Ted Taylor
Encyclopedia
Theodore Brewster Taylor (July 11, 1925 – October 28, 2004), was a Mexican
-born, American
theoretical physicist
and prominent nuclear weapon design
er who later in life became a nuclear disarmament
advocate.
, Mexico
, the son of a daughter of a congregationalist
missionary
and a director of the YMCA
. He spent much of his childhood in Cuernavaca
in the state of Morelos
, south of Mexico City. From 1943 to 1946 he served on active duty in the United States Navy
. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from the California Institute of Technology
, pursued graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley
, and received a PhD in theoretical physics from Cornell University
in 1954.
, where he gained some fame as a designer of small, efficient nuclear weapon
s. He was assigned to explore the bounds of fission
weapons in an era when most weapons designers were focused on fusion
. In 1956 he moved to General Atomics
, where he directed Project Orion
, with his friend Lew Allen
as contract manager. He also was involved in the design of small nuclear reactors to produce radioactive isotopes for medical use, the TRIGA
reactors. He led the team that designed the largest pure fission bomb ever detonated, the Super Oralloy
Bomb ("SOB"), which had a yield of 500 kilotons in its only test (Ivy King
). He similarly designed the small "Scorpion" on the small end of the scale which is documented in John McPhee
's The Curve of Binding Energy. This knowledge of bombs requiring minimal amounts of fissile material contributed to his concerns about nuclear terrorism
.
After the end of Project Orion
, he worked for the Defense Atomic Support Agency, involved with controlling the US stockpile of nuclear weapons. Beginning in 1966 he advocated nuclear disarmament
, and worked as a consultant to the United States Atomic Energy Commission
from 1966 to 1968 evaluating the International Atomic Energy Agency
in regard to nuclear non-proliferation. He worked as a visiting professor at University of California, Santa Cruz
and Princeton University
; in addition to nuclear proliferation, a topic on which he wrote several books, he studied renewable energy
and energy conservation
, including ice pond
technology. Taylor was featured in the 1984 PBS series, The Voyage of the Mimi
, starring a young Ben Affleck
.
” is found in Nigel Calder's Spaceships of the Mind. The concept would use a large mass spectrometer to separate an ion beam into atomic elements for later use in making products.
Taylor was a member of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
and attended several of its meetings during the 1980s. After his retirement he lived in Wellsville, New York
. He died on October 28, 2004 of coronary artery disease.
said of Taylor, "Very few people have Ted's imagination. ... I think he is perhaps the greatest man that I ever knew well. And he is completely unknown."
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
-born, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theoretical physicist
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and prominent nuclear weapon design
Nuclear weapon design
Nuclear weapon designs are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate. There are three basic design types...
er who later in life became a nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament refers to both the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons and to the end state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated....
advocate.
Early life
Taylor was born in Mexico CityMexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, the son of a daughter of a congregationalist
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
and a director of the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
. He spent much of his childhood in Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It was established at the archeological site of Gualupita I by the Olmec, "the mother culture" of Mesoamerica, approximately 3200 years ago...
in the state of Morelos
Morelos
Morelos officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca....
, south of Mexico City. From 1943 to 1946 he served on active duty in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. He graduated with a bachelor's degree from the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
, pursued graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and received a PhD in theoretical physics from Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in 1954.
Career
From 1948 to 1956 he worked at Los Alamos National LaboratoryLos 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...
, where he gained some fame as a designer of small, efficient nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s. He was assigned to explore the bounds of fission
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
weapons in an era when most weapons designers were focused on fusion
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion is the process by which two or more atomic nuclei join together, or "fuse", to form a single heavier nucleus. This is usually accompanied by the release or absorption of large quantities of energy...
. In 1956 he moved to General Atomics
General Atomics
General Atomics is a nuclear physics and defense contractor headquartered in San Diego, California. General Atomics’ research into fission and fusion matured into competencies in related technologies, allowing the company to expand into other fields of research...
, where he directed Project Orion
Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)
Project Orion was a study of a spacecraft intended to be directly propelled by a series of explosions of atomic bombs behind the craft...
, with his friend Lew Allen
Lew Allen
Lew Allen, Jr. was a United States Air Force four-star General who served as the tenth Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force...
as contract manager. He also was involved in the design of small nuclear reactors to produce radioactive isotopes for medical use, the TRIGA
TRIGA
TRIGA is a class of small nuclear reactor designed and manufactured by General Atomics. The design team for TRIGA was led by the physicist Freeman Dyson.TRIGA is the acronym of Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics.-Design:...
reactors. He led the team that designed the largest pure fission bomb ever detonated, the Super Oralloy
Enriched uranium
Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight...
Bomb ("SOB"), which had a yield of 500 kilotons in its only test (Ivy King
Ivy King
Ivy King was the largest pure fission nuclear bomb ever tested by the United States. The bomb was tested during the Truman administration as part of Operation Ivy...
). He similarly designed the small "Scorpion" on the small end of the scale which is documented in John McPhee
John McPhee
John Angus McPhee is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, widely considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction....
