American physicist (1909?1997)
Norris Edwin Bradbury
(May 30, 1909 ? August 20, 1997), was an American
physicist
who served as director of the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
for 25 years from 1945 to 1970. He succeeded
Robert Oppenheimer
, who personally chose Bradbury for the position of director after working closely with him on the
Manhattan Project
during
World War II
. Bradbury was in charge of the final assembly of "
the Gadget
", detonated in July 1945 for the
Trinity test
.
Bradbury took charge at Los Alamos at a difficult time. Staff were leaving in droves, living conditions were poor and there was a possibility that the laboratory would close. He managed to persuade enough staff to stay and got the University of California to renew the contract to manage the laboratory. He pushed continued development of nuclear weapons, transforming them from laboratory devices to production models. Numerous improvements made them safer, more reliable and easier to store and handle, and made more efficient use of scarce fissionable materiel.
In the 1950s Bradbury oversaw the development of
thermonuclear weapons
, although a falling-out with
Edward Teller
over the priority given to their development led to the creation of a rival nuclear weapons laboratory, the
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory
. In later years, he branched out, constructing the
Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility
to develop the laboratory's role in nuclear science, and during the
Space Race
of the 1960s, the laboratory developed the
Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application
(NERVA). The
Bradbury Science Museum
is named in his honor.
Early life
[
edit
]
Norris Bradbury was born in
Santa Barbara, California
, on May 30, 1909,
[1]
one of four children of Edwin Perley Bradbury and his wife Elvira nee Clausen. One sister died as an infant, and the family adopted twins Bobby and Betty, both of whom served in the
United States Marine Corps
during
World War II
. Bradbury was educated at
Hollywood High School
and
Chaffey High School
in
Ontario, California
, graduating at the age of 16. He then attended
Pomona College
in
Claremont, California
, from which he graduated
summa cum laude
with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in
chemistry
in 1929. This earned him membership of the
Phi Beta Kappa Society
.
At Pomona, he met Lois Platt, an English Literature major who was the sister of his college roommate. They were married in 1933,
and had three sons, James, John, and David.
Norris was an active member of an Episcopal church.
[6]
Bradbury became interested in
physics
and did graduate work at the
University of California, Berkeley
, where he was a teaching fellow from 1929 to 1931. He submitted a PhD thesis on
Studies on the Mobility of Gaseous Ions
under the supervision of
Leonard B. Loeb
, and was awarded a
National Research Council
fellowship.
[8]
[9]
As well as supervising Bradbury's thesis, Loeb, who had served as a naval reservist during
World War I
, encouraged Bradbury to apply for a commission as a naval reservist. Bradbury's commission as an
ensign
was signed by
Lieutenant Commander
Chester W. Nimitz
, who was the head of the
Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps
at Berkeley at the time.
After two years at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, Bradbury became an assistant professor of physics at
Stanford University
in 1935, rising to become an associate professor in 1938, and a full professor in 1943. He became an expert on the
electrical conductivity
of gases, the properties of
ions
, and the behavior of
atmospheric electricity
, publishing in journals including the
Physical Review
,
Journal of Applied Physics
,
Journal of Chemical Physics
, and the
Journal of Atmospheric Electricity and Terrestrial Magnetism
.
He invented the
Bradbury-Nielsen shutter
, a type of electrical ion gate,
[11]
widely used in
mass spectrometry
in both
time-of-flight
mass spectrometers and
ion mobility spectrometers
.
[12]
World War II
[
edit
]
Bradbury was called up for service in World War II in early 1941, although the Navy allowed him to stay at Stanford until the end of the academic year. He was then sent to the
Naval Proving Ground
at
Dahlgren, Virginia
, to work on
external ballistics
. Already working at Dahlgren were Loeb and
Commander
Deak Parsons
.
In June 1944, Bradbury received orders from Parsons, who was now the deputy director of the
Manhattan Project
's
Los Alamos Laboratory
, to report to
Albuquerque, New Mexico
. Parsons explained that he needed Bradbury to work on the
explosive lenses
required by an
implosion-type nuclear weapon
. Bradbury was less than enthusiastic about the prospect, but he was a naval officer, and ultimately agreed to go.
At Los Alamos, Bradbury became head of E-5, the Implosion Experimentation Group,
which put him in charge of the implosion field test program.
[16]
In August, the laboratory's director,
Robert Oppenheimer
, implemented a sweeping reorganization. E-5 became part of
George Kistiakowsky
's new Explosives Division (X Division), and was renumbered X-1.
At this point, Bradbury was leading some of the most critical work at the laboratory, as it struggled with the
jets
that spoiled the perfect spherical shape desired for the implosion process. These were examined with a combination of magnetic,
X-ray
and
RaLa
techniques.
In March 1945, Oppenheimer created
Project Alberta
under Parsons to carry out the Manhattan Project's ultimate mission: the preparation and delivery of nuclear weapons in combat. Bradbury was transferred to Project Alberta to head the
Fat Man
assembly group.
