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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Scientific Discoveries

Oral History
Nick Salazar’s Interview
May 3, 2017
[Thanks to David Schiferl and Willie Atencio for recording this interview and providing a copy to the Atomic Heritage Foundation.] Willie Atencio: All right. Mr. Nick Salazar, we want to interview you because we know you remember a lot of things about Los Alamos. Can you first tell us the first time you went to […]
Oral History
Milton Levenson’s Interview
April 3, 2017
Cindy Kelly:  Okay. I’m Cindy Kelly, I’m in Alexandria, Virginia. It is January 9th, 2017. I have with me Milton Levenson. My first question to him is to please say his name and then spell it. Levenson: My name is Milton Levenson. No middle name. M-i-l-t-o-n, and Levenson is L-e-v-e-n-s-o-n. Kelly:  Terrific. At any rate, let’s […]
Oral History
Henry Frisch’s Interview
March 13, 2017
Cindy Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly, November 17, 2016, Chicago, Illinois. I have with me Henry Frisch. My first question for him is to say your name and spell it, please. Henry Frisch: Okay. It’s Henry Frisch, F-r-i-s-c-h. Kelly:  Why don’t you tell us who you are? Frisch: I’m a professor of physics here at the […]
Oral History
Roger Hildebrand’s Interview
March 10, 2017
Cindy Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly, and it is November 16, 2016. I’m in Chicago, Illinois with Roger Hildebrand. My first question for him is tell me your name and spell it, please. Roger Hildebrand: My name is Roger Hildebrand, R-o-g-e-r H-i-l-d-e-b-r-a-n-d. Kelly: Tell us what is your birthday and where were you born? Hildebrand: May […]
Oral History
Peter Vandervoort’s Interview
March 6, 2017
Cindy Kelly: Okay. I’m Cindy Kelly. It is November 17, 2016. I’m in Chicago, Illinois, and I’m with Peter Vandervoort. I would like first to ask Peter to say his name and spell it. Peter Vandervoort:   I am Peter Oliver Vandervoort. Vandervoort has now been spelled in an Americanized way, V-a-n-d-e-r-v-o-o-r-t.  Kelly: Great. Thank you. […]
Oral History
Carl D. Anderson’s Interview
December 19, 2016
Martin Sherwin: This is an interview with Professor Carl Anderson at his home in Pasadena, California, March 31, 1983. This is Martin Sherwin. You first met him [J. Robert Oppenheimer]—­ Carl Anderson: In the summer of 1926, I was an undergraduate, and Caltech had a travel prize. And for a junior student, ‘26 was the […]
Oral History
Edwin McMillan’s Lecture
December 14, 2016
Edwin McMillan: Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start with two remarks. First, this is going to be a personal story, so if I use the first person singular, this is not pure egotism, it is simply the fact that that’s the part that I know best. Second remark is, the difficulty of establishing […]
Oral History
Baldwin Sawyer’s Interview
December 7, 2016
Cynthia Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly, Atomic Heritage Foundation, and it is Wednesday, August 24th, 2016. I am in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and with me is Dr. Baldwin Sawyer. My first question for him is to say his name and spell it. Baldwin Sawyer: Baldwin Sawyer, B-a-l-d-w-i-n S-a-w-y-e-r. My initials are B.S, and in case anybody […]
Oral History
Geoffrey Chew’s Interview
December 5, 2016
Cindy Kelly: Okay, I am Cindy Kelly. This is Tuesday, August 9, 2016 in Berkeley, California. I have with me Dr. Geoffrey Chew. My first question to him is to say and spell his name. Geoffrey Chew: Geoffrey Chew, G-E-O-F-F-R-E-Y C-H-E-W. Kelly: Very good, so now we will move on to some harder stuff. If […]
Oral History
Robert Bacher’s Interview – Part 2
November 9, 2016
Robert Bacher: I presented this [the discovery of the neutron] in the seminar and there were a good many questions. Some people were skeptical. I convinced Ed Condon almost immediately. In fact, within the week we had written a note together on the spin of the neutron because you could work it out. This part […]