Yuval Ne'eman ( he, יובל נאמן, 14 May 1925 – 26 April 2006) was an Israeli

theoretical A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

, military scientist, and politician. He was Minister of Science and Development in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was the President of

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

from 1971 to 1977. He was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

in the field of exact sciences (which he returned in 1992 in protest of the award of the Israel Prize to

Emile Habibi Emile Shukri Habibi ( ar, إميل حبيبي, he, אמיל חביבי, 28 January 1922 – 2 May 1996) was a Palestinian-Israeli

), the

Albert Einstein Award The Albert Einstein Award (sometimes mistakenly called the ''Albert Einstein Medal'' because it was accompanied with a gold medal) was an award in theoretical physics, given periodically from 1951 to 1979, that was established to recognize high ac ...

, the

Wigner Medal The International Colloquium on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics is an academic conference devoted to applications of group theory to physics. It was founded in 1972 by Henri Bacry and Aloysio Janner. It hosts a colloquium every two years. Th ...

, and the

EMET Prize The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture is an Israeli prize awarded annually for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far-reaching influence and make a significant contribution to society. Prizes are awarded in the fol ...

for Arts, Sciences and Culture.

Biography

Yuval Ne'eman was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

during the Mandate era, graduated from high school at the age of 15, and studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

at the Technion. At the age of 15, Ne'eman also joined the

Haganah Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...

. During the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

Ne'eman served in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF) as battalion deputy commander, then as Operations Officer of Tel Aviv, and commander of

Givati Brigade The 84th "Givati" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת גִּבְעָתִי, , "Hill Brigade" or "Highland Brigade") is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Until 2005, the Brigade used to be stationed within the Gaza Strip and primarily perf ...

. Later (1952–54) he served as Deputy Commander of Operations Department of General Staff, Commander of the Planning Department of the IDF. In this role, he helped organize the IDF into a

reservist A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is ...

-based army, developed the mobilization system, and wrote the first draft of Israel's defense doctrine. Between 1958 and 1960 Ne'eman was IDF Attaché in Great Britain, where he also studied for a PhD in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

under the supervision of 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics winner

Abdus Salam Mohammad Abdus Salam Salam adopted the forename "Mohammad" in 1974 in response to the anti-Ahmadiyya decrees in Pakistan, similarly he grew his beard. (; ; 29 January 192621 November 1996) was a Punjabi Pakistani theoretical physicist and a ...

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. In 1961, he was demobilized from the IDF with a rank of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

. In 1981, Ne'eman became a founding member of the

World Cultural Council The World Cultural Council is an international organization whose goals are to promote cultural values, goodwill and philanthropy among individuals. The organization founded in 1981 and based in Mexico, has held a yearly award ceremony since 198 ...

. Between 1998 and 2002 Ne'eman was the head of the Israeli Engineer Association

Scientific career

One of his greatest achievements in physics was his 1961 discovery of the classification of

hadron In particle physics, a hadron (; grc, ἁδρός, hadrós; "stout, thick") is a composite subatomic particle made of two or more quarks held together by the strong interaction. They are analogous to molecules that are held together by the ele ...

s through the

SU(3) In mathematics, the special unitary group of degree , denoted , is the Lie group of unitary matrices with determinant 1. The more general unitary matrices may have complex determinants with absolute value 1, rather than real 1 in the specia ...

flavour symmetry In particle physics, flavour or flavor refers to the ''species'' of an elementary particle. The Standard Model counts six flavours of quarks and six flavours of leptons. They are conventionally parameterized with ''flavour quantum numbers'' th ...

, now named the '' Eightfold Way'', which was also proposed independently by

Murray Gell-Mann Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He was the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Theoretical ...

. This SU(3) symmetry laid the foundation of the

quark model In particle physics, the quark model is a classification scheme for hadrons in terms of their valence quarks—the quarks and antiquarks which give rise to the quantum numbers of the hadrons. The quark model underlies "flavor SU(3)", or the E ...

, proposed by Gell-Mann and

George Zweig George Zweig (; born May 30, 1937) is a Russian-American physicist. He was trained as a particle physicist under Richard Feynman. He introduced, independently of Murray Gell-Mann, the quark model (although he named it "aces"). He later turned his ...

in 1964 (independently of each other). Ne'eman was founder and director of the School of Physics and Astronomy at

from 1965 to 1972, President of Tel Aviv University from 1971 to 1977 (following George S. Wise, and succeeded by

Haim Ben-Shahar Haim Ben-Shahar (חיים בן שחר) (born c.1935) is an Israeli economist, and former President of Tel Aviv University. Biography Ben-Shahar was born in Israel. He earned a Ph.D. in Banking and Finance from New York University. He is an econo ...

