Harold Melvin Agnew (March 28, 1921 – September 29, 2013) was an American physicist, best known for having flown as a scientific observer on the Hiroshima bombing mission and, later, as the third director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.[1]
After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor brought the United States into the Pacific War, Agnew and his girlfriend Beverly, a fellow graduate of South Denver High School and the University of Denver, attempted to join the United States Army Air Corps together. They were persuaded not to sign the enlistment papers. Instead, Joyce C. Stearns, the head of the physics department at the University of Denver, persuaded Agnew to come with him to the University of Chicago, where Stearns became the deputy head of the Metallurgical Laboratory. Although Agnew had enough credits to graduate, Beverly did not and had to remain behind. They were married in Denver on May 2, 1942. They then went to Chicago, where Beverly became a secretary to Richard L. Doan, then head of the Metallurgical Laboratory. Agnew and Beverly had two children, a daughter Nancy, and a son, John.[4][6]
Harold Agnew on Tinian in 1945, carrying the plutoniumcore of the Nagasaki Fat Man bomb
Agnew and Beverly moved to the Los Alamos Laboratory in March 1943.[5] Agnew, Beverly and Bernard Waldman first went to the University of Illinois, where the men disassembled the Cockcroft–Walton generator and particle accelerator while Beverly catalogued all the parts. The parts were shipped to New Mexico, where Agnew and Beverly met up with them, and rode the trucks hauling them to the Los Alamos Laboratory. There, Beverly worked as a secretary, initially with Robert Oppenheimer and his secretary Priscilla Green. She then became secretary to Robert Bacher, the head of Physics (P) Division, and later the Gadget (G) Division, for the rest of the war. Agnew's job was to reassemble the accelerator, which was then used for experiments by John Manley's group.[6][9]
Los Alamos ID badges
Harold M. Agnew
Beverly J. Agnew
When experimental work wound down, Agnew was transferred to Project Alberta, working as part of Luis W. Alvarez's group, whose role was to monitor the yield of nuclear explosions. With Alvarez and Lawrence H. Johnston, Agnew had devised a method for measuring the yield of the nuclear blast by dropping pressure gauges on parachutes and telemetering the readings back to the plane.[10] In June 1945, he was issued an Army uniform and dog tags at Wendover Army Air Field, Utah, and was flown to Tinian in the Western Pacific in a C-54 of the 509th Composite Group. Agnew's first task was to install his yield measurement instrumentation in the Boeing B-29 Superfortress aircraft The Great Artiste.[11]
During the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, on August 6, 1945, Agnew, along with Alvarez and Johnston, flew as a scientific observer in The Great Artiste, piloted by Charles Sweeney, which tailed the Enola Gay as the instrumentation aircraft. Agnew later recalled, "After we dropped our gauges I remember we made a sharp turn to the right so that we would not get caught in the blast – but we still got badly shaken up by it." He brought along a movie camera and took the only existing movies of the Hiroshima event as seen from the air.[10][12][13]
After the war ended, Agnew entered the University of Chicago, where he completed his graduate work under Fermi. Agnew and Beverly stayed with Fermi and his family, due to the post-war housing shortage.[9] He received his Master of Science (MS) degree in 1948 and his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1949,[14] writing his thesis on "The beta-spectra of Cs137, Y91, Pm147, Ru106, Sm151, P32, Tm170".[15] Fellow postgraduate students at Chicago at the time included Tsung-Dao Lee, Chen Ning Yang, Owen Chamberlain and Jack Steinberger.[14]
Los Alamos years
Harold Agnew receives his 30 years of service award in 1974
With his doctorate in hand, Agnew returned to Los Alamos as a National Research Foundation Fellow, and worked on weapons development in the Physics Division.[13] In 1950, he was assigned to the thermonuclear weapons project, and was project engineer for the Castle Bravonuclear test at Bikini Atoll in 1954.[16][17] He became head of the Weapon Nuclear Engineering Division in 1964.[13]
Agnew served as a DemocraticNew Mexico State Senator from 1955 to 1961.[18] He was the first state senator to be elected from Los Alamos County. Senators served unpaid, receiving only a per diem allowance of five dollars.[19] Since the New Mexico legislature convened for only 30 days in even numbered years and 60 days in odd numbered years,[20] he was able to continue working at Los Alamos, taking leave without pay to attend.[19] He attempted to reform New Mexico's liquor laws, which specified a minimum mark-up. He was unsuccessful in 1957, but the law was reformed in 1963.[21]
From 1961 to 1964, he was Scientific Adviser to the NATOSupreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). He also held a number of part-time advisory position with the military over the years. He was a member of the United States Air Force Scientific Advisory Board from 1957 to 1968, and was chairman of the Science Advisory Group of the United States Army's Combat Development Command from 1966 to 1970. He was a member of the Defense Science Board from 1966 to 1970, the Army's Scientific Advisory Panel from 1966 to 1974, and the Army Science Board from 1978 to 1984.[13]
In 1979, Agnew resigned from Los Alamos and became President and Chief Executive Officer of General Atomics, a position he held until 1985.[13] In his letter of resignation to David S. Saxon, the President of the University of California, Agnew wrote that his decision was influenced by "dissatisfaction with University administration policies and a lack of advocacy for the total LASL [Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory] program" and "frustration with what I consider to be a continuing inequitable distribution of defense program funding by the Department of Energy between the LASL and LLL [Lawrence Livermore Laboratory]."[25]
