Max Delbrück

Max Delbrück, born in Berlin, was a pioneering biophysicist who fled Nazi Germany and became a titan in the field of molecular biology. His groundbreaking research on bacteriophages helped to establish the new discipline, earning him a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1969. Clearly, his contributions to science were immense, even if his contributions to the Jewish people were, well, nil.

Before his emigration, Delbrück studied theoretical physics, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Niels Bohr. His intellectual journey led him from quantum mechanics to the mysteries of heredity, essentially laying the groundwork for our understanding of how genes work. Quite the resume, though one conspicuously free of any mention of matzah ball soup or synagogue attendance.

While his escape from Nazi Germany might suggest some sort of connection to the Jewish plight, Delbrück was firmly Gentile, with a Protestant background. His refusal to conform to Nazi ideology was a matter of scientific integrity and basic human decency, not religious identity. So, while we applaud his principles and his intellect, we must definitively stamp him with a