Pacific Nuclear Tests

Norris Nereson (1918-2007) was an American physicist. Nereson was born in Minnesota. In his early years, he studied at Concordia College in Minnesota and at the University of Denver. Nereson also earned a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Cornell University, where he studied under physicist Bruno Rossi. Rossi recruited Nereson to join the Manhattan Project […]

William Ogle (1918-1984) was an American physicist. Ogle was born in Los Angeles. He studied at the University of Nevada before going on to earn an M.S. and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois. In 1944, Ogle went to work on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. He stayed on after the […]

Samuel Hopkins Bassett was an American physician who worked as part of the Manhattan Project at the University of Rochester. Born in Dutchess County, New York, Bassett attended Cornell University, where he received his A.B. in 1920 and his M.D. in 1924. After brief stays at the Reconstruction Hospital in New York City, New York […]

Ernest William Titterton was a British nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project as part of the British Mission to Los Alamos. Born in Kettlebrook, England, Titterton attended Birmingham University, where he received his B.Sc. in 1936, his M.Sc. in 1938, his teaching diploma in 1939, and his Ph.D. in 1941. For his master’s […]

Dr. George Marshall Lyon was an American physician who assisted with radiation safety during the Manhattan Project. Dr. Lyon graduated from Denison University in 1916 and from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1920, after which he practiced pediatrics in Baltimore. At the start of World War II, Lyon was commissioned into the Navy Medical Corps. […]

Herbert M. Lehr was a member of the Special Engineer Detachment who worked at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. Lehr was present at the Trinity test, where he helped transport and assemble the test bomb’s plutonium core. Lehr joined the army initially to serve with the Signal Corps, where he was instructed in the […]

Hugh “Brad” Bradner was a physicist at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. Bradner has become well-known for the home movies he recorded at Los Alamos. He has also been credited on numerous occasions for inventing the wetsuit.  After getting his Ph.D., Bradner was recruited by J. Robert Oppenheimer to join the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico. At […]

Dr. William F. Neuman worked as a biochemist for the Manhattan Project at the University of Rochester. He was born in Michigan and received his BS from Michigan State University in 1940. Alongside his wife, Dr. Margaret Neuman, he was hired by the University of Rochester’s Atomic Energy Project in 1943 after having recently completed […]

Dr. Lauren Donaldson (1903-1998) was an ichthyologist who was hired by the Manhattan Engineering District at Hanford to monitor effects of radioactive contamination in the Columbia River. His project involved monitoring trout to determine any harmful effects of releasing coolant water from the Hanford reactors into the Columbia River.  Early Life Donaldson was born on […]

Frederick Reines (1918-1998) was an American physicist. Reines received his Ph.D. in physics in 1944 from New York University. Richard Feynman recruited Reines to join the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. He worked in Feynman’s T-4 (Diffusion Problems) Group, in Hans Bethe‘s Theoretical Division. He stayed on at Los Alamos National Laboratory after the end […]