George Cowan
Encyclopedia
George A. Cowan is an American
physical chemist
, a businessman and philanthropist. He conducted early research in the Manhattan Project
. George served 39 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory
as director of chemistry, associate director of research and senior laboratory fellow. He participated in founding the Santa Fe Opera in 1953. He founded the Los Alamos National Bank in 1963 to provide a means to obtain housing for Los Alamos employees and served for 30 years as its chair. He was also the driving influence in founding the Santa Fe Institute
together with Murray Gell-Mann
(Nobel Prize winner) and others in 1984, based upon his recognition of the need for a place where scientists could be offered a broader curriculum for the development of "a kind of twenty-first century Renaissance man" and associated research. A graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
(bachelor of science in Chemistry) and Carnegie Institute of Technology
(doctorate of science), he worked on the top secret Manhattan Project
at Los Alamos during World War II
. He received the Enrico Fermi Award
for "a lifetime of exceptional achievement in the development and use of energy," the New Mexico Academy of Science Distinguished Scientist Award, the Robert H. Goddard Award, the E.O. Lawrence Award, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory Medal, which is the highest honor the Laboratory bestows upon an individual or small group.
in chemistry, Cowan worked on the cyclotron
project at Princeton University
with the intention of taking graduate courses in physics. He worked there with future Nobel Prize Laureate Eugene Wigner, who would design the first uranium chain reactor. In 1941, George participated in taking measurements essential to determining whether the chain reaction in uranium
could be achieved. His knowledge of chemistry and nuclear physics experience provided expertise on a number of things necessary to the Manhattan Project. In 1942, Wigner, Cowan, and several others transferred to the Metallurgy Lab at the University of Chicago where the first atomic pile was being developed under Enrico Fermi
. Starting as a junior member, George became a jack-of-all-trades, capable of such skills as machining graphite blocks used for control of the pile's reaction rate and in casting uranium metal. In 1942, the Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) generated the first controlled nuclear reaction. This controlled release of energy from the nucleus of the atom enabled development of a method to obtain nuclear fuel for the first atomic weapons. His experience made him one of the experts on the chemistry of radioactive elements in the field of applied nuclear fission. Since he was single and in possession of high expertise, project managers transferred him around the nation to help resolve bottlenecks. He was one of the select group with knowledge of the separate components of the project, kept separate for security reasons. He received a draft deferment from the president of the United States for possessing skills uniquely useful to the war effort.
Following the end of the war and obtaining his PhD in physical chemistry from Carnegie Tech, Cowan returned to work for Los Alamos in 1950. Only weeks after his arrival, he directed the detection of radioactive fallout from samples collected near the Russian border indicating the Soviets were in possession of a nuclear bomb. He also participated for some years in the Bethe Panel, whose first chairman was Hans Bethe
. One of his early participatory functions on the panel was to convince U.S. government officials that the radiochemistry of the samples proved that it was not the result of a peaceful nuclear reactor problem, but a Soviet bomb, which was dubbed "Joe-1" after Joseph Stalin.
In 1953 George was a member of the group which founded the Santa Fe Opera. Another member of this group was Arthur Spiegel, of the Spiegel Catalog
fortune. Art was later to help George in his initial fund raising efforts to finance the Santa Fe Institute.
In 1982, Cowan accepted a seat on the White House Service Council. While serving in this capacity and facing problems involving interlinked aspects of science, policy, economics, environment and more, he realized that this demanded a broad range expertise above the current reductionist approach and fragmentation of the sciences. He believed that our educational culture was enforcing intellectual fragmentation through conservative university programs that depended on specialized grants and funded work. It seemed that cross-disciplinary team efforts were discouraged by membership in traditional, isolated science and social science disciplines. He knew that beginning in the 1980s numerical experiments through computer simulations were capable of providing the tools to think about very complex problems in a more holistic fashion. He began to imagine a new and independent type of institute that would combine the charter of a university while sharing some of Los Alamos' personnel and computer power. This could be a place where senior researchers would have a place to work on very speculative ideas. Where one could educate a man starting in science, but that could deal with the real messy world, which is not elegant, which science doesn't really deal with. In 1983, Cowan assembled a group of senior scientists interested in researching complex, adaptive systems. One year later, this assembly became the Santa Fe Institute. Initial funding was received by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, Citicorp and others.George was enthusiastic about complex systems
, which he declared to be the next major thrust in science. The Santa Fe Institute fosters interdisciplinary research between physicists, mathematicians, economists, computer scientists, and others. Although most of his duties as president did not allow time for research, as Distinguished Fellow of the Institute, Cowan applied neuroscience principles to investigate relationships between children's brain physiological changes and behavioral development.
In 1988, Cowan became a senior fellow emeritus at Los Alamos. A member of a group of six longtime Los Alamos employees rewarded with research positions free from administrative chores that would also advise the laboratory director on policy issues. Cowan served as president of the Santa Fe Institute until his retirement in 1991.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physical chemist
Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
, a businessman and philanthropist. He conducted early research in the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
. George served 39 years at Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
as director of chemistry, associate director of research and senior laboratory fellow. He participated in founding the Santa Fe Opera in 1953. He founded the Los Alamos National Bank in 1963 to provide a means to obtain housing for Los Alamos employees and served for 30 years as its chair. He was also the driving influence in founding the Santa Fe Institute
Santa Fe Institute
The Santa Fe Institute is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, including physical, computational, biological, and social systems.The Institute houses a...
together with Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann is an American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles...
(Nobel Prize winner) and others in 1984, based upon his recognition of the need for a place where scientists could be offered a broader curriculum for the development of "a kind of twenty-first century Renaissance man" and associated research. A graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a private university located in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States.Founded in 1865 in Worcester, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities...
