Editing Harold Furth

{{Short description|Austrian-American physicist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = 
| name              = Harold Paul Furth
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| native_name       = 
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| image             = Portrait of Harold Furth.jpg
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| birth_name        = Harald Fürth
| birth_date        = {{birth date |1930|01|13}}
| birth_place       = [[Vienna]], Austria
| death_date        = {{death date and age |2002|02|21 |1930|01|13}}
| death_place       = [[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, US
| resting_place     = [[Princeton Cemetery]], Princeton, NJ
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| other_names       = 
| pronounce         = 
| citizenship       = 
| nationality       = Austrian-American
| fields            = [[physics]], [[astrophysics]], [[magnetohydrodynamics]], [[Radioactive decay|nuclear radiation]],<ref name="TheFreeDictionary">{{cite web | url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Furth%2c+Harold+P. | title=Harold P. Furth page on The Free Dictionary | access-date=November 3, 2018}}</ref> [[Nuclear fusion|controlled thermonuclear fusion]]<ref name="TheFreeDictionary" />
| workplaces        = [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]], [[Princeton University]]
| patrons           = 
| education         = [[Harvard University]] (B.S., Ph.D.)
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| known_for         = [[magnetohydrodynamics|Resistive magnetohydrodynamics]]
| influences        = 
| influenced        = 
| awards            = {{plainlist|
* [[James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics]] (1983)
* [[Franklin Institute Awards|Delmer S. Fahrney Medal]] (1992)
}}
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'''Harold Paul Furth''' (January 13, 1930 – February 21, 2002) was an [[Austria]]n-American [[physicist]] who was a pioneer in leading the American efforts to harness thermonuclear fusion for the generation of electricity.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chang|first=Kenneth|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/22/nyregion/harold-p-furth-72-dies-led-fusion-experiments.html|title=Harold P. Furth, 72, Dies; Led Fusion Experiments|date=2002-02-22|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-02-15|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.princeton.edu/news/2002/02/21/professor-astrophysical-sciences-harold-p-furth-dies|title=Professor of astrophysical sciences Harold P. Furth dies|website=Princeton University|language=en|access-date=2020-02-15}}</ref> He died of a heart ailment on 21 February 2002.<ref name="aip_obit">{{Cite journal|last1=Fisch|first1=Nathaniel J.|author-link=Nathaniel J. Fisch|last2=Fowler|first2=T. Kenneth|last3=Frieman|first3=Edward A.|author-link3=Edward A. Frieman|last4=Goldston|first4=Robert J.|author-link4=Robert J. Goldston|date=2004|title=Harold Paul Furth|journal=Physics Today|volume=57|issue=2|pages=76–77|bibcode=2004PhT....57b..76F|doi=10.1063/1.1688079|issn=0031-9228|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Early life==
Furth emigrated to the United States in 1941. His father fled a POW camp during WWI, but returned to Vienna a few years later. In his later years, he ran a shoe-making business with his family.<ref name="aip_obit" /> He also developed an interest for literature. In the summer of 1939, Harold's father had escaped to Switzerland. After studying at the French-speaking École Internationale in Geneva, Harold immigrated to New York City in 1941. He later graduated at the head of his class at [[The Hill School]].<ref name=nas>{{cite book|last=Fowler|first=T. Kenneth|title=Biographical Memoirs|year=2003|publisher=[[National Academies Press]]|volume=83|pages=35–45|chapter=Chapter 4. Harold P. Furth 1930–2002|chapter-url=https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/10830/chapter/4#35}}</ref> He graduated from [[Harvard University]] with a bachelor's degree in 1951 and received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1960. His PhD thesis is entitled ''Magnetic Analysis of K<sup>–</sup> Interactions in Emulsion Nuclei''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Harvard Physics PhD Theses 1954–1970|website=harvard.edu|url=https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/PhD1954-1970.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/PhD1954-1970.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Career==
Furth worked at [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] from 1956 to 1967 before going in 1967 to [[Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory]] (PPPL)<ref name=nas/> where he would spend the rest of his career working in [[plasma (physics)|plasma physics]] and [[nuclear fusion]]. He was also a professor of [[astrophysics]] at [[Princeton University]].<ref name="furth_1995">Furth, Harold (1995) ''Fusion'', [[Scientific American]] '''273'''(3), 174-176.</ref>

In the late 1960s, Furth contributed some important theoretical work on resistive [[magnetohydrodynamics]] instabilities in a slightly resistive plasma.

In 1981 Furth became the director at PPPL and led the laboratory until 1990 during record setting [[Magnetic confinement fusion|magnetic fusion energy]] experiments on the largest [[tokamak]] in the country, the [[Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor]] (TFTR).

==Awards==
In 1983, Furth was awarded the [[James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics]] by the [[American Physical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Furth&first_nm=Harold&year=1983|title=1983 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics Recipient|website=American Physical Society|language=en|access-date=2020-02-15}}</ref> In 1992, he was awarded the Delmer S. Fahrney Medal (now known as the [[Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute)|Benjamin Franklin Medal]] in Physics) by the [[Franklin Institute]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fi.edu/laureates/harold-p-furth|title=Harold P. Furth|date=2014-01-15|website=The Franklin Institute|language=en|access-date=2020-02-15}}</ref>

Furth was also a member of the [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]].<ref name=nas/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.myheritage.com/names/harold_fürth MyHeritage page]
*[https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.1688079 https://physicstoday.scitation.org]

{{James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics recipients}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furth, Harold}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:The Hill School alumni]]
[[Category:Princeton University faculty]]
[[Category:20th-century American physicists]]
[[Category:Austrian physicists]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:American plasma physicists]]
[[Category:Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory people]]
[[Category:Burials at Princeton Cemetery]]