Spencer Weart

HistorianFrance

Expert

Listen to Spencer Weart’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project

Spencer Weart is a historian of science. Born in Larchmont, New York in 1942, Weart grew up in an age of excitement toward space and science fiction. Since he enjoyed science in high school, Weart initially decided to become a physicist. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Cornell in 1963 before getting his PhD in Physics and Astrophysics in 1968 from the University of Colorado, Boulder. After his academic work in physics, Weart decided to pursue a career as a historian of science. He was the long-running director of the Center for the History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) in College Park, Maryland from 1971 until his retirement in 2009.

Related Profiles

Astro Teller

Astro Teller is the co-founder of Alphabet subsidiary “X.” He is the grandson of Edward Teller, the famous physicist often considered the father of the hydrogen bomb.

Frederic Joliot-Curie

France

Frédéric Joliot-Curie (1900-1958) was a French physicist and Nobel laureate. In 1937 he was appointed professor at the College de France in Paris.

Morris “Moe” Berg

Alsos Mission

Morris “Moe” Berg (1902-1972) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball from 1926-1939. He later became a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.

Ray Smith

Trinity Site

Ray Smith is the historian at the Y-12 National Security Complex. His specific focus is the history of Oak Ridge, and he is intimately acquainted with the uranium enrichment processes undertaken at the Y-12, K-25, and S-50 plants during the Manhattan Project, and how the Fat Man and Little Boy bombs worked.