(bachelor of science in Chemistry) and Carnegie Institute of Technology
Carnegie Institute of Technology
The Carnegie Institute of Technology , is the name for Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. It was first called the Carnegie Technical Schools, or Carnegie Tech, when it was founded in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie who intended to build a “first class technical school” in Pittsburgh,...
(doctorate of science), he worked on the top secret Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
at Los Alamos during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He received the Enrico Fermi Award
Enrico Fermi Award
The Enrico Fermi Award is an award honoring scientists of international stature for their lifetime achievement in the development, use, or production of energy. It is administered by the U.S. government's Department of Energy...
for "a lifetime of exceptional achievement in the development and use of energy," the New Mexico Academy of Science Distinguished Scientist Award, the Robert H. Goddard Award, the E.O. Lawrence Award, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory Medal, which is the highest honor the Laboratory bestows upon an individual or small group.
Biography
In 1941 at age twenty one, after graduating from Worcester Polytechnic InstituteWorcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a private university located in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States.Founded in 1865 in Worcester, WPI was one of the United States' first engineering and technology universities...
in chemistry, Cowan worked on the cyclotron
Cyclotron
In technology, a cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator. In physics, the cyclotron frequency or gyrofrequency is the frequency of a charged particle moving perpendicularly to the direction of a uniform magnetic field, i.e. a magnetic field of constant magnitude and direction...
project at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
with the intention of taking graduate courses in physics. He worked there with future Nobel Prize Laureate Eugene Wigner, who would design the first uranium chain reactor. In 1941, George participated in taking measurements essential to determining whether the chain reaction in uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
could be achieved. His knowledge of chemistry and nuclear physics experience provided expertise on a number of things necessary to the Manhattan Project. In 1942, Wigner, Cowan, and several others transferred to the Metallurgy Lab at the University of Chicago where the first atomic pile was being developed under Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
. Starting as a junior member, George became a jack-of-all-trades, capable of such skills as machining graphite blocks used for control of the pile's reaction rate and in casting uranium metal. In 1942, the Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) generated the first controlled nuclear reaction. This controlled release of energy from the nucleus of the atom enabled development of a method to obtain nuclear fuel for the first atomic weapons. His experience made him one of the experts on the chemistry of radioactive elements in the field of applied nuclear fission. Since he was single and in possession of high expertise, project managers transferred him around the nation to help resolve bottlenecks. He was one of the select group with knowledge of the separate components of the project, kept separate for security reasons. He received a draft deferment from the president of the United States for possessing skills uniquely useful to the war effort.
Following the end of the war and obtaining his PhD in physical chemistry from Carnegie Tech, Cowan returned to work for Los Alamos in 1950. Only weeks after his arrival, he directed the detection of radioactive fallout from samples collected near the Russian border indicating the Soviets were in possession of a nuclear bomb. He also participated for some years in the Bethe Panel, whose first chairman was Hans Bethe
Hans Bethe
Hans Albrecht Bethe was a German-American nuclear physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. A versatile theoretical physicist, Bethe also made important contributions to quantum electrodynamics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics and...
. One of his early participatory functions on the panel was to convince U.S. government officials that the radiochemistry of the samples proved that it was not the result of a peaceful nuclear reactor problem, but a Soviet bomb, which was dubbed "Joe-1" after Joseph Stalin.
In 1953 George was a member of the group which founded the Santa Fe Opera. Another member of this group was Arthur Spiegel, of the Spiegel Catalog
Spiegel catalog
Spiegel is one of the USA's leading direct marketing companies. Spiegel began as a "wareroom" in downtown Chicago; it is a US$3 billion, international, tri-channel, specialty retailer....
fortune. Art was later to help George in his initial fund raising efforts to finance the Santa Fe Institute.
In 1982, Cowan accepted a seat on the White House Service Council. While serving in this capacity and facing problems involving interlinked aspects of science, policy, economics, environment and more, he realized that this demanded a broad range expertise above the current reductionist approach and fragmentation of the sciences. He believed that our educational culture was enforcing intellectual fragmentation through conservative university programs that depended on specialized grants and funded work. It seemed that cross-disciplinary team efforts were discouraged by membership in traditional, isolated science and social science disciplines. He knew that beginning in the 1980s numerical experiments through computer simulations were capable of providing the tools to think about very complex problems in a more holistic fashion. He began to imagine a new and independent type of institute that would combine the charter of a university while sharing some of Los Alamos' personnel and computer power. This could be a place where senior researchers would have a place to work on very speculative ideas. Where one could educate a man starting in science, but that could deal with the real messy world, which is not elegant, which science doesn't really deal with. In 1983, Cowan assembled a group of senior scientists interested in researching complex, adaptive systems. One year later, this assembly became the Santa Fe Institute. Initial funding was received by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, Citicorp and others.George was enthusiastic about complex systems
Complex system
A complex system is a system composed of interconnected parts that as a whole exhibit one or more properties not obvious from the properties of the individual parts....
, which he declared to be the next major thrust in science. The Santa Fe Institute fosters interdisciplinary research between physicists, mathematicians, economists, computer scientists, and others. Although most of his duties as president did not allow time for research, as Distinguished Fellow of the Institute, Cowan applied neuroscience principles to investigate relationships between children's brain physiological changes and behavioral development.
In 1988, Cowan became a senior fellow emeritus at Los Alamos. A member of a group of six longtime Los Alamos employees rewarded with research positions free from administrative chores that would also advise the laboratory director on policy issues. Cowan served as president of the Santa Fe Institute until his retirement in 1991.