Louis Ten Eyck Thompson (October 24, 1891 in

South Haven, Michigan South Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city is in Van Buren County, Michigan, Van Buren County, although a small portion extends into Allegan County, Michigan, Allegan County. The population was 3,964 at the 2020 United ...

– December 13, 1978) known as Dr. Tommy) was an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

interested in thermodynamics and

ballistics Ballistics is the field of mechanics concerned with the launching, flight behaviour and impact effects of projectiles, especially weapon munitions such as bullets, unguided bombs, rockets and the like; the science or art of designing and acceler ...

and as an expert working for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

from 1920 to 1954.History of China lake
/ref> He was the first technical director at the

Naval Ordnance Test Station Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Install ...

in California, where he was involved in work on the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...

, helping design the "gun" used to initiate nuclear explosives, and most involved in the development of rockets for naval and marine fighter aircraft. Thompson received his Bachelor of Science degree from

Kalamazoo College Kalamazoo College is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Founded in 1833 by American Baptist Churches USA, Baptist ministers as the Michigan and Huron Institute, K ...

in 1914, Master of Arts degree in 1915 and Ph.D. in 1917 from

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...

. During 1917–1919 he was an assistant professor and fellow at Clark University, performing research on

thermodynamics Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, Work (thermodynamics), work, and temperature, and their relation to energy, entropy, and the physical properties of matter and radiation. The behavior of these quantities is governed b ...

and

. The

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Instal ...

named an award in his honor.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, L. T. E. American nuclear physicists 1891 births People from South Haven, Michigan Kalamazoo College alumni Clark University alumni Clark University faculty 1978 deaths