A proponent of tactical nuclear weapons, Agnew pointed out in 1970 that the Thanh Hoa Bridge in Vietnam required hundreds of sorties to destroy with conventional weapons when a nuclear weapon could have done the job with just one.[28] In a 1977 article for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Agnew argued that the fusion reactions of neutron bombs could provide "tactical" advantages over conventional fission weapons, especially in countering the "massive armor component possessed by the Eastern bloc." Citing conclusions reached by the Rand Corporation, Agnew argued that without affecting the armor of a tank, the neutrons produced by a fusion blast would penetrate the vehicle and "in a matter of a few tens of minutes to hours kill or make the crew completely ineffective." Because the neutron bomb reduced collateral damage, it could be used in a much more selective fashion than a fission weapon, thereby providing a clear "advantage for the military defender as well as for the nearby non-combatant."[29]
Agnew maintained that no new U.S. nuclear weapon design could be certified without nuclear testing, and that stockpile reliability stewardship without such testing may be problematic.[30] In a 1999 letter to the Wall Street Journal, he commented on the significance of allegations of Chinese nuclear espionage. "As long as any nation has a demonstrated nuclear capability and a means of delivering its bombs and warheads, it doesn't really matter whether the warheads are a little smaller or painted a color other than red, white, and blue," he wrote. "I suspect information published in the open by the National [sic.] Resources Defense Council has been as useful to other nations as any computer codes they may have received by illegal means."[31]
Beverly died on October 11, 2011.[6] Agnew was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and died at his home in Solana Beach, California, on September 29, 2013, while watching football on television.[18][22] He was survived by his daughter Nancy and son John.[5] He had arranged to be cremated and to have his ashes interred with Beverly at the Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos.[32]
In a 2005 BBC interview, Agnew stated, "About three-quarters of the U.S. nuclear arsenal was designed under my tutelage at Los Alamos. That is my legacy."[12]
Notes
↑ "Harold Agnew". Atomic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
1 2 "Interview with Harold M. Agnew". Nevada Test Site Oral History Project. Solana Beach, California: University of Nevada, Las Vegas. October 10, 2005. Archived from the original on November 1, 2013. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
↑ "Vintage Agnew"(PDF). Los Alamos Science. 4 (7): 69–72. Winter–Spring 1983. Archived from the original(PDF) on October 12, 2013. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
Enrico Fermi was an Italian and naturalized American physicist, renowned for being the creator of the world's first artificial nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1, and a member of the Manhattan Project. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and the "architect of the atomic bomb". He was one of very few physicists to excel in both theoretical physics and experimental physics. Fermi was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity by neutron bombardment and for the discovery of transuranium elements. With his colleagues, Fermi filed several patents related to the use of nuclear power, all of which were taken over by the US government. He made significant contributions to the development of statistical mechanics, quantum theory, and nuclear and particle physics.
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project was directed by Major General Leslie Groves of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos Laboratory that designed the bombs. The Army program was designated the Manhattan District, as its first headquarters were in Manhattan; the name gradually superseded the official codename, Development of Substitute Materials, for the entire project. The project absorbed its earlier British counterpart, Tube Alloys, and subsumed the program from the American civilian Office of Scientific Research and Development. The Manhattan Project employed nearly 130,000 people at its peak and cost nearly US$2 billion, over 80 percent of which was for building and operating the plants that produced the fissile material. Research and production took place at more than 30 sites across the US, the UK, and Canada.
Edward Teller was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist and chemical engineer who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" and one of the creators of the Teller–Ulam design based on Stanisław Ulam's design.
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Stanisław Marcin Ulam was a Polish mathematician, nuclear physicist and computer scientist. He participated in the Manhattan Project, originated the Teller–Ulam design of thermonuclear weapons, discovered the concept of the cellular automaton, invented the Monte Carlo method of computation, and suggested nuclear pulse propulsion. In pure and applied mathematics, he proved a number of theorems and proposed several conjectures.
Emilio Gino Segrè was an Italian and naturalized-American physicist and Nobel laureate, who discovered the elements technetium and astatine, and the antiproton, a subatomic antiparticle, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1959 along with Owen Chamberlain.
Robert Rathbun Wilson was an American physicist known for his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II, as a sculptor, and as an architect of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), where he was the first director from 1967 to 1978.
