# Benjamin Abeles > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Abeles > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Benjamin_Abeles.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Abeles > Source revision: 1343710030 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Benjamin Abeles** (23 June 1925 – 14 December 2020)[2] was an Austrian-Czech physicist whose research in the 1960s in the US on [germanium](/source/Germanium)–[silicon](/source/Silicon) [alloys](/source/Alloy) led to the technology used to power space probes such as the [*Voyager* spacecraft](/source/Voyager_spacecraft). He grew up in Austria and Czechoslovakia and arrived in the UK in 1939 on one of the *[Kindertransport](/source/Kindertransport)* missions. He completed his education after the war in Czechoslovakia and Israel (from 1949), obtaining a doctorate in physics. He then lived and worked as a research physicist in the US and retired in 1995. His honours include the 1979 [Stuart Ballantine Medal](/source/Stuart_Ballantine_Medal) and his induction into the [New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame](/source/New_Jersey_Inventors_Hall_of_Fame) (1991). ## Early life and education Born in [Vienna](/source/Vienna) in 1925, Abeles lived in [Czechoslovakia](/source/Czechoslovakia) from 1934.[3] In July 1939, aged 14, he was one of hundreds of Jewish children brought from [Prague](/source/Prague) to London through the efforts of British humanitarian [Nicholas Winton](/source/Nicholas_Winton), an example of the various *[Kindertransport](/source/Kindertransport)* missions that saved many such children from the impending dangers of World War II and the Holocaust.[3] His parents and older sister were later deported and murdered by the Nazis.[4] At age 15, he worked as a waiter and took correspondence courses in English, mathematics, physics and chemistry. When he was 18, Abeles served as a mechanic in the war as part of [No. 311 Squadron RAF](/source/No._311_Squadron_RAF).[3] He then returned to Czechoslovakia after the war and studied at [Charles University in Prague](/source/Charles_University_in_Prague) and [Czech Technical University in Prague](/source/Czech_Technical_University_in_Prague), before moving to Israel in 1949 to study for his physics doctorate in Jerusalem.[3] His thesis, published in 1955, was titled 'The Galvanomagnetic Effects in Bismuth and Bi–Sn Alloys'.[5] ## Career Following the award of his PhD, Abeles worked in Israel on germanium electronics before moving to the United States to carry out research in Princeton for the [Radio Corporation of America](/source/Radio_Corporation_of_America).[3] During his career, Abeles worked at both the [David Sarnoff Research Center](/source/David_Sarnoff_Research_Center) and at Exxon Research and Engineering in [Annandale](/source/Annandale,_New_Jersey), New Jersey. Working with George D. Cody in the 1960s, Abeles developed germanium–silicon alloys that were used in the development of the [radioisotope thermoelectric generators](/source/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator) used to power spacecraft and probes engaged in long voyages of [space exploration](/source/Space_exploration).[6] Abeles also worked as a professor at the [University of Texas](/source/University_of_Texas).[3] ## Recognition and later life For their work, Abeles and Cody received the 1979 [Stuart Ballantine Medal](/source/Stuart_Ballantine_Medal) (Engineering) from the Franklin Institute,[7] and were inducted into the [New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame](/source/New_Jersey_Inventors_Hall_of_Fame) in 1991.[6] Abeles's 65th birthday in 1990 was marked by a symposium in his honour: 'Physical Phenomena in Granular Materials'.[8] He retired in 1995, and subsequently lived predominantly in the UK.[3] Abeles died in [Leicester](/source/Leicester), England on 14 December 2020, aged 95.[9] ## References 1. [Benjamin Abeles (* 1925 †︎ 2020) Pamet Naroda](https://www.pametnaroda.cz/cs/abeles-benjamin-20110809-0) 1. Abeles, David (21 March 2021). ["Benjamin Abeles obituary"](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/21/benjamin-abeles-obituary). *The Guardian* 1. ["Wintonovo dítě vyvinulo zdroj energie pro kosmické sondy"](http://www.lidovky.cz/wintonovo-dite-vyvinulo-zdroj-energie-pro-kosmicke-sondy-pnm-/veda.aspx?c=A110126_095908_ln_veda_jmt). lidovky.cz. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2013. 1. ["Child refugees who fled Nazis plead for UK to take in more migrants"](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42906314). *BBC News*. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2020. 1. ["התופעות הגלונומגנטיות בביסמוט ונתכי ביסמוט-בדיל"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002154/http://lib-phds1.weizmann.ac.il/vufind/Record/000074538/Details#tabnav). Weizmann Institute of Science. Archived from [the original](http://lib-phds1.weizmann.ac.il/vufind/Record/000074538/Details#tabnav) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2013. 1. ["1991 Award Winners"](http://www.njinvent.org/awards/Awards91.html). New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160228100151/http://www.njinvent.org/awards/Awards91.html) 28 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 16 August 2013. 1. ["Franklin Laureate Database: Benjamin Abeles"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120222143743/http://www.fi.edu/winners/detail.faw?winner_id=2177). Franklin Institute. Archived from [the original](http://www.fi.edu/winners/detail.faw?winner_id=2177) on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2013. 1. ["Physical phenomena in granular materials: symposium held April 16–20, 1990, San Francisco, California, U.S.A"](https://www.worldcat.org/title/489910429). *WorldCat*. [OCLC 489910429](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/489910429) 1. [Zemřel fyzik Bedřich Abeles. Sloužil v RAF, vynalezl pohon pro Voyager](https://www.idnes.cz/technet/veda/benjamin-abeles-fyzik-raf.A201214_192614_veda_pka) ## External links - ['Nicky's Family' reveals legacy of human compassion](https://web.archive.org/web/20110128170635/http://www.ceskapozice.cz/en/czech-living/art-leisure/%E2%80%98nicky%E2%80%99s-family%E2%80%99-reveals-legacy-human-compassion), review of documentary on the *[kindertransport](/source/Kindertransport)* children including Abeles (ceskapozice.cz) - [Czech-language interview with Abeles in 2011](http://www.lidovky.cz/wintonovo-dite-vyvinulo-zdroj-energie-pro-kosmicke-sondy-pnm-/veda.aspx?c=A110126_095908_ln_veda_jmt) (lidovky.cz) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Benjamin Abeles](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Abeles) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Abeles?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.