George Irving Bell
Encyclopedia
George Irving Bell was an American physicist
, biologist
and mountaineer
, and a grandson of John Joseph Seerley
. He died from complications of leukemia
after surgery.
in physics from Harvard University
in 1947. He studied theoretical physics
with Hans Bethe
at Cornell University
, obtaining his doctorate in 1951.
and joined the "T Division." At the time, this division was primarily occupied in the design of the first thermonuclear weapon. Bell contributed by solving problems of neutron
transport.
Such problems are also crucial in the design and analysis of nuclear reactor
s, so it was natural that Bell became a leading expert on the physics of reactors. He co-authored the book Nuclear Reactor Theory with Samuel Glasstone.
. He headed the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group at Los Alamos from 1974 to 1990. He also worked on mathematical models in biophysics. In 1988, he became the founding director of the Center for Human Genome Studies, which became a major participant in the Human Genome Project
. He was director for only one year (simultaneously acting as the head of T Division and the group leader for the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group), and retired from Los Alamos in 1990. He continued to work as an associate of the laboratory until September 1999.
Bell was the author of over 100 research papers, and the co-editor of Theoretical Immunology (1978) and Computers and DNA (1989; ISBN 0201515059).
, and he was an active participant in the Harvard Mountaineering Club
. In the 1940s, he made first ascents of four peaks in the area around Mount Waddington
in the Coast Range
of British Columbia
, on an HMC expedition. During this period, he also climbed in the Tetons, the Wind River Range
, and the Cascades
.
Bell then moved to more significant objectives, organizing the expedition in 1950 that made the first ascent of Yerupajá
, 21769 feet (6,635 m), in the Cordillera Huayhuash
of Peru
, one of the most difficult and dangerous peaks in the Andes
. Bell did not make the summit, but reached an altitude of 20600 ft (6,278.9 m). He returned to Peru in 1952 to make the first ascent of another steep and difficult peak of the Peruvian Andes, Salcantay
in the Cordillera Vilcabamba. He made two significant return trips to Peru in 1954 and 1956.
Bell also climbed in the Karakoram
of Pakistan
, participating in two very notable expeditions. In 1953, Bell took part in the Third American Karakoram Expedition
to K2
and was one of five climbers who fell on during a failed attempt of the first ascent of the peak. Their fall was arrested by Pete Schoening
in one of the great feats of mountaineering. Bell went on several more Himalayan expeditions and made the first ascent of Masherbrum
, the 22nd highest peak in the world, in 1960.
Bell's son, also named George, is also a climber.
Physicist
A 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...
, biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
and mountaineer
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
, and a grandson of John Joseph Seerley
John Joseph Seerley
John Joseph Seerley was a one-term Democratic U.S. Representative from Iowa's 1st congressional district in southeastern Iowa....
. He died from complications of leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
after surgery.
Education
Bell received a bachelor's degreeBachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in physics from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1947. He studied theoretical physics
Theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics which employs mathematical models and abstractions of physics to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena...
with Hans Bethe
Hans Bethe
Hans Albrecht Bethe was a German-American nuclear physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. A versatile theoretical physicist, Bethe also made important contributions to quantum electrodynamics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics and...
at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, obtaining his doctorate in 1951.
Physics
Immediately after receiving his PhD, Bell came to the Los Alamos Scientific LaboratoryLos 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...
and joined the "T Division." At the time, this division was primarily occupied in the design of the first thermonuclear weapon. Bell contributed by solving problems of neutron
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
transport.
Such problems are also crucial in the design and analysis of nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s, so it was natural that Bell became a leading expert on the physics of reactors. He co-authored the book Nuclear Reactor Theory with Samuel Glasstone.
Biology
Bell's interests turned to biology in the 1960s, creating quantitative models in immunologyImmunology
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...
. He headed the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group at Los Alamos from 1974 to 1990. He also worked on mathematical models in biophysics. In 1988, he became the founding director of the Center for Human Genome Studies, which became a major participant in the Human Genome Project
Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project is an international scientific research project with a primary goal of determining the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA, and of identifying and mapping the approximately 20,000–25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional...
. He was director for only one year (simultaneously acting as the head of T Division and the group leader for the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group), and retired from Los Alamos in 1990. He continued to work as an associate of the laboratory until September 1999.
