[Marxism] Re: Partisanship and Objectivity in Theoretical Work:Politics and natural science

[Brian Shannon <brian_shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> if there is any place to start giving up on "great person" science,
> maybe we should start here with the atomic bomb. —Les

Professor Alvarez Discusses Nuclear Physics Adventures

“The pursuit of science is an adventure,” physics professor Louis W.  
Alvarez said Tuesday night at the 49th annual faculty research lecture.

In his talk, entitled “Adventures in Nuclear Physics” Alvarez  
mentioned some of his significant projects in the field of science  
citing the late Ernest O. Lawrence as a major influence in his career.

Alvarez became interested in defraction gratings, and when the first  
automatic tracking radar apparatus was built in 1941, he tried to  
apply the same concept for use in landing airplanes. “It was a  
complete flop,” he said. “When the planes got low enough to land, the  
apparatus didn’t work.”

But Alvarez didn’t give up. He devised an antenna with higher  
resolution by making a long pipe with a defraction grating, and his  
problem was solved.

... When Alvarez first came to the University, his sister introduced  
him to Lawrence, for whom she was working as a part-time secretary.  
Alvarez worked as Lawrence’s research assistant for four and a half  
years.

One of his projects at the radiation laboratory was to try to find  
uranium neutrons. Alvarez placed one pound of uranium next to a  
Geiger counter and observed it for an hour. When nothing happened, he  
gave up and went on to another project.

He later found that another group of scientists “who were really  
smart guys” had sent six months search for the neutrons. “If I had  
used ten pounds of uranium instead of one and had placed it a little  
closer to the Geiger counter, I could have found them in another hour.”

“This is a problem of young scientists,” Alvarez said, “knowing what  
to do and what to waste time on.”

During World War II, he helped in the development of the atomic bomb  
and he is now doing research in hydrogen at the Lawrence Radiation  
Laboratory. On the development of the 72-inch hydrogen bubble chamber  
in 1959, Alvarez stated that this was one of the biggest adventures  
of his career.
___________________

Daily Californian, Thursday, March 22, 1962. This was the day before  
Charter Day at which Kennedy spoke to over 85,000 people at the UC  
football stadium. Outside, 300 pickets demonstrated against Kennedy.  
Their signs were against nuclear testing, for civil rights, against  
the McCarran act, against the early stages of the Vietnam War,  
against government actions against Cuba, against govt aid to France  
and Portugal in their actions against the colonial revolution.

from Brian Shannon



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