Bernstein studied chemical engineering at the City College of New York (Baccalaureate 1944)Biographical data from Lisl Goodman: Death and the creative life: conversations with prominent artists and scientists, Springer 1981 and Burning Plasma: bringing a star to earth, National Research Council and in 1950 received his PhD from New York University with his thesis entitled "Improved Calculations on Cascade Shower Theory". From 1950 to 1954, he worked at the Westinghouse research laboratories. From 1954 to 1964, he was a scientist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, where he was a participant as a Senior Scientist in Project Matterhorn when the project involved secret U.S. government research on magnetic fusion. In 1964, he became a Professor for Applied Physics at Yale University, where he was from 1994 "Carl A. Morse" Professor for Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics. In 2004, he retired with the rank of professor emeritus.
