Hans Albrecht Bethe

2001 Bruce Medalist

Date of Birth: June 2, 1906
Date of Death: March 6, 2005

Hans Bethe was born in Strassburg, Germany (now Strasbourg, France). He studied at the Universities of Frankfurt and Munich, where he earned his Ph.D. under Arnold Sommerfeld in 1928. He made important contributions to the theories of electrons in crystals, the negative hydrogen ion, and the passage of charged particles through matter and wrote major review articles on one-and-two electron atoms and electrons in metals before leaving Germany in 1933 for England. There he began working in nuclear physics, and he and Rudolph Peierls developed the theoretical model of the deuteron shortly after its discovery. Bethe was at Cornell University from 1935 to 2005. His three review articles in the late 1930s (two of them with coauthors) became known as “Bethe’s Bible” and formed the first real textbook of nuclear physics. In 1938 he developed the detailed model of the nuclear reactions which power the stars. He worked out the reaction rates for the CNO cycle, which he introduced, and which powers the more massive stars, and (with C.L. Critchfield) of the proton-proton chain, which had been suggested earlier by others, and which is more important in lower mass stars such as the sun. At the beginning of World War II Bethe, on his own, formed a theory of the penetration of armor by projectiles, and, with Edward Teller, produced a major paper on shock waves. From 1943 to 1946 Bethe headed the theoretical group at Los Alamos, where the first nuclear bomb was designed and built. After the war he worked on nuclear matter and meson theory and was the first to explain the Lamb shift in the hydrogen atom in an early and important contribution to quantum electrodynamics. He was an influential advisor to government agencies on both defense and energy policies, and he wrote widely about arms control and the need for new energy policies. After his official retirement he returned to astrophysics, and he continued to do research on solar neutrinos, supernovae, neutron stars, black holes, and other problems in theoretical astrophysics into his late nineties.

Presentation of Bruce medal

Mercury 30, 3, 5 (2001).

Other awards

American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Rumford prize, 1963.
American Philosophical Society, Benjamin Franklin Medal, 2005.
Franklin Institute, Ben Franklin medal, 1959.
German Physical Society, Max Planck Medal, 1955.
Government of Germany, Order Pour le Merite for Arts and Sciences, 1984.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory Medal, 2001.
National Academy of Sciences, Henry Draper Medal, 1947.
Nobel Foundation, Nobel prize, physics, 1967.
Royal Astronomical Society, Eddington medal, 1961, presented by R.O. Redman, QJRAS 2, 107-08 (1961).
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Enrico Fermi Award, 1961.

Some offices held

American Physical Society, President, 1954.

Biographical materials

The Atomic Heritage Foundation
Bacher, R.F. & V.F. Weisskopf, “The Career of Hans Bethe,” in Perspectives in Modern physics: Essays in Honor of Hans A. Bethe on the Occasion of his 60th Birthday, July 1966, ed. by R.E. Marshak (Wiley Interscience, NY, 1966), 1-8.
Baron, Eddie L., in Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers (Springer, NY, 2007), pp. 117-118.
Bernstein, Jeremy, Prophet of Energy: Hans Bethe (Basic Books,1980; Esevier-Dutton, NY, 1981) [based on a series of articles in the New Yorker, 1979].
Biography on receipt of the Nobel Prize
Bethe, Hans A., The Road from Los Alamos (American Institute of Physics, NY, 1991).
Bethe, Hans A., “My Life in Astrophysics,” Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 41, 1 (2003).
Bonnet-Bidaud, J.M., “Hans Bethe: Des etoiles a la bombe,” Ciel et Espace 314, 32-38 (1996) [abstract].
Brown, Gerald E. & Sabine Lee, Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, 91, 30-57 (2009).
Cornell University, About Hans Bethe
Cornell University Physics Dept., “I Can Do That!’ Hans Bethe’s First 60 Years at Cornell,” 1995.
Hall, Brian, “A Tribute to Hans Albrecht Bethe,” Cornell Magazine, Aug-Sept 1995.
Lee, Sabine & Gerry E. Brown, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 53, 1-20 (2007).
The Net Advance of Physics: In Memoriam: Hans Albrecht Bethe (1906-2005)
PBS Online, Race for the Superbomb, People & Events
Schweber, S.S., Writing the Biography of a Living Scientist: Hans Bethe
Schweber, Silvan S., Nuclear Forces: The Making of the Physicist Hans Bethe (Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA, 2012).