Norris Edwin Bradbury, was an American physicist who served as director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory for 25 years from 1945 to 1970. He succeeded Robert Oppenheimer, who personally chose Bradbury for the position of director after working closely with him on the Manhattan Project during World War II. Bradbury was in charge of the final assembly of "the Gadget", detonated in July 1945 for the Trinity test.
Samuel King Allison was an American physicist, most notable for his role in the Manhattan Project, for which he was awarded the Medal for Merit. A professor who studied X-rays, he was director of the Metallurgical Laboratory from 1943 until 1944, and later worked at the Los Alamos Laboratory — where he "rode herd" on the final stages of the project as part of the "Cowpuncher Committee", and read the countdown for the detonation of the Trinity nuclear test. After the war, he returned to the University of Chicago to direct the Institute for Nuclear Studies and was involved in the "scientists' movement", lobbying for civilian control of nuclear weapons.
The Manhattan Project was a research and development project that produced the first atomic bombs during World War II. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Army component of the project was designated the Manhattan District; "Manhattan" gradually became the codename for the entire project. Along the way, the project absorbed its earlier British counterpart, Tube Alloys. The Manhattan Project began modestly in 1939, but grew to employ more than 130,000 people and cost nearly US$2 billion. Over 90% of the cost was for building factories and producing the fissionable materials, with less than 10% for development and production of the weapons.
Project Alberta, also known as Project A, was a section of the Manhattan Project which assisted in delivering the first nuclear weapons in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
Herbert Lawrence Anderson was an American nuclear physicist who was Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago.
Alvin Cushman Graves was an American nuclear physicist who served at the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory and the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. After the war, he became the head of the J (Test) Division at Los Alamos and was director or assistant director of numerous nuclear weapons tests during the 1940s and 1950s. Graves was severely injured in the 1946 laboratory criticality accident in Los Alamos that killed Louis Slotin, but recovered.
The Neutron Trail is an open cultural dialogue into our shared nuclear legacy intended to raise awareness and stimulate strategic thinking around nuclear power and nuclear disarmament. Neutron Trail deals with paradoxical human dilemmas, such as the world's need for large outputs of energy amid ongoing and often charged discussions regarding sustainability, and pervasive public fears surrounding nuclear energy. Through visiting the people and places most impacted by society's nuclear legacy, transmedia projects, public lectures and workshops, the Neutron Trail works to engage people from all walks of life in an ongoing exploration and evaluation of existing perceptions — true and untrue — about nuclear energy and weapons.
George Thomas Reynolds was an American physicist best known for his accomplishments in particle physics, biophysics and environmental science.
Lawrence Harding Johnston was an American physicist, a young contributor to the Manhattan Project. He was the only man to witness all three atomic explosions in 1945: the Trinity nuclear test in New Mexico and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.
Darol Kenneth Froman was an American physicist who served as the deputy director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1951 to 1962. He served as a group leader from 1943 to 1945, and a division head from 1945 to 1948. He was the scientific director of the Operation Sandstone nuclear tests at Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific in 1948, and assistant director for weapons development from 1949 to 1951.
Marshall Glecker Holloway was an American physicist who worked at the Los Alamos Laboratory during and after World War II. He was its representative, and the deputy scientific director, at the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific in July 1946. Holloway became the head of the Laboratory's W Division, responsible for new weapons development. In September 1952 he was charged with designing, building and testing a thermonuclear weapon, popularly known as a hydrogen bomb. This culminated in the Ivy Mike test in November of that year.
Joyce Clennam Stearns was an American physicist and an administrator on the Manhattan Project. He resigned from the Manhattan Project in July 1945 to become dean of faculty at Washington University in St. Louis. He also served as the director of the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago from November 1944 through July 1945.
The Los Alamos Laboratory, also known as Project Y, was a secret scientific laboratory established by the Manhattan Project and overseen by the University of California during World War II. It was operated in partnership with the United States Army. Its mission was to design and build the first atomic bombs. Robert Oppenheimer was its first director, serving from 1943 to December 1945, when he was succeeded by Norris Bradbury. In order to enable scientists to freely discuss their work while preserving security, the laboratory was located on the isolated Pajarito Plateau in Northern New Mexico. The wartime laboratory occupied buildings that had once been part of the Los Alamos Ranch School.
References
Krauss, Robert; Krauss, Amelia, eds. (2005). The 509th Remembered: A History of the 509th Composite Group as Told by the Veterans Themselves, 509th Anniversary Reunion, Wichita, Kansas October 7–10, 2004. Buchanan, Michigan: 509th Press. ISBN978-0-923568-66-5. OCLC59148135.
Palevsky, Mary (October 10, 2005). Interview with Harold M. Agnew. University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2011.
Roybal, David (2008). Taking on Giants: Fabián Chávez, Jr. and New Mexico Politics. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN978-0-826344-36-6.
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