), and director of its Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies from 1979 to 1997. He was also the co-director (along with Sudarshan) of the Center for Particle Theory at the

University of Texas, Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

from 1968 to 1990. He was a strong believer in the importance of space research and satellites to Israel's economic future and security, and thus founded the

Israel Space Agency The Israel Space Agency (ISA; he, סוכנות החלל הישראלית, ''Sokhnut heKhalal haYisraelit'') is a governmental body, a part of Israel's Ministry of Science and Technology, that coordinates all Israeli space research programs wi ...

in 1983, which he chaired almost until his death. He also served on the Israel Atomic Energy Commission from 1965 to 1984 and held the position of scientific director in its Soreq facility. Nee'man was chief scientist of the Defense Ministry from 1974 to 1976. He was described as "one of the most colorful figures of modern science" and co-authored ''The Particle Hunters'', which was published in English in 1986. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

Literary Supplement'' hailed this book as "the best guide to quantum physics at present available".

Awards and honours

*In 1969, Ne'eman received the

in the field of exact sciences (which he returned in 1992 in protest of the award of the Israel Prize to

Emile Habibi Emile Shukri Habibi ( ar, إميل حبيبي, he, אמיל חביבי, 28 January 1922 – 2 May 1996) was a Palestinian-Israeli

). *In 1970, he received the

for his unique contribution in the field of physics. *In 1972, he was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. *In 1984, he received the

, which is awarded every 2 years for "outstanding contributions to the understanding of physics through group theory." *In 2003, he received the

for Arts, Sciences and Culture for his pioneering contribution in the deciphering of the atomic nucleus and its components, and for his enormous scientific contribution to the development of sub-atomic physics in Israel. He was also awarded with the College de France Medal and the Officer's Cross of the French Order of Merit (Paris, 1972), the Wigner Medal (Istanbul-Austin, 1982), Birla Science Award (Hyderabad, 1998) and additional prizes and honorary doctorates from universities in Europe and USA.

Political career

In the late 1970s, Ne'eman founded

Tehiya Tehiya ( he, תחיה, ''Revival''), originally known as Banai (Hebrew: , an acronym for ''Land of Israel Loyalists' Alliance'' (Hebrew: )), then Tehiya-Bnai (Hebrew: ), was an ultranationalist political party in Israel. The party existed from ...

, a

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

breakaway from

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon ...

, formed in opposition to

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'' (); pl, Menachem Begin (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ''Menakhem Volfovich Begin''; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. B ...

's support for the Camp David talks that paved the way for peace with

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

and the evacuation of

Yamit Yamit ( he, ימית) was an Israeli settlement in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula with a population of about 2,500 people. Yamit was established during Israel's occupation of the peninsula from the end of the 1967 Six-Day War until th ...

. He was elected to the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

in the 1981 elections in which Tehiya won three seats. The party joined Begin's coalition about a year after the elections and Ne'eman was appointed Minister of Science and Development, the role later changed to Minister of Science and Technology. He retained his seat in the 1984 elections, but Tehiya were not included in the grand coalition formed by the

Alignment Alignment may refer to: Archaeology * Alignment (archaeology), a co-linear arrangement of features or structures with external landmarks * Stone alignment, a linear arrangement of upright, parallel megalithic standing stones Biology * Structu ...

and

. After the 1988 elections, Tehiya were again excluded from the governing coalition. Ne'eman resigned from the Knesset on 31 January 1990 and was replaced by Gershon Shafat. However, Tehiya joined the government in June after the Alignment had left, and he was appointed Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and Minister of Science and Technology despite not retaking his seat in the Knesset. He lost his ministerial position following the 1992 elections and did not return to politics.

Death

He died at age 80, on 26 April 2006 in the

Ichilov Hospital Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center ( he, המרכז הרפואי תל אביב ע"ש סוראסקי; commonly referred to as Ichilov Hospital) is the main hospital complex serving Tel Aviv, Israel and its metropolitan area and the second-largest h ...

, Tel Aviv, from a stroke. He left a wife, Dvora; a son and daughter; and a sister, Ruth Ben-Yisrael.

References

External links

* *
Jerusalem Post obituary

Yuval Ne'eman's papers in the INSPIRE-HEP database

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neeman, Yuval 1925 births 2006 deaths People from Tel Aviv Jews in Mandatory Palestine Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium alumni Technion – Israel Institute of Technology alumni Haganah members Israeli soldiers Israeli Jews Presidents of universities in Israel Jewish scientists Particle physicists Israeli physicists Israeli nuclear physicists Tel Aviv University faculty Israel Prize in exact science recipients Israel Prize in exact science recipients who were physicists EMET Prize recipients in the Exact Sciences Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Tehiya leaders Founding members of the World Cultural Council Space program of Israel Jewish physicists Jewish Israeli politicians Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984) Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988) Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992) Fellows of the American Physical Society Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery Leaders of the Opposition (Israel) Ministers of Energy of Israel Ministers of Infrastructure of Israel Ministers of Science of Israel