Bibliography

Papers, etc.

Personal papers are at Cornell University. See also eCommons@Cornell. Letters to Rudolph Peierls are at the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. There is an oral history interview at the Caltech Institute Archives, and there are oral history interviews at the Niels Bohr Library & Archives, American Institute of Physics with Bethe from 1964, 1966-72, and 1981, and also with many of his coworkers. See, for example, the interviews with his father-in-law, physicist Paul Ewald, in 1959, 1962, and 1968. Bethe’s correspondence with Rudolph Peierls has been published as a book by Sabine Lee (see below).

Other References: Historical

AJ Software & Multimedia, Atomic Archive
https://www.atomicarchive.com/main.shtml

Bahcall, John N., “How the Sun Shines,” (2000)
Nobel e-Museum: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/themes/how-the-sun-shines/

Bahcall, John N. & Edwin E. Salpeter, “Stellar Energy Generation and Solar Neutrinos,” Physics Today 58, 10, 44 (Oct. 2005).

Bethe, Hans A., “The Happy Thirties,” in Nuclear Physics in Retrospect. Proceedings of a Symposium on the 1930s, May 1977, ed. Roger H. Stuewer (Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1979), 9-31

Bethe, Hans A., “Observations on the Development of the H-Bomb,” written in 1954 but published as an appendix to a book in 1989
https://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/nuclear/bethe-54.htm

Bethe, H.A., et al, From a Life of Physics (World Scientific Publ Co., Singapore, 1989). [a collection of lectures c. 1968]

Bethe, Hans A., The Road from Los Alamos, [Masters of Modern Physics series] (American Inst. of Physics, NY, 1991).

Bethe, Hans, “Influence of Gamow on Early Astrophysics and on Early Accelerators in Nuclear Physics,” in George Gamow Symposium,ed. Eamon Harper, W. C. Parke, & David Anderson (ASP Conference Series, Vol. 129, 1977), p.44

Bethe, Hans A., “The German Uranium Project ,” Physics Today 53, 7, 34 (2000).

Bethe, Hans A., with Henry Bethe, “Enrico Fermi in Rome, 1931-32,” Physics Today 55, 6, 28-29 (June 2002).

Bethe, Hans A. and N. David Mermin, “A Conversation About Solid-State Physics,” Physics Today 57, 6, 53 (June 2004). Videorecording, made 25 February 2003 is available at Cornell University Library:
https://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/14146.

Brown, Gerald E., “Fly with Eagles,” Ann. Rev. Nucl. & Part. Sci. 51, 1-22 (2001).

Brown, Gerald E., “Hans Bethe and Astrophysical Theory,” Physics Today 58, 10, 62 (Oct. 2005).

Brown, Gerald E. & Chang-Hwan Lee, eds., Hans Bethe and His Physics (World Scientific, Singapore, 2006) [TOC].

Dyson, Freeman, “Hans Bethe and Quantum Electrodynamics,” Physics Today 58, 10, 48 (Oct. 2005).

Garwin, Richard L. & Kurt Gottfired, “Hans in War and Peace,” Physics Today 58, 10, 52 (Oct. 2005).

Gasieiger, Eric L., producer, “An Evening with Hans Bethe: the German Atomic Bomb Project,” Videorecording produced at Cornell University, Dept. of Physics, 1993, available at Cornell University Library
https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/11504.

Goodstein, Judith, “A Conversation with Hans Bethe,” Physics in Perspective 1, 253-281 (1999).

Gottfreid, Kurt, A Conversation with EmeritusProfessor Dr. Hans Bethe and Dr. Victor Weisskopf. Videorecording produced at Cornell University, Dept. of Physics, available at Cornell University Library
https://newcatalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/10345517.

Gottfreid, Kurt, “Special Issue: Hans Bethe,” Physics Today 58, 10, 36-37 (Oct. 2005).

Jackiw, Roman, “Hans Bethe, My Teacher,” Physics in Perspective 11 (1), 98-103 (2009).

Krishnamurthy, H.R., “Bethe’s Contributions to Solid State Theory: A Tribute,“ Resonance 10, 10, 55-69 (2005).

Lee, Sabine, The Bethe-Peierls Correspondence (World Scientific Books, Singapore, 2008).

