Kenneth T. Bainbridge

Biography

Abstract

Kenneth Bainbridge was a leader in the field of physics for his design and application of mass spectrographs as research tools for mass measurements. He built the first cyclotron at Harvard University, participated in the development of radar during World War II, and oversaw the test explosion of the first nuclear bomb at Alamogordo, New Mexico in July 1945.

Important Dates

July 27, 1904Birth, Cooperstown (Pa.).

1926Obtained S.B. and S.M. in Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (Mass.).

1929Obtained Ph.D. in Physics, Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).

1929 – 1933National Research Fellow in Physics (1929-1931) and Bartol Research Foundation Fellow (1931-1933), Bartol Research Foundation.

1933 – 1934Guggenheim Fellow, Cambridge University.

1934 – 1996Assistant Professor to Professor of Physics (1934-1946); Professor of Physics (1946-1961); Chair, Department of Physics (1953-1956); Leverett Professor of Physics (1961-1975); and Emeritus Leverett Professor of Physics (1975-1996), Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1940 – 1943Division Leader and Member, Steering Committee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Radiation Laboratory, Cambridge (Mass.).

1943 – 1945Group Leader; Member, Steering Committee; and Director, Trinity Test, Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project, Los Alamos (N.M.).

1946Member, National Academy of Sciences.

July 14, 1996Death, Lexington (Mass.).

Occupation

Nuclear physicist.

Places

Birth

Cooperstown (Pa.)

Graduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Princeton (N.J.)

Employment

Cambridge (Mass.)

Los Alamos (N.M.)

Death

Lexington (Mass.)

Subjects

Atomic bomb.

Cyclotrons.

Nuclear physics.

Nuclear weapons.

Trinity Test.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Radar.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Nier, Alfred O. (Alfred Otto), 1911-1994

Post-doctorate advised by Bainbridge at Harvard University, and both employed at Harvard University.

Purcell, Edward M.

Advised by Bainbridge at Harvard University and both employed at Harvard University.

Rutherford, Ernest, 1871-1937

Advisor at University of Cambridge.

Smyth, Henry De Wolf, 1898-1986

Ph.D. advisor at Princeton University, "A search for element 87 by analysis of positive rays."

Swann, W. F. G. (William Francis Gray), 1884-1962

Research Advisor at Bartol Research Foundation.

Colleagues

Ackerman, Jerome O.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Adler, Stephen L.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Alvarez, Luis W., 1911-1988

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Bardeen, John

Both employed at Harvard University.

Barton, Henry Askew, 1898-1983

Both employed at Bartol Research Foundation.

Benedek, George Bernard, 1928-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bloembergen, N.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bonbrake, Lawrence

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Bradbury, Norris, 1909-1997

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project and Project Trinity, the Manhattan Project.

Branscomb, Lewis M., 1926-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Brewer, Richard G.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bridgman, P. W. (Percy Williams), 1882-1961

Both employed at Harvard University.

Brillouin, Léon, 1889-1969

Both employed at Harvard University.

Brode, Robert B. (Robert Bigham), 1900-1986

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Brooks, Harvey

Both employed at Harvard University.

Callan, Curtis G.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Carlson, R. W.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Chadwick, George

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Church, Philemon Edwards

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Coleman, Sidney, 1937-2007

Both employed at Harvard University.

Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978

Both employed at Harvard University.

Cormack, Allan MacLeod, 1924-1998

Both employed at Harvard University.

Cornog, Robert A.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Critchfield, Charles Louis, 1910-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Deser, S. (Stanley)

Both employed at Harvard University.

Esterline, P.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Feenberg, Eugene

Both employed at Harvard University.

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project and Project Trinity, Manhattan Project.

Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981

Both employed at Harvard University.

Furry, W. H. (Wendell Hinkle), 1907-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Fussell, Lewis

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Gabrielse, Gerald

Both employed at Harvard University.

Gallagher, Thomas F., 1944-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Gates, S. James

Both employed at Harvard University.

Georgi, Howard

Both employed at Harvard University.

Glashow, Sheldon L.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Glauber, Roy J., 1925-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Greisen, Kenneth

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Griggs, David, 1911-1974

Both employed at Harvard University.

Gross, David J. (David Jonathan)

Both employed at Harvard University.

Gurinsky, David

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Hempelmann, L. H.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Henderson, Robert W. (Robert Wesley), 1914-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Hirschfelder, Joseph Oakland, 1911-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Hittell, J. L.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Hoffman, Joseph G. (Joseph Gilbert), 1909-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Hooft, G. 't

Both employed at Harvard University.

Hopper, J. D.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Hubbard, Jack

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Huth, John Edward

Both employed at Harvard University.

Jackiw, Roman W.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Jaffe, Arthur, 1937-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kemble, Edwin C. (Edwin Crawford), 1889-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kershaw, S.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Kistiakowsky, George B. (George Bogdan), 1900-1982

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Kleppner, Daniel

Both employed at Harvard University.

