Boyce McDaniel
| Boyce Dawkins McDaniel | |
|---|---|
Boyce McDaniel at Los Alamos
|
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| Born |
June 11, 1917 Brevard, North Carolina |
| Died | May 8, 2002 (aged 84) Ithaca, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Nuclear physics, Accelerator physics |
| Institutions |
MIT, Manhattan Project, Laboratory for Nuclear Studies, Cornell, Fermilab |
| Alma mater |
Ohio Wesleyan University (B.S.), Case School of Applied Science (M.S.), Cornell University (Ph.D.) |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert Bacher |
| Known for | Performed the final check on the first atomic bomb. |
Boyce Dawkins McDaniel (June 11, 1917 - May 8, 2002) was an American nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project and later directed the Cornell University Laboratory of Nuclear Studies (LNS). McDaniel was skilled in constructing "atom smashing" devices to study the fundamental structure of matter and helped to build the most powerful particle accelerators of his time. Together with his graduate student, he invented the pair spectrometer.
During World War II, McDaniel used his electronics expertise to help develop cyclotrons used to separate Uranium isotopes. McDaniel is also noted as having performed the final check on the first atomic bomb prior to its detonation in the Trinity test.
Born in Brevard, North Carolina, McDaniel attended Chesterville High School in Ohio. After graduating in 1933, he attended Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he graduated in 1938 with a Bachelor of Science. His initial postgraduate studies took place at the Case School of Applied Science, graduating with a master's degree in 1940. McDaniel continued postgraduate studies when he moved to Cornell University, and in 1943 he completed his doctoral thesis, examining the absorption rates of neutrons in indium. The research was not classified, but McDaniel and Robert Bacher, his adviser at Cornell, marked it as "secret" on their own initiative. From Cornell, McDaniel moved to MIT where he held a postdoctoral position, studying "the rapidly evolving field of fast electronics", which he applied to research in particle physics.
After the outbreak of World War II, McDaniel joined Bacher in Los Alamos, New Mexico to work for the Manhattan Project, where he became a part of Robert R. Wilson's cyclotron research team. McDaniel was to have "a crucial role in helping to identify the amount of uranium-235 needed to ... detonate the world's first nuclear bomb". McDaniel is also noted as having performed the final check on the first atomic bomb prior to its detonation in the Trinity test.
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