific diaspora, leveraging Jewish scientists in the American nuclear project for political goals. It reveals early Zionist efforts to acquire nuclear technology and influence international relations.
Area of Science:
- Transnational mobilization studies
- Science and Technology Studies (STS)
- Sociotechnical imaginaries
- Socio-spatial positionality
Background:
- Explores the intersection of transnational mobilization and STS.
- Investigates the formation of scientific activism and science's role in government objectives.
Purpose of the Study:
- Examines Dr. Chaim Weizmann's efforts to create and mobilize a 'scientific diaspora'.
- Analyzes the selective practices used to connect Jewish nuclear scientists and professionals.
Main Methods:
- Integrates concepts of national sociotechnical imaginaries and socio-spatial positionality.
- Utilizes new archival evidence on early Zionist movement initiatives.
Main Results:
- Reveals hitherto unknown early efforts by the Zionist movement to acquire a nuclear reactor.
- Demonstrates the utilization of Jewish involvement in the American nuclear project for political leverage.
Conclusions:
- Highlights Weizmann's tailored strategies to animate Jewish connections among nuclear scientists.
- Underscores the role of mobilized science in achieving political and governmental goals.
Related Concept Videos
01:33Atomic Structure
All matter is composed of atoms, the smallest individual units of elements. Each atom is made up of three subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. Together, these three particles account for the mass and the charge of an atom.The History of Atomic TheoryThe first person to propose that everything on Earth is made up of tiny particles was the Greek philosopher Democritus, around 450 B.C. He used the term atomos, Greek for “indivisible,” from which the modern term “atom” is derived.
03:37Subatomic Particles
Dalton was only partially correct about the particles that make up matter. All matter is composed of atoms, and atoms are composed of three smaller subatomic particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons. These three particles account for the mass and the charge of an atom.
02:45The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom
Shortly after de Broglie published his ideas that the electron in a hydrogen atom could be better thought of as being a circular standing wave instead of a particle moving in quantized circular orbits, Erwin Schrödinger extended de Broglie’s work by deriving what is now known as the Schrödinger equation. When Schrödinger applied his equation to hydrogen-like atoms, he was able to reproduce Bohr’s expression for the energy and, thus, the Rydberg formula governing hydrogen spectra. Schrödinger...
02:50Nuclear Fission
Many heavier elements with smaller binding energies per nucleon can decompose into more stable elements that have intermediate mass numbers and larger binding energies per nucleon—that is, mass numbers and binding energies per nucleon that are closer to the “peak” of the binding energy graph near 56. Sometimes neutrons are also produced. This decomposition of a large nucleus into smaller pieces is called fission. The breaking is rather random with the formation of a large number of different...
02:28Electronic Structure of Atoms
An atom comprises protons and neutrons, which are contained inside the dense, central core called the nucleus, with electrons present around the nucleus. Taking into account the wave–particle duality of electrons and the uncertainty in position around the nucleus, quantum mechanics provides a more accurate model for the atomic structure. It describes atomic orbitals as the regions around the nucleus where electrons of discrete energy exist, characterized by four quantum numbers: n, l, ml, and...
01:17Atomic Structure
The Greek philosopher Democritus proposed that everything on Earth is made up of tiny particles called atomos, Greek for "indivisible," from which the modern term "atom" is derived. In the 19th century, John Dalton proposed the atomic theory that is still largely correct today. He put forth five postulates to explain how atoms made up the world around us. (1) All matter is composed of infinitely small particles or atoms. (2) All atoms of a given element are identical to one another and (3) are...