Kohn, Walter, 1923-2016

Both employed at Harvard University.

Koski, Walter

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Leet, L. Don (Lewis Don), 1901-1974

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Leggett, A. J. (Anthony J.)

Both employed at Harvard University.

Linschitz, Henry, 1919-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Long, E. L.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Lyman, Theodore, 1874-1954

Both employed at Harvard University.

Mack, Julian Ellis, 1903-1966

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Manley, John Henry, 1907-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Martin, Paul Cecil, 1931-

Both employed at Harvard University.

McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Moon, Philip Burton

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Neddermeyer, Seth H. (Seth Henry), 1907-1988

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Nelson, David R., 1951-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Parratt, Lyman G. (Lyman George)

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Penney, William George Penney, Baron, 1909-1991

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Pierce, George Washington, 1872-1956

Both employed at Harvard University.

Politzer, H. David, 1949-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Pound, Robert V.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Quinn, Helen R.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project and Harvard University.

Raney, William P.

Both employed at Harvard University.

Saunders, Frederick A. (Frederick Albert), 1875-1963

Both employed at Harvard University.

Schaffer, W. F.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Schwinger, Julian, 1918-1994

Both employed at Harvard University.

Spencer, Thomas, 1946-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Starr, Chauncey

Both employed at Harvard University.

Stevens, W. A.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Street, Jabez Curry, 1906-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Tenney, Gerold

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Tinkham, Michael

Both employed at Harvard University.

Tousey, Richard

Both employed at Harvard University.

Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980

Both employed at Harvard University.

Waldman, Bernard, 1913-1986

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Weinberg, Steven, 1933-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Williams, John H. (John Harry), 1908-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Wilson, Kenneth G. (Kenneth Geddes), 1936-2013

Both employed at Harvard University.

Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000

Both employed at Harvard University and Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Wu, Tai Tsun

Both employed at Harvard University.

Additional

Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005

Buck, Paul Herman, 1899-1978

Bush, Vannevar, 1890-1974

Chadwick, James, 1891-1974

Cockcroft, John, Sir, 1897-1967

DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994

Ewen, Harold Irving, 1922-

Holton, Gerald James

Howie, Mildred Evelyn Carter

Livingood, John J. (John Jacob), 1903-

Loomis, F. W. (Francis Wheeler), 1889-1976

Oliphant, Mark, 1901-2000

Oppenheimer, Frank, 1912-1985

Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988

Szilard, Leo

Institutions

Major Positions

Bartol Research Foundation

National Research Fellow in Physics and Bartol Research Foundation Fellow.

Harvard University. Department of Physics

Assistant Professor to Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Chair, Department of Physics; Leverett Professor of Physics; and Emeritus Leverett Professor of Physics.

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

Group Leader; Member, Steering Committee; and Director, Trinity Test (Manhattan Project).

Manhattan Project (U.S.)

Group Leader; Member, Steering Committee; and Director, Trinity Test, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Radiation Laboratory

Division Leader and Member, Steering Committee.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering

Obtained S.B. and S.M. in 1926.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Princeton University. Department of Physics

Obtained Ph.D. in 1929.

University of Cambridge. Department of Physics

Guggenheim Fellow.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Kenneth Bainbridge correspondence with James Chadwick and Mark Oliphant, 1973-1974.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Kenneth T. Bainbridge papers, 1873-1996.

Archives. Pusey Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Manhattan Project videohistory collection [videorecording], 1987-1990.

Archives

Smithsonian Institution

Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507, 600 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20024-2520, USA

MIT Radiation Laboratory oral history collection, 1991.

IEEE History Center

Rutgers University

39 Union Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA

Oral history interview with Kenneth Bainbridge, 1977 March 16 and 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Kenneth Bainbridge, 1991 June 10.

IEEE History Center

Rutgers University

39 Union Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA

Reminiscences of Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge : oral history, 1960.

Oral History Research Office

Columbia University

Box 20, Room 801 Butler Library, New York, NY 10027, USA

Subject

Hans Bethe papers, circa 1931-1992.

Carl A. Kroch Library. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections

Cornell University

2B Carl A Kroch Library, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA

Lecture on stable isotopes from CO2 [videorecording].

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Mildred Howie student research files on cyclotrons, 1939.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

On being a student of Norman Ramsey, 2017.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edward M. Purcell, 1976 November 23.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edward Mills Purcell, 1977 June 8 and 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Frank Oppenheimer, 1973 February 9 and May 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Gerald Holton, 1977 January 11.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harold "Doc" Ewen, 1998 January 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John J. Livingood, 1977 May 16.

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA

Oral history interview with John J. Livingood, 1977 May 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Paul Buck, 1977 March 2.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert V. Pound, 1976 November 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

William Francis Gray Swann papers, 1903-1962.

Library

American Philosophical Society

105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA

Published Resources

Subject

Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge Physics Today obituary.