's The Curve of Binding Energy. This knowledge of bombs requiring minimal amounts of fissile material contributed to his concerns about nuclear terrorism
Nuclear terrorism
Nuclear terrorism denotes the use, or threat of the use, of nuclear weapons or radiological weapons in acts of terrorism, includingattacks against facilities where radioactive materials are present...
.
After the end of Project Orion
Project Orion (nuclear propulsion)
Project Orion was a study of a spacecraft intended to be directly propelled by a series of explosions of atomic bombs behind the craft...
, he worked for the Defense Atomic Support Agency, involved with controlling the US stockpile of nuclear weapons. Beginning in 1966 he advocated nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament refers to both the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons and to the end state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated....
, and worked as a consultant to the United States Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
from 1966 to 1968 evaluating the International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...
in regard to nuclear non-proliferation. He worked as a visiting professor at University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
and 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....
; in addition to nuclear proliferation, a topic on which he wrote several books, he studied renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
and energy conservation
Energy conservation
Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce energy consumption. Energy conservation can be achieved through increased efficient energy use, in conjunction with decreased energy consumption and/or reduced consumption from conventional energy sources...
, including ice pond
Ice pond
An ice pond is a large volume of ice or snow produced and stored in the winter to be used for cooling/air conditioning in the summer. The best known experiment is the 'Princeton ice pond' by Ted Taylor in 1981. He then convinced the Prudential Insurance Company to use a bigger pond to provide air...
technology. Taylor was featured in the 1984 PBS series, The Voyage of the Mimi
The Voyage of the Mimi
The Voyage of the Mimi was a thirteen-episode American educational television program depicting the crew of the Mimi exploring the ocean and taking a census of humpback whales...
, starring a young Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
.
The Santa Claus Machine and Pugwash
According to Freitas and Merkle, the only known extant source on Taylor’s concept of the “Santa Claus machineSanta Claus machine
A Santa Claus Machine, named after the folkloric Santa Claus, is a hypothetical machine that is capable of creating any required object or structure out of any given material. It is most often referenced by futurists and science fiction writers when discussing hypothetical projects of enormous...
” is found in Nigel Calder's Spaceships of the Mind. The concept would use a large mass spectrometer to separate an ion beam into atomic elements for later use in making products.
Taylor was a member of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs
The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs is an international organization that brings together scholars and public figures to work toward reducing the danger of armed conflict and to seek solutions to global security threats...
and attended several of its meetings during the 1980s. After his retirement he lived in Wellsville, New York
Wellsville, New York
Wellsville, New York is a village and a town in Allegany County, New York, USA.*Wellsville , New York*Wellsville , New York----For other places with this name, see Wellsville....
. He died on October 28, 2004 of coronary artery disease.
Freeman Dyson On Ted Taylor
Freeman DysonFreeman Dyson
Freeman John Dyson FRS is a British-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician, famous for his work in quantum field theory, solid-state physics, astronomy and nuclear engineering. Dyson is a member of the Board of Sponsors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists...
said of Taylor, "Very few people have Ted's imagination. ... I think he is perhaps the greatest man that I ever knew well. And he is completely unknown."
Further reading
- Nigel CalderNigel CalderNigel Calder is a British science writer.Between 1956 and 1966, Calder wrote for the magazine New Scientist, serving as editor from 1962 until 1966...
Spaceships of the Mind, Viking Press, New York, 1978. ISBN 0670660213 - Robert A. Freitas Jr. and Ralph C. Merkle. Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines, 2004, 3.10
- John McPheeJohn McPheeJohn Angus McPhee is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, widely considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction....
, The Curve of Binding EnergyBinding energyBinding energy is the mechanical energy required to disassemble a whole into separate parts. A bound system typically has a lower potential energy than its constituent parts; this is what keeps the system together—often this means that energy is released upon the creation of a bound state...
, Ballantine, 1973, 1974. ISBN 0-345-28000-8, This book about proliferation is largely an account of Taylor's ideas, including his idea that it is "easy" for rogue actors to produce nuclear bombs. - George DysonGeorge Dyson (science historian)George Dyson is a scientific historian, the son of Freeman Dyson and Verena Huber-Dyson, brother of Esther Dyson, and the grandson of Sir George Dyson. He is the father of Lauren Dyson. When he was sixteen he went to live in British Columbia in Canada to pursue his interest in kayaking and...
, Project OrionProject Orion (nuclear propulsion)Project Orion was a study of a spacecraft intended to be directly propelled by a series of explosions of atomic bombs behind the craft...
: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship, Henry Holt and Company, 2002. ISBN 0-8050-5985-7 - Mason Willrich, Ted Taylor, Nuclear Theft: Risks and Safeguards: A Report to the Energy Policy Project of the Ford Foundation, Ballinger, 1974, ISBN 0-88410-208-4
- Taylor, Theodore B., Humpstone, Charles C., The Restoration of the Earth, Harper and Row, 1973
- Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons, an anti-proliferation essay by Taylor (1996)
- Oral History interview transcript with Theodore Taylor 13 February 1995, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives