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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Ruth C. Boe

ScientistChicago, IL

Manhattan Project VeteranScientistWoman Scientist

Ruth Boe worked at the Met Lab in Chicago from November 1943 through June 1945.  She was in Farrington Daniels’ division, in the graphite research section. The group was formed in January 1944 under the leadership of Ted Neubert and Aaron Novick to study the effect that radiation, heat, and time would have on the crystal structure of the graphite which was used as a moderator of the atomic chain reaction. There was a concern that it might collapse unexpectedly, but fortunately that theory eventually proved groundless.

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