Charles Critchfield
Encyclopedia
Charles Louis Critchfield (1910 – 12 February 1994) was a mathematical physicist who was chosen by J. Robbert Oppenheimer
to help with the Los Alamos National Laboratory
in 1943.
Robert Oppenheimer
Julius Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Along with Enrico Fermi, he is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first...
to help with the Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
in 1943.
External links
- Oral history interview with Charles L. Critchfield, Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage InstituteThe Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
, University of Minnesota. Interview concerns John von NeumannJohn von NeumannJohn von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
, whom Critchfield knew through his thesis advisor, Edward TellerEdward TellerEdward Teller was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb," even though he did not care for the title. Teller made numerous contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy , and surface physics...
, and through his work at Aberdeen and Los Alamos. It describes von Neumann's work at the Ballistics Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Maryland and his consulting work at Los AlamosLos Alamos-United States:*Los Alamos, California*Los Alamos, New Mexico**Los Alamos Ranch School, boys' school**Los Alamos National Laboratory**Los Alamos County, New Mexico**Los Alamos Museum, unofficial name of the Bradbury Science Museum was a large floating dry dock...
, especially on the implosion device.