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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Joseph Hirschfelder

PhysicistLos Alamos, NM

Manhattan Project VeteranProject Worker/StaffScientist
Joseph Hirschfelder's Los Alamos ID badge photo

Joseph Hirschfelder was an American physicist.

He held doctorates in physics and chemistry from Princeton University. He led Group E-8 (Interior Ballistics) in the Ordnance and Engineering Division at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. He initially worked on the design of the Thin Man plutonium bomb.

After the war, he served as chief phenomenologist at the atomic bomb tests at Bikini. Hirschfelder retired in 1981 as the Homer Adkins professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the recipient of numerous awards.

 

Joseph Hirschfelder’s Timeline
1911 May 27th Born in Baltimore, MD.

1936 Received a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University.

19431946 Worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos.

1981 Retired as the Homer Adkins professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

1990 Mar 30th Died in Madison, WI.

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