[1][2] Golden was born October 25, 1909, in New York City; his parents were both the children of poor Lithuanian immigrants to the U.S., and his father worked in the textile industry and later became a banker.

[2] He earned a baccalaureate in English and biology at the University of Pennsylvania, and then studied for a year at the Harvard Business School before beginning work for Harold F. Linder on Wall Street.

[2] During World War II, Golden worked for the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Ordnance, and helped develop antiaircraft gun firing technology.

[2] In 2001, Golden received the AAAS Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

[4][5][6] Golden was married three times, to Sibyl Levy, with whom he had two daughters, to mathematician Jean Taylor, and to Catherine Morrison.