Kenneth Bainbridge

Kenneth Bainbridge
Born
Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge

(1904-07-27)July 27, 1904
DiedJuly 14, 1996(1996-07-14) (aged 91)
Education
Known for
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsHarvard University
Doctoral advisorHenry DeWolf Smyth
Doctoral studentsEdward Mills Purcell
Signature

Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge (July 27, 1904 – July 14, 1996) was an American physicist at Harvard University who worked on cyclotron research. His accurate measurements of mass differences between nuclear isotopes allowed him to confirm Albert Einstein's mass–energy equivalence concept.[1] He was the Director of the Manhattan Project's Trinity nuclear test, which took place July 16, 1945. Bainbridge described the Trinity explosion as a "foul and awesome display".[2] He remarked to J. Robert Oppenheimer immediately after the test, "Now we are all sons of bitches."[2] This marked the beginning of his dedication to ending the testing of nuclear weapons and to efforts to maintain civilian control of future developments in that field.

  1. ^ Pound, Robert V. (January 1997). "Obituary: Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge". Physics Today. 50 (1): 80–82. Bibcode:1997PhT....50a..80P. doi:10.1063/1.881651.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Bulletin was invoked but never defined (see the help page).