Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Ted Taylor was born in 1925 in Mexico City, Mexico. During WWII, from 1943-1946, he served on active duty in the United States Navy. He then received a bachelor’s degree from the California Institute of Technology in 1945, pursued a master’s degree from the University of California Berkeley, and later received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell University in 1954. From 1948-1956, Taylor worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. In that time, Taylor designed fission bombs of minimal size and maximal explosion capacity. In 1956, he left Los Alamos and moved to General Atomics, where he directed Project Orion, whose mission was to develop a nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft. 

In 1964, Taylor began work for the Defense Department and was the deputy director of the Defense Atomic Support Agency. There, he discovered how his knowledge of the dangerous bombs he developed at Los Alamos had real-world implications. In 1980, Taylor started Nova Inc., which sought to develop alternatives to nuclear energy. 

Ted Taylor’s Timeline
1925 Jul 11th Born in Mexico City, Mexico.

19431946 Served in the United States Navy.

19481956 Worked at the laboratories at Los Alamos.

2004 Oct 28th Passed away.

Related Profiles

Charles F. Begg

Tinian Island

Charles F. Begg commanded the 1st Ordnance Squadron.

Joe McKibben

Trinity Site

Joe McKibben was born and raised in rural Missouri before obtaining a PhD in physics from the University of Wisconsin.

Robert T. Feathers

Los Alamos, NM

Walter D. Higgins

Los Alamos, NM