Marcus Oliphant and Thorkild Bjerge.
| Nummer | B578 |
| Type | Billeder |
| Beskrivelse | Marcus Oliphant and Thorkild Bjerge in the canteen at the University of Copenhagen Institute for Theoretical Physics. (UITF - Universitetets Institut for Teoretisk Fysik). |
| Bemærkning | Marcus Laurence Elwin Oliphant (1901-2000) was an Australian physicist.
Oliphant attended Adelaide University, where in 1925 he attended a lecture by Ernest Rutherford. Inspired, Oliphant applied to the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory in 1927. There, he worked under Rutherford on heavy hydrogen reactions. The Australian scientist eventually left Cavendish Laboratory to become the Poynting Chair of Physics at the University of Birmingham. There, he worked with James R. Randall and H.A.H. Boot and created the cavity magnetron, which allowed for ground and airborne radar. During his time at the University of Birmingham, Frisch worked with Rudolf Peierls to calculate the feasibility of a uranium-235 bomb. In 1940, Frisch and Peierls wrote a memorandum that galvanized Oliphant to act. Oliphant took their findings to the Defense Council to argue for the possibility of building an atomic bomb. A special committee of the top nuclear physicists in Britain, the MAUD Committee, was formed. Oliphant and some of the British scientists from the MAUD Committee moved to the United States in 1943 to participate in the Manhattan Project. The Australian physicist acted as James Chadwick’s deputy and flew back to England to deliver reports to Sir John Anderson, who was in charge of the British "Tube Alloys" program. Immediately after the war, he became an advisor to the UN Atomic Energy Commission. In 1950, Oliphant became first director of the Research School of Physical Science, where he hoped to build the world’s most powerful accelerator. He also founded the Australian Academy of Sciences with Dr. D. Martyn and acted as president from 1954-1957. In 1959, he became a Knight of the British Empire and a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1977. In 1971, he was appointed as governor of South Australia. He retired in 1976. Torkild Bjerge (1902 – 1974) was a Danish physicist. Between 1928 and 1936 he worked at the Polytechnical Institute (now the Technical University of Denmark – DTU). Between 1937 and 1939 he worked at UITF/NBI. In 1939 he returned to the Polytechnic as professor. In 1956, he moved to the Risø research facility creating a formidable technical and scientific working environment. He saw the creation of nuclear energy as intimately bound with the world economic situation and was a contributor to the 1960 volume, “The Economic World Balance”. From 1965, the University of Copenhagen Institute for Theoretical Physics. (UITF - Universitetets Institut for Teoretisk Fysik) was renamed the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI). |
| Årstal | 1937 |
| Dateringsnote | The picture is taken at the 1937 Copenhagen conference. |
| Fotograf | Ukendt |
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| Arkiv | Niels Bohr Archive |