[19]
In July 1945, Bradbury supervised the preparation of "the Gadget", as the bomb was known, at the
Trinity nuclear test
.
[21]
"For me to say", Bradbury later recalled, "I had any deep emotional thoughts about Trinity... I didn't. I was just damned pleased that it went off."
Director of Los Alamos
[
edit
]
Oppenheimer submitted his resignation as director of the Los Alamos Laboratory, but remained until a successor could be found. The director of the Manhattan Project,
Major General
Leslie R. Groves, Jr.
, wanted someone with both a solid academic background and a high standing within the project. Oppenheimer recommended Bradbury. This was agreeable to Groves, who liked the fact that as a naval officer Bradbury was both a military man and a scientist. Bradbury accepted the offer on a six-month trial basis.
Parsons arranged for Bradbury to be quickly discharged from the Navy,
which awarded him the
Legion of Merit
for his wartime services.
He remained in the Naval Reserve, though, ultimately retiring in 1961 with the rank of captain.
On October 16, 1945, there was a ceremony at Los Alamos at which Groves presented the laboratory with the
Army-Navy "E" Award
, and presented Oppenheimer with a certificate of appreciation. Bradbury became the laboratory's second director the following day.
The first months of Bradbury's directorship were particularly difficult. He had hoped that
Atomic Energy Act of 1946
would be quickly passed by Congress and the wartime Manhattan Project would be superseded by a new, permanent organization. It soon became clear that this would take more than six months. President
Harry S. Truman
did not sign the act creating the
Atomic Energy Commission
into law until August 1, 1946, and it did not become active until January 1, 1947. In the meantime, Groves' legal authority to act was limited.
Most of the scientists at Los Alamos were eager to return to their laboratories and universities, and by February 1946 all of the wartime division heads had left, but a talented core remained.
Darol Froman
became head of
Robert Bacher
's G division, now renamed M Division. Eric Jette became responsible for Chemistry and Metallurgy,
John H. Manley
for Physics,
George Placzek
for Theory, Max Roy for Explosives, and Roger Wagner for Ordnance.
The number of personnel at Los Alamos plummeted from its wartime peak of over 3,000 to around 1,000, but many were still living in temporary wartime accommodation. To make matters worse, the water pipe to Los Alamos froze and the water had to be supplied by tanker trucks.
Despite the reduced staff, Bradbury still had to provide support for
Operation Crossroads
, the nuclear tests in the Pacific.
Bradbury pushed continued development of nuclear weapons to take them from laboratory devices to production models. There were numerous improvements that could make them more safe, reliable and easy to store and handle, and make more efficient use of scarce fissionable materiel. While Bradbury gave priority to improved fission weapons, research still continued on "Alarm Clock", a boosted nuclear weapon, and the "
Super
", a
thermonuclear weapons
design.
The new fission designs were tested during
Operation Sandstone
in 1948. The
Mark 4 nuclear bomb
became the first nuclear weapon to be mass-produced on an assembly line.
As the future became more certain, Bradbury began looking for a new site for the laboratory away from the crowded town center. In 1948, Bradbury submitted a proposal to the Atomic Energy Commission for a new $107 million facility on the South Mesa, linked to the town by a new bridge over the canyon.
All this time, Bradbury remained nominally a professor in absentia at Stanford. The Los Alamos Laboratory was nominally run under a wartime contract with the University of California, but a clause in the contract allowed the University to terminate the contract three months after the end of the war. The university duly served notice, but Bradbury managed to get it rescinded, and in 1948 the contract was renewed. In 1951, he became a professor at the University of California.
By 1951, the laboratory had come up with the
Teller-Ulam design
, and thermonuclear tests were conducted during
Operation Greenhouse
.
Tensions between Bradbury and
Edward Teller
over the degree of priority given to thermonuclear weapons development led to the creation of a second nuclear weapons laboratory, the
Lawrence Livermore Laboratory
.
In later years, Bradbury branched out, constructing the
Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility
to develop the laboratory's role in nuclear science.
During the
Space Race
of the 1960s, the laboratory worked on
Project Rover
, developing the
Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application
(NERVA). The laboratory demonstrated the feasibility and value of nuclear rocket propulsion.
For many years, Bradbury was responsible for much of the administration of the town of Los Alamos. The town established impressive health and education facilities. Eventually the new technical area was built outside the town, and on February 18, 1957, the security gates were taken down. Finally, the town became an incorporated community and the director's civic responsibilities ended.
In 1966, Bradbury was awarded the
Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service
for "exceptionally meritorious civilian service to the Armed Forces and the United States of America in a position of great responsibility as director, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory".
His citation went on to say that "The outstanding international reputation of the Los Alamos Laboratory is directly attributable to his exceptional leadership. The United States is indebted to Dr. Bradbury and his laboratory, to a very large degree, for our present nuclear capability."
He also received the
Enrico Fermi Award
in 1970.
In 1971, he received the Golden Plate Award of the
American Academy of Achievement
.
