Edwin M. McMillan
National Medal of Science
Physical Sciences
For his scientific achievements including the identification of the first transuranic element (neptunium) and the invention of the phase stability principle incorporated in the synchrotron.
VIEW STATISTICS +
Birth
September 18, 1907Age Awarded
83Country of Birth
USAKey Contributions
Manhattan ProjectCo-Discovered Neptunium
Co-Invented Synchrotron
Awarded by
George H. W. BushEducation
Princeton UniversityCalifornia Institute of Technology
Areas of Impact
TransportationTheory & Foundations
Affiliations
University of California, BerkeleyOther Prizes
Nobel PrizeEdwin M. McMillan made a huge impact on the field of chemistry when he discovered a new element.The chemist produced the element neptunium in 1940, the first transuranium element ever to be discovered. A transuranium element is one with an atomic number greater than 92, the atomic number of uranium.
McMillan and his collaborator Glenn Seaborg named the element after the planet Neptune since it was the next element after uranium, an element named after the planet Uranus.
In 1942, McMillan joined the Manhattan Project, the research effort to develop nuclear weapons during World War II. While working on the initiative, McMillan helped create the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where the world’s first atomic bomb was created. After the war, McMillan became director of the University of California Radiation Laboratory and he remained at the university until his retirement in 1974.
By Rachel Warren