Mitra, A.N., “Hans Bethe, Quantum Mechanics, and the Lamb Shift,“ Resonance 10, 10, 33-48 (2005).

Negele, John W., “Hans Bethe and the Theory of Nuclear Matter,” Physics Today 58, 10, 58 (Oct. 2005).

Rajasekaran, G., “Hans Bethe, the sun and the neutrinos,“ Resonance 10, 10, 49-66 (2005).

Salpeter, E.E., “A Generalist Looks Back,” Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 40, 1 (2002).

Schweber, Silvan S., “Crossing boundaries: Perspectives from the life of H.A. Bethe,” in Grenzüberschreitungen in der Wissenschaft ed. by Peter Weingart (Nomos, Baden-Baden, 1995).

Schweber, Silvan S., In the Shadow of the Bomb: Bethe, Oppenheimer, and the Moral Responsibility of the Scientist (Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2000). [review by Sidney D. Drell]

Schweber, Silvan S., “Hans Bethe: Superlative Scientist, Incomparable Mentor, Humanitarian, Friend,” Physics Today 58, 5, 12 (May 2005).

Schweber, Silvan S., “The Happy Thirties,” Physics Today 58, 10, 38 (Oct. 2005).

York, Herbert F., The Advisors: Oppenheimer, Teller, and the Superbomb, with a Historical Essay by Hans A. Bethe (Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford, CA, 1976, 1989).

Search ADS for works about Bethe

Other References: Scientific

*Bethe, Hans A., Selected Works of Hans A. Bethe With Commentary (World Scientific, Singapore, 1996).
This book contains a bibliography of Bethe’s first 290 publications (1928-96) and reprints of 28 of them, with very brief modern commentaries by the author.

Bethe, A., H.A. Bethe, & Y. Terada, “Versuche sur Theorie der Dialyse,” Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie 112, 250-69 (1924). At age 17 Hans Bethe applied the diffusion equation to contribute the mathematical portion of a paper on dialysis by his father and another physiologist.

Bethe, Hans, “Über die Streuung von Elektronen an Krystallen,” Naturwissenschaften 15, 786-88 (1927).

Bethe, H., “Theorie der Beugung von Elektronen an Kristallen,” Annalen der Physik 392, 55-129 (1928).

Bethe, Hans A., “Splitting of Terms in Crystals,” Ann. Physik 3, 133-206 (1929). [English translation was published by Consultants Bureau, NY, in 1960 and also appears in *]

Bethe, H., “Zur Theorie des Durchgangs schneller Korpuskularstrahlen durch Materie [Theory of the Passage of Fast Corpuscular Rays Through Matter],” Ann. Physik 397, 325-400 (1930). [According to J. Bernstein, Bethe considered this his best paper. Translation appears in *]

Bethe, Hans, “Über die Streuung von Elektronen an Krystallen” Die Naturwissenschaften 15, 786-788 (1927).

Bethe, H., “On the Theory of Metals, I. Eigenvalues and Eignefunctions of a Linear Chain of Atoms,” Zeits. Physik 74, 205-226 (1931). [translation appears in *]

Sommerfeld, A. & H. Bethe, “Electron Theory of Metals,” Handbuch der Physik 24, 2, (1933). [a major review article, it presents the basis for the theory of metals.]

Bethe, H. & W. Heitler, “On the Stopping of Fast Particles and on the Creation of Positive Electrons,” Proc. Roy. Soc. London A146, 83-112 (1934). [reprinted in *]

Bethe, H., “Zur Kritik der Theorie der Supraleitung von R. Schachenmeier [Theory of Supraconductivity],” Zeits. Physik 90, 674 (1934).

Bethe, H.A. & R. Peierls, “Quantum Theory of the Diplon,” Proc. Roy. Soc. London A148, 146-56 (1935). [the first theory of what is now called the deuteron, reprinted in *]

Bethe, H.A. & R. Peierls, “The Scattering of Neutrons by Protons,” Proc. Roy. Soc. London A149, 176-83 (1935). [reprinted in *]

Bethe, H.A., “Statistical Theory of Superlattices,” Proc. Roy. Soc. London A 150, 552-75 (1935). [reprinted in *]

Bethe, H.A. & R.F. Bacher, “Nuclear Physics A. Stationary States of Nuclei,” Rev. Mod. Physics 8, 82-229 (1936)

Bethe, H.A., “Nuclear Physics B. Nuclear Dynamics, Theoretical,” Rev. Mod. Physics 9, 69-244 (1937).

