Contributions of Sol Pearlstein to Nuclear Data

Abstract

The late Sol Pearlstein was a pioneer and leading figure in the field of nuclear physics data, a field that is fundamental to progress in both applied nuclear technology and basic nuclear physics research. As the first director of the United States National Nuclear Data Center, he was responsible for organizing the United States nuclear data evaluation work and the production of the Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF). Sol was a strong supporter of collaboration in science, both nationally and internationally. He was the driving force behind the development of international collaborations to compile nuclear reaction data and to evaluate nuclear structure and radioactivity data, activities that continue to this day to be crucial components of the world’s nuclear data effort.