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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

George R. Briggs

Electrical EngineerLos Alamos, NM

Manhattan Project VeteranMilitary VeteranSpecial Engineer Detachment

George Briggs was only 20 years old when he began working with the Special Engineer Detachment at Los Alamos. His major contribution was manufacturing oscilloscopes, an instrument used to measure constantly varying voltage signals. At the war’s height, Briggs was making one oscilloscope a week. He did much of the work for the high-tech instrument, even punching chassis, while others wound Litz-wire high voltage (HV) transformers for the radio-frequency (RF) power supplies. 

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