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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Matthew Sands (1919-2014) was an American physicist.

In 1943, Matthew Sands began working for the Naval Ordnance Laboratory and developed two types of influence mines before being disillusioned by the bureaucracy of the navy. After receiving a tip from a former professor, Sands showed up unannounced in Santa Fe and asked to be a part of the Manhattan Project. The electronics department was in desperate need of someone to help develop the electronics needed for the atomic bomb, so Sands was eagerly welcomed to Los Alamos. He formed a close relationship with Bruno Rossi, with whom he worked closely after the war. Sands was also one of the few people to witness the Trinity test.

Matthew Sands’s Timeline
1919 Oct 20th Born in Oxford, Massachusetts.

1943 Worked for the Naval Ordnance Laboratory in Washington, D.C..

1944 Showed up unannounced at the Manhattan Project.

1998 Awarded the Robert R. Wilson prize for his work in accelerator physics and for his development of electron-positron and proton colliders.

2014 Sep 13th Died in Santa Cruz, California

Badge photo from Los Alamos

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