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Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
H-bomb creator Richard Garwin was a giant in science, technology and policy
Richard Garwin, who died on May 13, 2025, at the age of 97, was sometimes called 'the most influential scientist you've never heard of.' He got his Ph.D. in physics at 21 under Enrico Fermi – a Nobel Prize winner and friend of Einstein's – who called Garwin 'the only true genius' he'd ever met. A polymath curious about almost everything, he was one of the few people elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine for pathbreaking contributions in all of those fields. He held 47 patents and published over 500 scientific papers. A giant trove of his papers and talks can be found in the Garwin Archive at the Federation of American Scientists. Garwin was best known for having done the engineering design for the first-ever thermonuclear explosion, turning the Teller-Ulam idea of triggering a fusion reaction with radiation pressure into a working hydrogen bomb – one with roughly 700 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb. He did that over the summer when he was 23. Over the decades that followed, he contributed to countless other military advances, including inventing key technology that enabled reconnaissance satellites. Yet Garwin was also a longtime advocate of nuclear arms control and ultimately of nuclear disarmament. Working on nuclear deterrence and arms control, now at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, I got to know Garwin as a tireless and effective participant in dialogues with scientists and current or former officials in Russia, China, India and elsewhere, making the case for steps to limit nuclear weapons and reduce their dangers. Garwin was an early participant in the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 for its disarmament work. He was also a founding member, in 1980, of the National Academies' Committee on International Security and Arms Control, where he continued discussing ideas for reducing nuclear dangers with foreign colleagues throughout his life. The deep respect that top Russian and Chinese nuclear weapons scientists had for him was palpable – even though he was often blunt in telling them where he thought their arguments were wrong. Once, at a workshop in Beijing, after listening to the leader of China's program to develop nuclear 'breeder' reactors lay out his program, Garwin started his remarks by saying, 'This is a poorly designed breeder program that will fail' – and then laying out why he thought that was the case. Because nongovernment experts have a freedom to explore ideas that government negotiators lack, these kinds of dialogues played a key role in developing the concepts that led to nuclear arms control agreements and, I would argue, contributed to ending the Cold War. As an example, one committee team that included Garwin helped convince Chinese weapons scientists that their country had no more need for nuclear tests and should sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty – which it did soon after the discussion. Only weeks before his death, he and I and others participated in a Zoom meeting with Russian nuclear weapons experts discussing what initial steps should be taken if U.S.-Russian political relations improved enough for them to resume discussions of nuclear restraint and risk reduction. Garwin's mind seemed to be interested in everything at once – and he had a wry sense of humor that could enliven a dry meeting. When I was directing a National Academies study about dealing with the plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons after the Cold War, he would send an email with a penetrating insight on some issue in the study, followed by an equally long query about the parking arrangements for the meeting. We put him in charge of assessing all the especially strange options for dealing with the plutonium. Once, while diagramming on a chalkboard the option of diluting the plutonium in the ocean, he drew the ship that would be doing the work and then began drawing many smaller vessels. Someone asked him what those were, and he said: 'Oh, those are the Greenpeace boats.' Garwin's unbelievable energies focused on three broad areas: fundamental science, new technologies and advising the government. In fundamental science, he made major contributions to the detection and study of gravitational waves, and he helped to discover what physicists call parity violation in the weak nuclear force – a discovery that was one of the building blocks for what is now the standard model of the fundamental forces of the universe. In new technologies, beyond weapons and satellites, he played a key role in the invention of touch screens, magnetic resonance imaging, laser printers and the GPS technology that enables us all to get directions on our cellphones. He was a researcher at IBM from 1952 to 1993. Garwin advised the government on panels ranging from the President's Science Advisory Committee, to the JASON panel of high-level defense advisers, to leading the State Department's Arms Control and Nonproliferation Advisory Board (now called the International Security Advisory Board). He made major contributions to thinking about problems ranging from antisubmarine warfare to missile defense. He was a pungent critic of the 'Star Wars' missile defense program launched in the Reagan administration, pointing out the wide range of ways enemies could defeat it more cheaply. His range was remarkable: He was called on to offer ideas for capping the blowout of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and on managing the COVID-19 pandemic. His curiosity was not limited to important matters. Once, as I was sitting next to him waiting for a meeting to start, he told me that if you took a Superball – a small, extremely elastic rubber ball – and bounced it diagonally on the floor so that it bounced up onto the bottom of the table, it would bounce back onto the same spot on the floor and back into your hand. I said I didn't believe it for a minute – surely it would keep bouncing forward until it got to the other side of the table. He gave me an explanation I didn't fully understand, involving energy of forward motion being converted to torque, and then converted into energy of backward motion. When I got home, I received an express package from him containing an article he'd written in the American Journal of Physics, titled 'Kinematics of an Ultraelastic Rough Ball,' with pages of equations explaining how this worked. The first figure in the paper is a stick-figure drawing of bouncing such a ball, with a footnote: 'This was first demonstrated to me by L. W. Alverez using a Wham-O Super Ball.' Luis Alverez was a Nobel Prize winner in physics. Garwin's brilliance was obvious to all who encountered him and won him wide recognition. In addition to election to all three national academies, he was awarded the National Medal of Science in 2002 by President George W. Bush. