| Harold M. Agnew | |
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Harold M. Agnew in 1955
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| Born | March 28, 1921 Denver, Colorado |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Los Alamos |
| Alma mater | University of Denver, A.B. University of Chicago M.S. University of Chicago Ph.D. |
| Doctoral advisor | Enrico Fermi |
| Known for | Succeeded Norris Bradbury as director at Los Alamos |
| Notable awards | Enrico Fermi Award, 1970 |
Harold M. Agnew is an American physicist, best known for having flown as a scientific observer on the Hiroshima bombing mission and, later, as the third director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
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Harold Melvin Agnew was born in Denver, Colorado on March 28, 1921. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the University of Denver and joined Enrico Fermi's Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicagoin January 1942.[1]. There, he was involved in the construction of Chicago Pile-1,[2] witnessing the first controlled nuclear chain reaction in December 1942.[3]
Agnew worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos from 1943 to 1945.
On August 6, 1945, Agnew flew as a scientific observer with the 509th Composite Group to Hiroshima in the B-29 aircraft The Great Artiste, piloted by Charles Sweeney, which tailed the Enola Gay. With Luis Alvarez and Larry Johnson, Agnew had devised a method for measuring the yield of the nuclear blast by dropping pressure gauges on parachutes and telemetering the readings back to the plane. He later recalled, "After we dropped our gauges I remember we made a sharp turn to the right so that we would not get caught in the blast - but we still got badly shaken up by it." He brought along a movie camera and took the only existing movies of the Hiroshima event as seen from the air.[4][5]
Agnew returned to the University of Chicago in 1946, where he completed his graduate work under Fermi. He received his Master of Science (MS) degree in 1948 and his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1949.[6]
Agnew went back to Los Alamos and worked in weapons development, ultimately becoming head of the Weapon Nuclear Engineering Division in 1964, a position he held until becoming Director in 1970. He served as director until 1979. Under Agnew's directorship, Los Alamos developed an underground test containment program, completed its Meson Physics Facility, acquired the first Cray supercomputer, and trained the first class of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors.[7]
Agnew also served as a New Mexico State Senator from 1955 to 1961. [8]
Agnew retired from Los Alamos in 1979 and became president and CEO of General Atomics, a position held until 1985.[8] He chaired the General Advisory Committee of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (1974-1978), and served as a White House science councilor (1982-1989). He became in 1988 an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Diego.[3]
In a 1977 article for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Agnew argued that the fusion reactions of neutron bombs could provide "tactical" advantages over conventional fission weapons, especially in countering the "massive armor component possessed by the Eastern bloc." Citing conclusions reached by the Rand Corporation, Agnew argued that without actually affecting the armor of a tank, the neutrons produced by a fusion blast would penetrate the vehicle and "in a matter of a few tens of minutes to hours kill or make the crew completely ineffective." Because the neutron bomb reduced collateral damage, it could be used in a much more selective fashion than a fission weapon, thereby providing a clear "advantage for the military defender as well as for the nearby non-combatant." [9]
Agnew has long maintained that no new U.S. nuclear weapon design could be certified without nuclear testing, and that stockpile reliability stewardship without such testing may be problematic.[10]
In a 1999 letter to the Wall Street Journal, Agnew commented on the significance of allegations of Chinese nuclear espionage. "As long as any nation has a demonstrated nuclear capability and a means of delivering its bombs and warheads, it doesn't really matter whether the warheads are a little smaller or painted a color other than red, white, and blue," he wrote. "I suspect information published in the open by the National [sic.] Resources Defense Council has been as useful to other nations as any computer codes they may have received by illegal means."[11].
In a 2005 BBC interview, Agnew stated, "About three-quarters of the U.S. nuclear arsenal was designed under my tutelage at Los Alamos. That is my legacy."[5]
Agnew is the recipient of the E.O. Lawrence Award in 1966 and the Department of Energy Enrico Fermi Award in 1978. Along with Hans Bethe, Agnew was the first to receive the Los Alamos National Laboratory Medal. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.[3][8][12]