Lawrence H. Johnston
| Lawrence Johnston | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 11, 1918 Shandong, China |
| Died | December 4, 2011 (aged 93) Moscow, Idaho |
| Residence | Moscow, Idaho |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions |
Los Alamos Laboratory University of Minnesota The Aerospace Corporation Stanford Linear Accelerator Center University of Idaho |
| Alma mater |
University of California, Berkeley, B.S. 1940, Ph.D. 1950 |
| Doctoral advisor | Luis Walter Alvarez |
| Spouse | Mildred (Millie) Hillis Johnston |
| Children | 1 son, 4 daughters |
Lawrence Harding "Larry" Johnston (February 11, 1918 – December 4, 2011) was an American physicist, a young contributor to the Manhattan Project. He was the only man to witness all three atomic explosions in 1945: the Trinity nuclear test and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
During World War II, he worked at the MIT Radiation Laboratory where he invented ground-controlled approach radar. In 1944, he went to the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory, where he invented the exploding-bridgewire detonator.
After the war he completed his Ph.D. thesis in 1950, and became an associate professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He later worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center as head of the electronics department, and was a professor at the University of Idaho in Moscow, where he taught until his retirement.
Born in Shandong, China, on February 11, 1918, Johnston's parents were American Presbyterian missionaries. The family returned to the United States in 1923, and his father became a Presbyterian pastor in Santa Maria, California.
After graduation from Hollywood High School in 1936, Johnston earned an associate degree at Los Angeles City College. He transferred to the University of California in Berkeley, where Luis Walter Alvarez was a graduate student. Johnston received his bachelor's degree in physics in 1940.
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