Livingston, M. Stanley & H.A. Bethe, “Nuclear Physics C. Nuclear Dynamics, Experimental,” Rev. Mod. Physics 9, 245-390 (1937).
[The above three lengthy articles comprise “Bethe’s Bible.” They were republished as Bethe, Hans A., Robert F. Bacher, & M. Stanley Livingston , Basic Bethe: Seminal Articles on Nuclear Physics, 1936-1937 (AIP Press, NY, 1986).]

Bethe, H.A. & C.L. Critchfield, “The Formation of Deuterons by Proton Combination,” Physical Review 54, 248-54 (1938). [the proton-proton reaction, which powers the sun, reprinted in *]

Bethe, H.A., “Energy Production in Stars,” Physical Review 55, 434-56 (1939). [the CNO reaction cycle, which powers more massive stars, reprinted in *]

Marshak, R.E. & H.A. Bethe, “The Generalized Thomas-Fermi Method as Applied to Stars,” Ap.J. 91, 239-43 (1940).

Bethe, H.A., “Recent Evidence on the Nuclear Reactions in the Carbon Cycle,” Ap.J. 92, 118 (1940).

Bethe, Hans A., “The Meson Theory of Nuclear Forces. I. General Theory,” Physical Review 57, 260-72 (1940).

Bethe, Hans A., “The Meson Theory of Nuclear Forces. II. Theory of the Deuteron,” Physical Review 57, 390-413 (1940).

Bethe, H.A., “Recent Evidence on the Nuclear Reactions in the Carbon Cycle,” Ap.J. 92, 118-21 (1940).

Blanch, G., A.N. Lowan, R.E. Marshak, & H.A. Bethe, “The Internal Temperature-Density Distribution of the Sun,” Ap.J. 94, 37-45 (1941).

Bethe, H.A. & E. Teller, “Deviations from Thermal Equilibrium in Shock Waves,” [printed by the Aberdeen Proving Ground Ballistic Research Laboratories for military use in World War II, this important paper is reprinted in *]

Bethe, H.A., “The Electromagnetic Shift of Energy Levels,” Physical Review 72, 339-41 (1947). [the Lamb shift explained, reprinted in *]

Bethe, Hans A., Elementary Nuclear Theory: A Short Course on Selected Topics (Wiley, NY, 1947).

Bethe, H.A., “Theory of the Effective Range in Nuclear Scattering,” Physical Review 76, 38-50 (1949). [reprinted in *]

Bethe, H.A., “The Range-Energy Relation for Slow Alpha-Particles and Protons in Air,” Rev. Mod. Phys. 22, 213-19 (1950).

Salpeter, E.E. & H.A. Bethe, “A Relativistic Equation for Bound-State Problems,” Physical Review 84, 1232-42 (1951). [the origin of the much-cited “Bethe-Salpeter equation”]

Bethe, H.A. & L.C. Maximon, “Theory of Bremsstrahlung and Pair Production. I. Differential Cross Section,” Physical Review 93, 768-84 (1954).

Schweber, Silvan S., Hans A. Bethe, & Frederic de Hoffman, Mesons and Fields (Row, Peterson, Evanston, IL, 1955).

Bethe, H.A., “Nuclear Many-Body Problem,” Physical Review 103, 1353-90 (1956). [reprinted in *]

Bethe, Hans A. & Philip Morrison, Elementary Nuclear Theory, 2nd ed. (Wiley, NY, 1956).

Bethe, H.A. & E.E. Salpeter, “Quantum Mechanics of One- and Two-Electron Atoms,” Handbuch der Physik 35, 88-436 (1957).

Bethe, H.A. & E.E. Salpeter, Quantum Mechanics of One- and Two-Electron Atoms (Academic Press, NY, 1957).

H. A. Bethe, H.A., B.H. Brandow, & A.G. Petschek, “Reference Spectrum Method for Nuclear Matter,” Phys. Rev. 129, 225–264 (1963).

Bethe, Hans A. & Roman W. Jackiw, Intermediate Quantum Mechanics (W.A. Benjamin, NY, 1964, 1968, 1986).

Bethe, H.A., “Three-Body Correlations in Nuclear Matter,” Physical Review 138, B804–B822 (1965).

