Kistiakowsky, George

Kistiakowsky, George B. (1900-1982). Developed the detonating device used in the first atomic bomb. 

Kistiakowsky, George B. 1949a. Explosives and Detonation Waves, Part I, Introduction, (LA-1043). 

George Kistiakowsky of Harvard and Ralph Conner of Pennsylvania University were the authors of the chapters concerning Division 8. I mention some high points in the history of Division 8, mostly derived from WA. Noyes book. 

Professor George Kistiakowsky of Harvard was the leading NDRC physical chemist on the development and use of explosives. In the middle of the war... 

Before deciding on my graduate studies, I went to see Bill Klemperer, George Kistiakowsky, Bill Lipscomb, and E. B. Wilson, seeking their advice. Each one of them told me that there was not much to choose from outside of Harvard. But they all mentioned a former Harvard Junior Fellow, Dudley Herschbach, who was trying to set up crossed molecular-beam experiments at Berkeley. I went to Berkeley but ended up with a Harvard Ph.D. because within two years, Dudley was called back to be a full professor at Harvard. Herschbach proved to be the most influential person in my life, and I dedicated my book Angular Momentum to him. 

Akira Amano Ralph A. Beebe Hans A. Benesi John E. Benson Charles E. Birchenall Michel Boudart Robert L. Burwell, Jr. Alessandro Cimino Henry Eyring Everett Gorin George G. Joris Joseph C. Jungers Charles Kemball George B. Kistiakowsky Takao Kwan... 

Kistiakowsky s considered verdict. I had known George for many years I... 

George Kistiakowsky adjusted himself to Seth Neddermeyer until he felt that not only he but also the project was suffering then he reviewed his alternatives and, on June 3, wrote Oppenheimer a memorandum. He and Neddermeyer had established a certain modus vivendi, he wrote, but it was not what he had been asked to do, which was to administer implosion work while Neddermeyer did the science, and it was not based on mutual confidence and a friendly give-and-take. ... 

I grew. .. a Russian interview with George Kistiakowsky, Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 15, 1982. 

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory 41. Picture People 42. Rudolf Peierls 43. Smithsonian Institution Science Service Collection, AIP Niels Bohr Library 44. UPI/Bettmann Newsphotos 45. UPI/Bettmann Newsphotos 46. Alfred O. C. Nier 47. Photo by P. Ehrenfest, Weisskopf Collection, AIP Niels Bohr Library 48. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratoiy 49. Picture People 50. UPI/Bettmann Newsphotos 51. Picture People 52. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory 53. Argonne National Laboratory 54/55. Martin Marietta 56. Philip Abelson 57-61. National Archives 62/63. Norsk Hydro 64-67. Los Alamos National Laboratory 68. Luis W. Alvarez 69. Niels Bohr Institute 70. Fran9oise Ulam 71/72. Los Alamos National Laboratory 73. Oppenheimer Memorial Committee 74. Emilio Segr6 75. Picture People 76. Picture People 77. Mrs. George Kistiakowsky 78-83. Los Alamos National Laboratory 84. AIP Niels Bohr Library 85-96. Los Alamos National Laboratory... 

At Los Alamos, Ukrainian chemist George Kistiakowsky (here riding Crisis) manufactured and tested the explosive lenses for the Fat Man bomb. 

Oppenheimer acted quickly to maximize the laboratory s efforts to master implosion. Only if the implosion method could be perfected would the plutoniiun produced at Hanford come into play. Without either a plutonium gun bomb or implosion weapon, the burden would fall entirely on uranium and the less efficient gun method. Oppenheimer directed a major reorganization of Los Alamos in July 1944 that prepared the way for the final development of an implosion bomb. Robert Bacher took over G Division (for gadget) to experiment with implosion and design a bomb George Kistiakowsky led X Division (for explosives) in work on the explosive components Hans Bethe continued to head up theoretic studies and Deke Parsons now focused on overall bomb construction and... 

The growth in federal funding for academic science during the early 1960s helps to explain the tone of the Westheimer Report on Chemistry Opportunities and Needs (IB, NAS, 1965). In his letter of transmittal George B. Kistiakowsky warned that chemistry was not as well supported as is research in other natural sciences, if qualified requests for funds and the training of scientific personnel are proper yardsticks (ibid., iii). 

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