Emil Konopinski

{{Short description|American nuclear physicist (1911–1990)}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Emil Konopinski | image = Emil J. Konopinski Los Alamos identity badge photo.jpg | caption = Konopinski's [[Los Alamos laboratory|Los Alamos]] identity badge photo | birth_name = Emil John Konopinski | birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|12|25}} | birth_place = [[Michigan City, Indiana]], U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1990|05|26|1911|12|25}} | death_place = [[Bloomington, Indiana]], U.S. | fields = {{Flatlist| * [[Theoretical physics]] * [[Nuclear physics]] }} | workplaces = [[Indiana University]] | alma_mater = [[University of Michigan]] (Ph.D) | thesis_title = A Synopsis of Theoretical Considerations Concerning the Continuous Beta-Ray-Spectra | thesis_year = 1936 | doctoral_advisor = [[George Uhlenbeck]] | doctoral_students = Eugene Greuling }} '''Emil John (Jan) Konopinski''' (December 25, 1911 in [[Michigan City, Indiana]] – May 26, 1990 in [[Bloomington, Indiana|Bloomington]], [[Indiana]]) was an [[Americans|American]] [[nuclear scientist]]<ref name="nyt obit">{{cite news|date=May 28, 1990|title=Emil Konopinski, 78, Atomic Bomb Scientist|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/28/obituaries/emil-konopinski-78-atomic-bomb-scientist.html|work=The New York Times|access-date=2 August 2025}}</ref> of [[Poland|Polish]] descent. His parents were Joseph and Sophia ({{neé|Sniegowska}}).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Konopinski mss., 1934-1988 - Archives Online at Indiana University |url=https://archives.iu.edu/catalog/InU-Li-VAD6628 |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=archives.iu.edu}}</ref>

He was, with [[George Uhlenbeck]] as thesis advisor, a 1934 Ph.D. graduate of the [[University of Michigan]], and later a professor of [[physics]] at [[Indiana University]]. His doctoral students include Eugene Greuling.<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=104307|title=Eugene Greuling}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Obituary: Eugene Greuling|journal=Physics Today|date=July 1975|volume=28|issue=7|pages=58|doi=10.1063/1.3069078|bibcode=1975PhT....28g..58.|doi-access=free}}</ref> During [[World War II|WW II]] Konopinski collaborated with [[Enrico Fermi]] on the first [[nuclear reactor]] at the [[University of Chicago]]. He also joined the [[Manhattan Project]] to develop the first [[nuclear weapon]] (atomic bomb).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Emery |first1=Guy T. |last2=Langer |first2=Lawrence M. |author-link2=Lawrence Marvin Langer |last3=Newton |first3=Roger G. |author-link3=Roger G. Newton |date=October 1991 |title=Obituary: Emil J. Konopinski |journal=Physics Today |volume=44 |issue=10 |pages=144 |bibcode=1991PhT....44j.144E |doi=10.1063/1.2810306 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

He, together with C. Marvin and [[Edward Teller]], showed that a thermonuclear explosion would not ignite the atmosphere and thereby destroy the earth.<ref>{{cite tech report |last=Konopinski |first=E. J |author2=C. Marvin |author3=Edward Teller |author3-link=Edward Teller |title=Ignition of the Atmosphere with Nuclear Bombs |number=LA-602 | institution=Los Alamos National Laboratory |url=https://fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/docs1/00329010.pdf |format=PDF |date=1946|type=declassified Feb. 1973 |accessdate=2008-11-23}}</ref>

An [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]] consultant from 1946 to 1968, he wrote a book entitled ''The Theory of Beta Radioactivity.''

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{MathGenealogy|id=120320|title=Emil John Konopinski}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20130925105951/http://www.iu.edu/~uha/search-awards/honoree.phtml?id=3485 Emil J. Konopinski, UHA: Indiana University – Award Honoree]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konopinski, Emil}} [[Category:American nuclear physicists]] [[Category:20th-century American physicists]] [[Category:American experimental physicists]] [[Category:American theoretical physicists]] [[Category:1911 births]] [[Category:1990 deaths]] [[Category:Manhattan Project people]] [[Category:Indiana University faculty]] [[Category:University of Michigan alumni]] [[Category:American people of Polish descent]] [[Category:People from Michigan City, Indiana]] [[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]] [[Category:People from Los Alamos, New Mexico]]