[40]
Later life
[
edit
]
Bradbury retired as director of Los Alamos Laboratory in 1970. His successor,
Harold Agnew
, invited him to become a senior consultant, but Bradbury declined the offer, although he did serve as a consultant for other government agencies, including the
National Academy of Sciences
, and as a member of the boards of the Los Alamos Medical Center, the First National Bank of Santa Fe, the Los Alamos YMCA and the Santa Fe Neurological Society.
In 1969 the
governor of New Mexico
,
David Cargo
, appointed Bradbury as a regent of the
University of New Mexico
, but this was a turbulent time for the university. In response to the
Kent State Shootings
in May 1970, students and antiwar activist
Jane Fonda
marched on the home of Ferrel Heady, the president of the University of New Mexico. When he refused to meet with them, the students called a strike. Classes were cancelled, rallies were held and students occupied the Student Union Building. Cargo called in the
New Mexico National Guard
to remove them, and eleven people were
bayoneted
. Cargo's successor,
Bruce King
, replaced Bradbury and another regent.
[42]
In the mid-1990s, Bradbury accidentally hit his leg while chopping firewood.
Gangrene
set in, and his right leg was amputated below the knee. It spread to his left leg, and part of his left foot was amputated, leaving him in a wheelchair. The disease eventually proved fatal, and he died on August 20, 1997.
He was survived by his wife Lois, who died in January 1998, and his three sons.
A funeral service was held in Los Alamos, and he was buried at Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Seaborg, Glenn T.
(January 1998).
"Obituary: Norris Edwin Bradbury"
.
Physics Today
.
51
(1): 74?75.
Bibcode
:
1998PhT....51a..74S
.
doi
:
10.1063/1.882111
.
- ^
"Mysteries at the Museum: A Real Life Experience in los Alamos"
.
- ^
"Studies on the Mobility of Gaseous Ions"
.
University of California, Berkeley
. 1932
. Retrieved
February 26,
2014
.
- ^
Bradbury, Norris E. (May 1931). "The Mobility of Aged Ions in Air in Relation to the Nature of Gaseous Ions".
Physical Review
.
37
(10). American Physical Society: 1311?1319.
Bibcode
:
1931PhRv...37.1311B
.
doi
:
10.1103/PhysRev.37.1311
.
- ^
Norris E. Bradbury and Russel A. Nielsen (1936). "Absolute Values of the Electron Mobility in Hydrogen".
Physical Review
.
49
(5): 388?93.
Bibcode
:
1936PhRv...49..388B
.
doi
:
10.1103/PhysRev.49.388
.
- ^
Szumlas, Andrew W; Hieftje, Gary M (2005).
"Design and construction of a mechanically simple, interdigitated-wire ion gate"
.
Rev. Sci. Instrum
.
76
(8). AIP: 086108?086108?3.
Bibcode
:
2005RScI...76h6108S
.
doi
:
10.1063/1.2006308
. Archived from
the original
on September 29, 2011.
- ^
Hewlett & Anderson 1962
, p. 310.
- ^
Hewlett & Anderson 1962
, p. 319.
- ^
Hewlett & Anderson 1962
, p. 378.
- ^
"Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement"
.
www.achievement.org
.
American Academy of Achievement
.
- ^
Layden, Dianne R. (November 26, 2013).
"May 1970: The Bust at the SUB"
.
Santa Fe Reporter
. Retrieved
February 25,
2014
.
References
[
edit
]
- Agnew, Harold
;
Schreiber, Raemer E.
(1998).
Norris E. Bradbury 1909?1996: A Biographical Memoir
(PDF)
. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press.
OCLC
79388516
. Retrieved
April 6,
2013
.
- Christman, Albert B. (1998).
Target Hiroshima: Deak Parsons and the Creation of the Atomic Bomb
. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
1-55750-120-3
.
OCLC
38257982
.
- Ebinger, Virginia Nylander (2006).
Norris E. Bradbury 1909?1997
. Los Alamos, New Mexico: Los Alamos Historical Society.
ISBN
0-941232-34-4
.
OCLC
62408863
.
- Hewlett, Richard G.
; Anderson, Oscar E. (1962).
The New World, 1939?1946
(PDF)
. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
ISBN
0-520-07186-7
.
OCLC
637004643
. Retrieved
March 26,
2013
.
- Hewlett, Richard G.; Duncan, Francis (1969).
Atomic Shield, 1947?1952
. A History of the United States Atomic Energy Commission. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
ISBN
0-520-07187-5
.
OCLC
3717478
.
- Hoddeson, Lillian
; Henriksen, Paul W.; Meade, Roger A.;
Westfall, Catherine L.
(1993).
Critical Assembly: A Technical History of Los Alamos During the Oppenheimer Years, 1943?1945
. New York: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
0-521-44132-3
.
OCLC
26764320
.
- Hunner, Jon (2004).
Inventing Los Alamos: The Growth of an Atomic Community
. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
ISBN
978-0-8061-3891-6
.
OCLC
154690200
.
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