Ed Grothus
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| Edward B. Grothus | |
 Ed Grothus with Fermacell Fermentor,
inside The Black Hole, Nov 2007. |
|
| Born | 1924 |
|---|---|
| Residence | Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Institutions | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
Edward B. Grothus (born 1924)[1][2] is an American former scientist and employee of the Los Alamos National Laboratory during the 1950s and 1960s.
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[edit] Weapons specialist
Originally, Grothus built rifles and machine guns in Illinois.[3]
He arrived in Los Alamos on 23 March 1949.[2][4] Initially, Grothus worked for 2 years as a machinist and then 18 years as a technician in the R-Site weapons development group. This involved working with depleted uranium and taking measurements for studies on the hydrodynamics of test implosions.
He says his work contributed to the creation of bombs 30 times smaller and 30 times more powerful than those used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- an increase of 15 kilotons to 475 kilotons in a nuclear package the size of a bowling ball.[4]
On 1 Dec 1969[2] Grothus quit the lab to pursue his business and activism interests full-time.
[edit] Shopkeeper & peace Activist
In 1951,[4] while still working at the lab, Grothus founded the Los Alamos Sales Company, known to all as The Black Hole (because "everything goes in and nothing comes out"). It is a "thrift shop” of old scientific equipment that he has collected from the National Laboratory over the past decades. Ed can be seen often shopping at another Los Alamos thrift shop, Casa Mesita.
Originally, the business had no permanent home as Grothus sold unwanted lab items purchased at auction to universities and researchers.
In 1976 the store found its present home in a 17,000-square-foot grocery store Grothus and his wife Margaret bought.[4]
Ed’s store serves as an organizing base to protest the production of weapons. His objective for the Black Hole is to recycle scientific equipment to be used for peaceful endeavors.
When walking into the gymnasium sized warehouse filled with piles of old computers, function generators, lock in amplifiers, microscopes and piles of wires and cables, a sign on the door reads:
| “ |
one bomb is too much |
” |
[edit] Documentary films
Grothus is the subject of three documentaries. The first, Atomic Ed & The Black Hole[5] was produced in 2002 and broadcast in the United States on HBO. The second, focusing on Los Alamos as a whole, was a German production called Los Alamos und die Erben Der Bombe.[6] The third, Laboratory Conditions, is a short film available for free on the internet.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ The Black Hole of Los Alamos: Wired.com website.
- ^ a b c Fear and Fallout in Los Alamos: Mother Jones website.
- ^ Ed Grothus And The Doomsday Stones: MyWire website.
- ^ a b c d Anti-nuke activist works for new legacy for birthplace of A-bomb: Kyodo News website.
- ^ Atomic Ed & The Black Hole: Mobilus Media website.
- ^ Los Alamos und die Erben Der Bombe (Los Alamos and Inheriting The Bomb): Denkmal-Film.com (German) website.
- ^ Laboratory Conditions (downloadable film): Coudal Partners website.(Requires Apple QuickTime installed)
[edit] External links
- The Black Hole of Los Alamos Official site
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