Harold Urey was an American physicist and chemist who came to prominence for his pioneering work on isotopes. He led the discovery of the deuterium—a heavy form of hydrogen— that earned him a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934. Other than this, he also played a significant role in the development of atomic bomb during World War II. Urey was born in Walkerton, Indiana to a teacher father. He studied thermodynamics under Gilbert N Lewis and completed his PhD in 1923. Following his doctorate, he started off as a research associate at John Hopkins University before taking up the seat of associate professor of Chemistry at Columbia University. In 1931, Urey discovered the deuterium, which he initially referred to as a heavy form of hydrogen. Following this, he became world renowned as an expert of isotope separation. During World War II, Urey directed his energies towards uranium separation and its enrichment using gaseous diffusion. Post war, Urey took up professorship. Towards the end of his career, he studied space science and was amongst the six scientists who studied space samples brought forth by Apollo 11 at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory.
