Samuel King Allison (November 13, 1900 – September 15, 1965) was an American
physicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, most notable for his role in the
Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was the codename for a project conducted during World War II to develop the first atomic bomb. The project was led by the United States, and included scientists from Denmark, The United Kingdom and Canada...
— where among other things he read the
countdownA countdown is a sequence of counting backward to indicate the seconds, days, etc. remaining before an event occurs or a deadline expires. Typical events for which a countdown is used include the launch of a rocket or spacecraft, the explosion of a bomb, the start of a race, or the New Year...
for the detonation of the "
TrinityTrinity was the first test of technology for an atomic weapon. It was conducted by the United States on July 16, 1945, at a location 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico on the White Sands Proving Ground, headquartered near Alamogordo. Trinity was a test of an implosion-design plutonium device...
" test — and his postwar work in the "scientists' movement".
Samuel K. Allison was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended the
University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private, coeducational research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by oil magnate and benefactor John D...
for his undergraduate degree as well as for his
PhDPHD may refer to:* Parisada Hindu Dharma, an Indonesian reform organization* PHD, a track on The Crystal Method album Tweekend* PHD finger, a protein sequence* PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company...
(in
chemistryChemistry is the science concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions...
, though his thesis was related to
experimental physicsWithin the field of physics, experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines concerned with the observation of physical phenomena in order to gather data about the universe...
).
Samuel King Allison (November 13, 1900 – September 15, 1965) was an American
physicistA physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
, most notable for his role in the
Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was the codename for a project conducted during World War II to develop the first atomic bomb. The project was led by the United States, and included scientists from Denmark, The United Kingdom and Canada...
— where among other things he read the
countdownA countdown is a sequence of counting backward to indicate the seconds, days, etc. remaining before an event occurs or a deadline expires. Typical events for which a countdown is used include the launch of a rocket or spacecraft, the explosion of a bomb, the start of a race, or the New Year...
for the detonation of the "
TrinityTrinity was the first test of technology for an atomic weapon. It was conducted by the United States on July 16, 1945, at a location 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico on the White Sands Proving Ground, headquartered near Alamogordo. Trinity was a test of an implosion-design plutonium device...
" test — and his postwar work in the "scientists' movement".
Biography
Samuel K. Allison was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended the
University of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private, coeducational research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by oil magnate and benefactor John D...
for his undergraduate degree as well as for his
PhDPHD may refer to:* Parisada Hindu Dharma, an Indonesian reform organization* PHD, a track on The Crystal Method album Tweekend* PHD finger, a protein sequence* PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company...
(in
chemistryChemistry is the science concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions...
, though his thesis was related to
experimental physicsWithin the field of physics, experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines concerned with the observation of physical phenomena in order to gather data about the universe...
). From 1923 until 1925 he was a research fellow at
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
and from 1925 until 1926 he was a research fellow at the Carnegie Institution From 1926 until 1928 he taught physics at
University of California, BerkeleyThe University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...
, after which he returned to the University of Chicago, where he studied the Compton effect and the dynamical theory of x-ray diffraction. He developed a high resolution x-ray
spectrometerA spectrometer is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials. The variable measured is most often the light's intensity but could also, for instance, be the polarization...
with a graduate student,
John H. WilliamsJohn H. Williams is a movie producer and CEO of Vanguard Animation studio. He is also co-founder and owner of Vanguard Films.-Producer credits:*Space Chimps *Happily N'Ever After *Valiant *Shrek 2 *The Tuxedo...
. In the late 1930s, he studied with
John CockcroftSir John Douglas Cockcroft, OM, KCB, CBE was a British physicist. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics for splitting the atomic nucleus, and was instrumental in the development of nuclear power....
at the
Cavendish LaboratoryThe Cavendish Laboratory is the University of Cambridge's Department of Physics, and is part of the university's School of Physical Sciences. It was opened in 1874 as a teaching laboratory and was initially located on the New Museums Site, Free School Lane, in the centre of Cambridge. After...
, learning about linear accelerators, and after returning to Chicago he built one. He authored a textbook on
x-rayX-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 10 to 0.01 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays...
s with
Arthur ComptonArthur Holly Compton was an American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his discovery of the Compton effect. He served as Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1945 to 1953.-Early years:...
which became widely used.
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Allison was a consultant to the
National Defense Research CommitteeThe National Defense Research Committee was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the United States from June 27, 1940 until June 28, 1941...
and the Uranium (S-1) Committee, the early investigations into the feasibility of an atomic bomb which would later become the
Manhattan ProjectThe Manhattan Project was the codename for a project conducted during World War II to develop the first atomic bomb. The project was led by the United States, and included scientists from Denmark, The United Kingdom and Canada...
. He worked at the Chicago
Metallurgical LaboratoryThe Metallurgical Laboratory or "Met Lab" at the University of Chicago was part of the World War II–era Manhattan Project, created by the United States to develop an atomic bomb...
and was its director from 1943 until 1944. He then went to work at the
secret Los Alamos laboratoryLos Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
in
New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
. Notably, he was the one who read the
countdownA countdown is a sequence of counting backward to indicate the seconds, days, etc. remaining before an event occurs or a deadline expires. Typical events for which a countdown is used include the launch of a rocket or spacecraft, the explosion of a bomb, the start of a race, or the New Year...
over the loudspeakers for the "
TrinityTrinity was the first test of technology for an atomic weapon. It was conducted by the United States on July 16, 1945, at a location 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico on the White Sands Proving Ground, headquartered near Alamogordo. Trinity was a test of an implosion-design plutonium device...
" test in 1945.
After the war, Allison became director of the Enrico Fermi Institute of Nuclear Studies from 1946 until 1957, and again from 1963 until 1965. He was active in the "scientist's movement" for the control of atomic weapons, and was a founder of the
Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsThe Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is a nontechnical online magazine that covers global security and public policy issues, especially related to the dangers posed by nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction...
. He was a strong opponent of secrecy in science, and was once quoted as saying:
- We are determined to return to free research as before the war. If secrecy is imposed on scientific research in physics, we will find all first-rate scientists working on subjects as innocuous as the colors of butterfly wings.
Allison died in 1965 while attending the Plasma Physics and Controlled Nuclear Fusion Research Conference in Culham, England of complications following an aortic aneurism. His papers are kept at the
American Institute of PhysicsThe American Institute of Physics is an international body representing physicists and publishing physics related journals. It was founded in 1931....
.
External links