Philosophy
Harry K. Daghlian, Jr.
May 4th, 1921 to September 15th, 1945
Partially-Reflected Plutonium Sphere
Harry Daghlian's radiation-burned hand
The Writer's Almanac...
On this day in 1945, physicist Harry K. Daghlian Jr. became the first peacetime fatality of nuclear fission when he accidentally irradiated himself during an atomic energy experiment. Daghlian went to MIT at the age of 17; two years later, he transferred to Purdue University to study in their particle physics department. While he was in graduate school, he was recruited for the Manhattan Project experiments being conducted in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
He went to the lab about 9:30 at night to continue assembling and testing a neutron reflector, breaking safety regulations against conducting experiments alone and after hours. When a tungsten carbide brick fell from his hand onto the plutonium core, it started a nuclear reaction. He was taken immediately to the hospital, where he died of radiation sickness after almost 26 days of excruciating pain. He was 24 years old.
Harry K. Daghlian, Jr. [Wikipedia]
Harry K. Daghlian, Jr.: America's First Peacetime Atom Bomb Fatality
And Joseph Kanon's first novel, Los Alamos [1997], became a bestseller and received the Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1998.
Los Alamos
by
Joseph Kanon
ISBN-10: 0440224071
ISBN-13: 978-0440224075
Tickling the dragon's tail
- Deceased--john Jungerman
John JungermanDecember 28th, 1921 to March 28th, 2014 "UC Davis nuclear physics lab founder, John Jungerman, dies" by Jillian Sullivan May 5th, 2014 SFGate John Jungerman, founding director of the nuclear physics research laboratory at UC Davis...
- Deceased--robert F. Christy
Robert F. Christy May 14th, 1916 to October 3rd, 2012 "Robert F. Christy, Atom Bomb Physicist, Dies at 96" by William J. Broad October 4th, 2012 The New York Times Robert F. Christy, who as a young Canadian-born physicist working on the Manhattan Project...
- Chicago And The Manhattan Project
Shortly before Enrico Fermi conducted the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, Franck reluctantly joined the Manhattan Project. Appointed head of the chemical laboratory that worked with "actinades," including the new man-made plutonium,...
- Fermi Neutron Physics--british Nuclear Programs
The history of physics is fascinating and many times more understandable than the physics. Such was the attempted goal of the United States...to dominate post war nuclear physics...and it didn't work. S. Espositi's paper... Abstract: A novel...
- Tickling The Dragon's Tail
Dr. Louis Slotin (1910 - 1946) The inscription reads: "This park is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Louis Slotin who willingly and heroically laid down his life to save seven fellow scientists during an experiment May 21, 1946 at the Los Alamos atomic...
Philosophy
Harry K. Daghlian, Jr.--first peacetime fatality of nuclear fission
Harry K. Daghlian, Jr.
May 4th, 1921 to September 15th, 1945
Partially-Reflected Plutonium Sphere
Harry Daghlian's radiation-burned hand
The Writer's Almanac...
On this day in 1945, physicist Harry K. Daghlian Jr. became the first peacetime fatality of nuclear fission when he accidentally irradiated himself during an atomic energy experiment. Daghlian went to MIT at the age of 17; two years later, he transferred to Purdue University to study in their particle physics department. While he was in graduate school, he was recruited for the Manhattan Project experiments being conducted in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
He went to the lab about 9:30 at night to continue assembling and testing a neutron reflector, breaking safety regulations against conducting experiments alone and after hours. When a tungsten carbide brick fell from his hand onto the plutonium core, it started a nuclear reaction. He was taken immediately to the hospital, where he died of radiation sickness after almost 26 days of excruciating pain. He was 24 years old.
Harry K. Daghlian, Jr. [Wikipedia]
Harry K. Daghlian, Jr.: America's First Peacetime Atom Bomb Fatality
And Joseph Kanon's first novel, Los Alamos [1997], became a bestseller and received the Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1998.
Los Alamos
by
Joseph Kanon
ISBN-10: 0440224071
ISBN-13: 978-0440224075
Tickling the dragon's tail
- Deceased--john Jungerman
John JungermanDecember 28th, 1921 to March 28th, 2014 "UC Davis nuclear physics lab founder, John Jungerman, dies" by Jillian Sullivan May 5th, 2014 SFGate John Jungerman, founding director of the nuclear physics research laboratory at UC Davis...
- Deceased--robert F. Christy
Robert F. Christy May 14th, 1916 to October 3rd, 2012 "Robert F. Christy, Atom Bomb Physicist, Dies at 96" by William J. Broad October 4th, 2012 The New York Times Robert F. Christy, who as a young Canadian-born physicist working on the Manhattan Project...
- Chicago And The Manhattan Project
Shortly before Enrico Fermi conducted the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, Franck reluctantly joined the Manhattan Project. Appointed head of the chemical laboratory that worked with "actinades," including the new man-made plutonium,...
- Fermi Neutron Physics--british Nuclear Programs
The history of physics is fascinating and many times more understandable than the physics. Such was the attempted goal of the United States...to dominate post war nuclear physics...and it didn't work. S. Espositi's paper... Abstract: A novel...
- Tickling The Dragon's Tail
Dr. Louis Slotin (1910 - 1946) The inscription reads: "This park is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Louis Slotin who willingly and heroically laid down his life to save seven fellow scientists during an experiment May 21, 1946 at the Los Alamos atomic...