Aharon Katchalsky

Aharon Katchalsky, later known as Aharon Katzir, was a specialist in the electrolytic properties of chain molecules and a pioneer researcher in the related field of muscle-powered robotics. He directed the inorganic chemistry department at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Like Ernst David Bergmann, Katzir had a secret life and was one of the driving forces in the flourishing Israeli nuclear weapons program until his death in 1972.¹

Katzir was world-renowned for his research into robotics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and his work was featured on the cover of the December 3, 1966, issue of the Saturday Review. His team at the Weizmann Institute also concentrated on the development of artificial muscle tissue for use in robots. His research was heavily funded by the U.S. Air Force's Office of Scientific Research, which was primarily interested in utilizing robotics in outer-space research. The Air Force was unaware that it was also helping to underwrite research for the Israeli nuclear arsenal, and that Katzir's main work was being done at Dimona, not the Weizmann Institute.²