Bell was the author of over 100 research papers, and the co-editor of Theoretical Immunology (1978) and Computers and DNA (1989; ISBN 0201515059).
Mountaineering
Bell was an avid and accomplished mountaineer and participated in some of the most notable American expeditions of the 1950s and 1960s. His first climbs were during his high school years, in the TetonsTeton Range
The Teton Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. A north-south range, it is on the Wyoming side of the state's border with Idaho, just south of Yellowstone National Park. Most of the range is in Grand Teton National Park....
, and he was an active participant in the Harvard Mountaineering Club
Harvard Mountaineering Club
The Harvard Mountaineering Club is an undergraduate organization of Harvard College. Founded in 1924, the HMC is one of the oldest college mountaineering clubs in the USA, with a long record of exploratory mountaineering.-Early history:...
. In the 1940s, he made first ascents of four peaks in the area around Mount Waddington
Mount Waddington
Mount Waddington, once known as Mystery Mountain, is the highest peak in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Although Mount Fairweather and Mount Quincy Adams, which straddle the US border between Alaska and British Columbia are taller, Mount Waddington is the highest peak that lies...
in the Coast Range
Coast Mountains
The Coast Mountains are a major mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges, of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia. They are so-named because of their proximity to the sea coast, and are often...
of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, on an HMC expedition. During this period, he also climbed in the Tetons, the Wind River Range
Wind River Range
The Wind River Range , is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW-SE for approximately 100 miles . The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and includes Gannett Peak, which at 13,804 feet , is the highest peak...
, and the Cascades
Cascade Range
The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...
.
Bell then moved to more significant objectives, organizing the expedition in 1950 that made the first ascent of Yerupajá
Yerupaja
Yerupajá or Nevado Yerupajá is a mountain of the Cordillera Huayhuash in west central Peru, part of the Andes. At 6,635 m/21,768 ft it is the second-highest in Peru and the highest in the Cordillera Huayhuash...
, 21769 feet (6,635 m), in the Cordillera Huayhuash
Cordillera Huayhuash
The Cordillera Huayhuash is a mountain range in the Andes of Peru. It is located in the boundaries of the Ancash Region, Lima Region, y Huanuco Region...
of Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, one of the most difficult and dangerous peaks in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
. Bell did not make the summit, but reached an altitude of 20600 ft (6,278.9 m). He returned to Peru in 1952 to make the first ascent of another steep and difficult peak of the Peruvian Andes, Salcantay
Salcantay
Salcantay or Salkantay , Sallqantay in Quechua is the highest peak of the Cordillera Vilcabamba, part of the Peruvian Andes. It is located in the Cusco Region, about west-northwest of the city of Cusco. It is the 38th highest peak in the Andes, and the twelfth highest in Peru...
in the Cordillera Vilcabamba. He made two significant return trips to Peru in 1954 and 1956.
Bell also climbed in the Karakoram
Karakoram
The Karakoram, or Karakorum , is a large mountain range spanning the borders between Pakistan, India and China, located in the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan , Ladakh , and Xinjiang region,...
of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, participating in two very notable expeditions. In 1953, Bell took part in the Third American Karakoram Expedition
Third American Karakoram Expedition
The 1953 American Karakoram Expedition was a mountaineering expedition to K2, at 8,611 metres the second highest mountain on Earth. It was the fifth expedition to attempt K2, and the first since the Second World War...
to K2
K2
K2 is the second-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest...
and was one of five climbers who fell on during a failed attempt of the first ascent of the peak. Their fall was arrested by Pete Schoening
Pete Schoening
Peter K. Schoening was an American mountaineer. Schoening was one of two Americans to first successfully climb the Pakistani peak Gasherbrum I in 1958, and was one of the first to summit Mount Vinson in Antarctica in 1966. He was born July 30, 1927, in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in...
in one of the great feats of mountaineering. Bell went on several more Himalayan expeditions and made the first ascent of Masherbrum
Masherbrum
Masherbrum is located in the Gilgit Baltistan of Pakistan. At it is the 22nd highest mountain in the world and the 9th highest in Pakistan. It was the first scaled and mapped peak in the Karakoram mountain range, hence its name....
, the 22nd highest peak in the world, in 1960.
Bell's son, also named George, is also a climber.