In 1938, he worked out the details of how nuclear mechanisms power stars. He also worked on the first atom bomb but later became a peace campaigner. Nobel prize 1967. Bethe was born in Strasbourg (now in France), and educated at the universities of Frankfurt and Munich. He left Germany 1933, moving first to England and in 1935 to the USA, where he became professor of theoretical physics at Cornell University; his research was interrupted by World War II and by his appointment as head of the theoretical division of the Los Alamos atom-bomb project. He has been a leading voice in emphasizing the social responsibility of the scientist and opposed the US government's Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) programme.