Rajaraman, R. & H.A. Bethe, “Three-Body Problem in Nuclear Matter,” Rev. Mod. Phys. 39, 745-70 (1967).

Bethe, H.A., Energy Production in Stars (Norstedt, Stockholm, 1968). [the 1967 Nobel lecture, reprinted in Science 161, 541-47 (1968), Physics Today 21, 9, 36-44 (1968), and *]

Bethe, H.A., “Thomas-Fermi Theory of Nuclei,” Physical Review 167, 879-907 (1968).

Bethe, H.A., G. Börner, & K. Sato, “Nuclei in Neutron Matter,” Astronomy & Astrophysics 7, 279-88 (1970).

Baym, Gordon, Hans A. Bethe, & Christopher J. Pethick, “Neutron Star Matter,” Nuclear Physics A 175, 225-71 (1971). [reprinted in *]

Bethe, H.A., “Theory of Nuclear Matter,” Ann. Rev. Nucl. & Part. Sci. 21, 93-244 (1971).

Malone, R. C., M.B. Johnson,& H.A. Bethe, “Neutron Star Models with Realistic High-Density Equations of State,” Ap.J. 199, 741-48 (1975).

Bethe, H.A., J. Applegate, & J.M. Lattimer, “Equation of State in the Gravitational Collapse of Stars,” Nuclear Physics A324, 487-533 (1979). [reprinted in *]

Bethe, H.A., “Possible Explanation of the Solar-Neutrino Puzzle,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 56, 1305-08 (1986) [discussed in Schwarzschild, Bertram, “Conversion in Matter May Account for Missing Solar Neutrinos,” Physics Today, 39, 6, 17-20 (June 1986) ].

Bethe, H.A., “Nuclear Physics Needed for the Theory of Supernovae,” Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. 38, 1-28 (1988).

Bethe, Hans A., “Supernova Mechanisms,” Rev. Mod. Phys. 62, 801-66 (1990).

Bethe, Hans A. & John N. Bahcall, “Solar Neutrinos and the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein Theory,” Physical Review D44, 2962-2969 (1991).

Bethe, Hans A., “SN 1987A: An Empirical and Analytic Approach,” Ap.J. 412, 192-202 (1993).

Bahcall, John N. & H.A. Bethe, “Do Solar-neutrino Experiments Imply New Physics?,” Physical Review D 47, 1298-1301 (1993).

Bethe, Hans A., “The Supernova Shock,” Ap.J. 449, 714-26 (1995).

Bethe, Hans A., “Supernova Theory,” Nucl. Phys. A A606, 95-117 (1996).

Bethe, Hans A. & G.E. Brown, “Evolution of Binary Compact Objects That Merge,” Ap.J. 506, 780-89 (1998).

Bethe, Hans A., “Quantum Theory,” Rev. Mod. Phys. 71, S1-S5 (1999).

Bethe, Hans A., “Nuclear Physics,” Rev. Mod. Phys. 71, S6-S15 (1999).

Brown, G. E., C.-H. Lee, S.F. Portegies Zwart, & H.A. Bethe, “Evolution of Neutron Star, Carbon-Oxygen White Dwarf Binaries,” Ap.J. 547, 345-354 (2001).

McLaughlin, G.C., R.A.M.J Wijers, G.E. Brown, & H.A. Bethe, “Broad and Shifted Iron-Group Emission Lines in Gamma-Ray Bursts as Tests of the Hypernova Scenario,” Ap.J. 567, 454 (2002).

Bethe, Hans A., Gerald Edward Brown, & C.-H. Lee, Formation and Evolution of Black Holes in the Galaxy: Selected Papers with Commentary. World Scientific Series in 20th Century Physics, Vol. 33 (World Scientific, Singapore, 2003).

Bethe, Hans A., Gerald E. Brown, & Chang-Hwan Lee, “Evolution and Merging of Binaries with Compact Objects,” Physics Reports 442, Issue 1-6, p. 5-22 (2007).

Search ADS for works by Bethe

Other Works: Popularizations, History, etc.

Bethe, Hans A., “Energy Production in Stars,” American Scientist 30, 243-64 (1942).

Bethe, Hans A. & Frederick Seitz, “How Close is the Danger?” in One World or None, ed. D. Masters & K. Way (Latimer House, London, 1946-47), p. 92-101.

