Robert Alden Cornog (July 7, 1912 – July 17, 1998) 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 ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

who helped develop the

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...

and missile systems, and made significant discoveries regarding isotopes of hydrogen and helium. A native of

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, who grew up in

Iowa City Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's fifth-most populous city. The Iowa City metropolitan area, which enc ...

, Cornog earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. After working for the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and operatio ...

on the Boulder Dam design, he studied at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

for his doctorate in physics. His graduate student research led to the co-discovery, with Luis Alvarez, that hydrogen of atomic mass 3 (

tritium Tritium () or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of ~12.33 years. The tritium nucleus (t, sometimes called a ''triton'') contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of the ...

) was radioactive, and that helium of mass 3 (

helium-3 Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron. (In contrast, the most common isotope, helium-4, has two protons and two neutrons.) Helium-3 and hydrogen-1 are the only stable nuclides with ...

) occurs in nature. He also assisted

Emilio Segrè Emilio Gino Segrè ( ; ; 1 February 1905 – 22 April 1989) was an Italian-American nuclear physicist and radiochemist who discovered the elements technetium and astatine, and the antiproton, a subatomic antiparticle, for which he was award ...

in the discovery of element 85,

astatine Astatine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol At and atomic number 85. It is the abundance of elements in Earth's crust, rarest naturally occurring element in the Earth's crust, occurring only as the Decay chain, decay product ...

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Cornog designed magnetic equipment for ships and went to 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 ...

, successively at UC Berkeley,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and in

Los Alamos, New Mexico Los Alamos (, meaning ''The Poplars'') is a census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as one of the development and creation places of the Nuclear weapon, atomic bomb—the primary objective of ...

. Cornog became chief engineer of the ordnance division of the atomic bomb development team and was involved in the development of the bomb's trigger mechanism. Following World War II, he focused on

aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

nuclear energy Nuclear energy may refer to: *Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity *Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom *Nuclear potential energy, the pot ...

, and rocket engineering. He worked on missile systems for several

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

companies, including Northrop, Space Technology Laboratories and Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation, which became TRW. Also an expert on

vacuum A vacuum (: vacuums or vacua) is space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective (neuter ) meaning "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressur ...

technology, Cornog headed Vacuum Enterprises from 1967 to 1974 and managed product development for Torr Vacuum Products until 1984. He held several patents and served as a technical advisor on the film '' Fat Man and Little Boy'', about the atomic bomb. Envisioning peaceful uses for nuclear and space technology, Cornog in 1959 foresaw a world in 40 to 50 years with worldwide

color television Color television (American English) or colour television (British English) is a television transmission technology that also includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improv ...

broadcast Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

s assembled in space and accurate weather prediction. Cornog was a close associate of rocket pioneer and occultist

Jack Parsons John Whiteside Parsons (born Marvel Whiteside Parsons; October 2, 1914 – June 17, 1952) was an American Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer, chemist, and Thelemite, Thelemite occultist. Parsons was one of the principal founders of both th ...

Science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author

Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein ( ; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific acc ...

, a friend, dedicated his 1961 novel '' Stranger in a Strange Land'' to Cornog.

Donald Kingsbury Donald MacDonald Kingsbury (born 12 February 1929, in San Francisco) is an American–Canadian science fiction author. Kingsbury taught mathematics at McGill University, Montreal, from 1956 until his retirement in 1986. Bibliography Books ...

dedicated his 1986 novel ''

The Moon Goddess and the Son ''The Moon Goddess and the Son'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Donald Kingsbury, published by Baen (publishers), Baen in 1986. The novel was an expanded version of a novella published in the December 1979 issue of ''Analog Scienc ...

'' to several people including "Robert Cornog for discussing the economics of the leoport."

References

External links

Robert Cornog interview video
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornog, Robert 1912 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American physicists 20th-century American engineers Manhattan Project people University of Iowa alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni

References

Further reading

External links