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Amid all this activity, Garwin was a family man. His marriage to his beloved wife, Lois, lasted over 70 years, until her death in 2018. They have three children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The advances Garwin contributed to have enhanced our understanding of the universe and benefited millions of people around the world. And as dark as nuclear dangers may seem today, the world is further from the nuclear brink than it would have been if Richard Garwin had never been born. This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Matthew Bunn, Harvard Kennedy School Read more: Hiroshima attack marks its 78th anniversary – its lessons of unnecessary mass destruction could help guide future nuclear arms talks Russia announces its suspension from last nuclear arms agreement with the US, escalating nuclear tension New postage stamp honors Chien-Shiung Wu, trailblazing nuclear physicist Matthew Bunn is a member of the National Academies Committee on International Security and Arms Control and a board member of the Arms Control Association. He is a member of the Academic Alliance of the United States Strategic Command and a consultant to Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Morocco World
03-04-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
Moroccan Scientist Khalil Amine Elected to US Academy of Engineering
Rabat– Khalil Amine, a Moroccan materials scientist, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering of the United States for his contributions to battery and energy storage technologies. The recognition comes for his leadership in the field of materials science, specifically in the development of batteries and energy storage devices. Amine, who also serves as a professor at the University of Chicago, is among 128 members and 22 international members inducted into the NAE class of 2025. 'I am very delighted to be selected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering,' said Amine. 'This is a recognition not only for me, but also for all my co-workers and collaborators around the world, as well as Argonne, which has provided an unmatched, state-of-the-art capability to do excellent work.' Amine leads the Advanced Battery Technology team at Argonne, where his research focuses on the development of advanced chemistries, materials, and battery systems. His team's work spans several industries, including automotive, power grids, satellites, military, and medical applications. A key focus of Amine's research is the creation of new cathodes, anodes, solid-state electrolytes, and additives for lithium-ion batteries, as well as exploring 'beyond-lithium' batteries that use alternative chemistries for energy storage. Read also: Morocco Trains 11,000 Engineers a Year to Ensure Future-Ready Workforce Amine's significant contributions to the field of battery technology have made him a leading figure in materials science. He holds more than 200 patents or patent applications in the field, and he was for 23 years the most cited scientist in battery technology globally. His accomplishments have earned him numerous accolades, including the prestigious Global Energy Prize in 2019. Amine is also a member of several prestigious scientific organizations, including the National Academy of Inventors, the European Academy of Sciences, and the Electrochemical Society, among others. Born in Morocco, Amine earned degrees in chemistry and materials science from the University of Bordeaux. After his academic training, he joined Argonne in 1998, bringing with him experience gained from research positions in Belgium and Japan. His innovative work has played a pivotal role in advancing energy storage technologies that have far-reaching applications in today's technological landscape. The National Academy of Engineering, founded in 1964, provides independent analysis and advice on engineering matters, offering leadership and insight into complex global challenges. Amine, along with other members of the NAE class of 2025, will be formally inducted at the Academy's annual meeting in October. Tags: khalil AmineMoroccan scientistUS Academy of engineering
Ya Biladi
03-04-2025
- Science
- Ya Biladi
Moroccan scientist Khalil Amine joins National Academy of Engineering
Moroccan materials scientist Khalil Amine, a researcher at Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 2025. He is among 128 new members and 22 international members selected for their outstanding contributions to engineering. The NAE, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization, recognizes individuals who have made exceptional advancements in their fields. Amine, who is also a professor at the University of Chicago and an Argonne Distinguished Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, was honored «for leadership in the development of materials science for batteries and energy storage devices», according to a press release. Expressing his gratitude, Amine stated, «I am very delighted to be selected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering. This is a recognition not only for me, but also for all my co-workers and collaborators around the world, as well as Argonne, which has provided an unmatched, state-of-the-art capability to do excellent work». Amine leads research and development in advanced battery chemistries, materials, and systems used in various applications, including automotive, power grids, satellites, military, and medical technologies. His team focuses on innovating cathodes, anodes, solid-state electrolytes, and additives for lithium-ion batteries, while also exploring next-generation «beyond-lithium» energy storage solutions, reads the same statement. Born in Morocco, Amine earned degrees in chemistry and materials science from the University of Bordeaux. He joined Argonne in 1998 after holding research positions in Belgium and Japan. Over his career, he has secured more than 200 patents and patent applications related to battery technologies. For over two decades, Amine has consistently ranked as the most cited scientist in battery research. His contributions to the field have earned him numerous accolades, including the esteemed Global Energy Prize in 2019. He is also an esteemed member of several scientific organizations, such as the National Academy of Inventors, the European Academy of Sciences, the Electrochemical Society, the Materials Research Society, the American Ceramic Society, and the American Chemical Society. Established in 1964, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) serves as an independent body providing expert analysis and guidance on engineering and technological advancements. Membership is granted through peer selection, and Amine, along with his fellow inductees in the NAE's 2025 class, will be officially welcomed at the academy's annual meeting in October.