Bethe, Hans A., “The Hydrogen Bomb. II,” Scientific American, p. 18-23 (April 1950).

Bethe, Hans A., “What Holds the Nucleus Together,” Scientific American, 189, 2, 58-63 (Sept. 1953).

Bethe, Hans A., “Mesons and Nuclear Forces,” Physics Today 7, 5-11 (Feb. 1954) [Joseph Henry Lecture].

Bethe, Hans A., “Brighter than a Thousand Suns by Robert Jungk,” book review, Bull. Atomic Scientists 12, 426-8 (1958).

Bethe, Hans A., “The Case for Ending Nuclear Tests,” Atlantic Monthly, p. 43-51 (Aug. 1960).

Bethe, Hans A. & Edward Teller, The Future of Nuclear Tests (Foreign Policy Association-World Affairs Center, 1961).

Bethe, Hans A., Science, an interview with Donald McDonald in connection with a study of the American character by the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions (Fund for the Republic), Bull. Atomic Scientists, p. 25-27 (June 1962).

Bethe, Hans A., “Disarmament and Strategy,” Bull. Atomic Scientists 18, 7, 14-22 (Sept. 1962).

Bethe, Hans A., “Disarmament and Strategic Stability, Fourth Annual Dewey F. Faberburg Memorial Lecture, University of Michigan, 1964.

Bethe, Hans A., “Oppenheimer: Where He Was There Was Always Life and Excitement,” Science 155, 1080-84 (1967).

Bethe, Hans A. & Richard L. Garwin,“Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems,” Scientific American 218, 3, 21-31 (March 1968).

Bethe, Hans A., “The ABM, China and the Arms Race,” Bull. Atomic Scientists, p. 41-44 (May 1969).

Bethe, Hans A., “Hard Point vs. City Defense,” Bull. Atomic Scientists, p. 25-26 (June 1969).

Bethe, Hans A., “Disarmament Problems,” Bull. Atomic Scientists, p. 99-102 (June 1970).

Bethe, H.A., “Ultimate Catastrophe?” Bull. Atomic Scientists 32, 36-37 (June 1976).

Bethe, Hans A., “The Fusion Hybrid,” Physics Today 32, 5, 44-51 (1979).

Bethe, Hans A., “The Debate on Nuclear Power,” Nuclear Power and Its Fuel Cycle 7, 3-17 (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria).

Bethe, Hans A. & Edward Teller, “Face-Off on Nuclear Defense,” excerpts from a debate over Star Wars Weaponry in November 1983 at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Technology Review, p. 84 (April 1984).

Bethe, Hans A., Richard L. Garwin, Kurt Gottfried, & Henry W. Kendall, “Space-Based Ballistic-Missile Defense,” Scientific American 251, 4, 39-49 (Oct. 1984).

Whiteley, John M., producer, “Hans Bethe, or The impotence of political mechanisms in the face of the massive power of new technological developments.” Interview by University of California, Irvine professor John M. Whiteley with Hans Bethe regarding the prevention of nuclear war and the assurance of world peace. Videocassette (Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, c1984).

Bethe, Hans A. & G.E. Brown, “How a Supernova Explodes,” Scientific Amer. 252, 5, 60-68 (May 1985).

Bethe, Hans A., “Supernovae,” Physics Today 43, 9, 24-27 (1990)

Bethe, Hans A., Arms Control and the End of the Cold War (Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California, Irvine, 1991).

Bethe, Hans A., “My Experience in Teaching Physics,” American J. Phys. 61, 972-73 (1993).

Bethe, Hans A., Kurt Gottfried, & Roald Z. Sagdeev, “Did Bohr Share Nuclear Secrets?” Scientific American 272, 5, 85-90 (1995).

Bethe, Hans A., “Quantum Physics Made Relatively Simple,” Three lectures, with an introduction by Silvan Schweber and an appreciation by Schweber and Edwin Salpeter.

Bethe, Hans A., “Memoirs: A Twentieth-Century Journey in Science and Politics by Edward Teller with Judith Shoolery,” book review, Physics Today 54, 11, 55-56 (2001).

“‘1905 war sein großes Jahr’ Interview mit Hans Bethe,” Physik Journal, March 2005, p. 5.7.

Bethe, H.A., “My Life in Astrophysics,” in G.E. Brown & S. Lee, eds., Hans Bethe and His Physics (World Scientific, Singapore, 2006).