Ernest Titterton
Sir Ernest William Titterton (born March 4, 1916 in Tamworth , † February 8, 1990 in Canberra ) was a British-Australian nuclear physicist .
Titterton studied physics from 1934 at the University of Birmingham with a bachelor's degree in 1936 and a master's degree in physics in 1938. He was a student of Mark Oliphant and worked during World War II with radar research at the British Admiralty. This resulted in his dissertation classified as secret, with which he received his doctorate in 1941. Then he was part of the British mission in the Manhattan Project , he headed the electronics section in Los Alamos. During the Trinity test in 1945, he pressed the release button for the explosion of the first atomic bomb and was also involved in the first tests on Bikini Atoll. He then did research on cloud chambers and core emulsions in the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell. In 1950 he became professor of nuclear physics at the newly established Australian National University in Canberra. In 1981 he retired.
He was a leader in testing British atomic bombs in Australia and was known in Australia as an advocate of nuclear power. As a nuclear physicist, he used nuclear emulsions to study rare modes of nuclear fission and photo-decay and the spectroscopy of light nuclei.
In 1952 he became a fellow of the Royal Society and the American Physical Society , and in 1954 the Australian Academy of Sciences . In 1957 he was named Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George and in 1970 he was ennobled as a Knight Bachelor .
Publications (selection)
- Uranium: energy source of the future ?, Melbourne: Nelson in association with the Australian Institute of International Affairs, 1979, ISBN 0-170-05569-8
- Uranium and nuclear energy in Canada, Canberra: Australian National University Research School of Physical Sciences, Institute of Advanced Studies, 1979
- Pollution, environmental and health hazards of fossil fuels, Canberra, Austraila: Australian National University, 1978
- Facing the Atomic Future, etc., Macmillan & Co .: London, 1956
Web links
- Man of science with enormous passions and enthusiasms, Canberra Times obituary
- Obituary by TR Ophel
- Literature by and about Ernest Titterton in the WorldCat bibliographic database
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Titterton, Ernest |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Titterton, Ernest William (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British-Australian nuclear physicist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 4, 1916 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tamworth |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 8, 1990 |
| Place of death | Canberra |