Ernest William Titterton
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Sir Ernest Titterton CMG FRS FAA |
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| Born | Ernest William Titterton 4 March 1916 Tamworth, Staffordshire, England |
| Died | 8 February 1990 (aged 73) Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| Residence | Australia |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Nuclear physics |
| Institutions |
University of Birmingham Manhattan Project Atomic Energy Research Establishment Australian National University |
| Alma mater | University of Birmingham |
| Doctoral advisor | Mark Oliphant |
Sir Ernest William Titterton CMG FRS FAA (4 March 1916 – 8 February 1990) was a British nuclear physicist.
A graduate of the University of Birmingham, Titterton worked in a research position under Mark Oliphant, who recruited him to work on radar for the British Admiralty during the first part of the Second World War. In 1943, he joined the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory, where he helped develop the first atomic bombs. He eventually became one of the laboratory's group leaders. He participated in the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests at the Bikini Atoll in 1946, where he performed the countdown for both tests. With the passage of the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, known as the McMahon Act, all British government employees had to leave. He was the last member of the British Mission to do so, in April 1947.
Returning to England, Titterton joined the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, Oxfordshire, heading a group responsible for research with nuclear emulsions and cloud chambers. He investigated ternary fission, a comparatively rare type of nuclear fission in which the nucleus breaks into three pieces instead of two, and the photodisintegration of light nuclei by gamma rays. He was also a consultant to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) at Aldermaston that designed and developed Britain's first nuclear weapons.
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