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One of the ongoing highlights at Argonne's recent "Symposium Celebrating the 100th Birthday of Enrico Fermi and His Contribution to the Development of Nuclear Power" was a stream of stories about Fermi and his work from people who had worked with him. Some of those stories are presented below in the words of his colleagues and admirers.
Alvin
Weinberg, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory for nearly 20 years, on one
of his collaborations with Fermi:
In building the X-10 reactor _ that's a pilot plant down in Oak Ridge, a big graphite, air-cooled reactor _ you had to have channels in the reactor to allow the control rods to fall in. The channels increased the leakage of neutrons both parallel to the channel and transverse to the channel. I happened to see Fermi in the hall one day, and he said, "What are you doing?"
I said, `Well, I'm working on the problem of diffusion in channels."
He said, "That's interesting, because I am doing the same thing. Why don't you come to my office and we'll talk about it."
Sure enough, he sat me down and he said, "Well, the way you do it is …" _ I won't go into the details of the calculation of the mean square chord radius of the cylinder.
Then he said, "I'll tell you what, what's your answer?" And I showed him what my answer was, and he said, "Hmm, that agrees with what I did, so why don't we write a paper together. You write the paper and I'll sign it."
Sure enough in the huge two-volume edition of Fermi's collected works … there is a paper called "Longitudinal Diffusion in Channels." I have to admit though -- and I'm sorry to have to make this admission 70 years later -- that my way of doing it resulted in a triple integral that I never could evaluate. So what I did was I said, "Well, I know what the answer is because Fermi has given it and therefore that triple integral must be equal to such and such."
For quite a while I offered a reward for anyone at my lab [Oak Ridge National Laboratory] who could show that triple integral was really equal to what Fermi said it was. … I never really got him to look at the paper, but there were later efforts along this line that verified that Fermi was correct.
Weinberg
also related Fermi's discovery of slow neutrons as an experimental tool:
In the course of this work [using neutrons to induce radioactivity in various elements], Fermi and his group noticed a "boundary effect," I guess they called it, which was that if they did the experiment on a marble table then they induced a certain amount of radioactivity, but if they replaced the marble table by a wooden table, the neutron radioactivity increased a hundred fold. Then Fermi over lunch, according to [Nobel Prize winner Hans] Bethe, … figured out that … the neutrons were slowing down because of the hydrogen and the light elements in the wood. And this is how Fermi established the great power as an experimental tool of slow neutrons.
Edward
Creutz described how Fermi calculated the explosive power of the first atomic
bomb test:
At Alamogordo, [Fermi's] determination of the test bomb yield is a classic example of his deep understanding of physics and his simple approach to meaningful experiments. He was about nine miles from the bomb. After the detonation, he began dropping small bits of paper to the ground. When the pressure wave arrived several seconds later, the bits of paper no longer fell directly to the ground, but were displaced. He measured the distance of displacement with a simple ruler and within seconds had calculated the energy released by the bomb. There were of course very sophisticated devices to do this with lots of wires and recording instruments that were interpreted later. But Fermi's measurement was well within the range of those … as he read from a table he had prepared relating displacement to energy released.
On Dec. 2,
1942, after Fermi's team had successfully achieved history's first controlled
nuclear chain reaction, Arthur Compton placed a brief phone call to James
Conant, chairman of the National Defense Research Committee. The conversation
was in code, though not a prearranged one.
Compton: "The Italian navigator has landed in the New World."
Conant: "How were the natives?"
Compton: "Very friendly."
Robert
Christy's remarks described the care and planning that guided the Italian
navigator's landing:
This landing was very thoroughly and carefully planned. ... It is based on theoretical work [Fermi] did over quite some period to understand the behavior of a chain reaction and the behavior of subcritical amounts of material and the approach to criticality. He had shown that the neutron intensity … would increase indefinitely as the amount of material approached criticality … in such a way that if you plot the inverse of neutron intensity that this would intersect zero at the point where the pile became critical in size. This fact was used, of course, in building the pile and in knowing exactly where criticality would be reached. So when Fermi was approaching the New World, he knew exactly where the shore was…
… [O]n the morning of December second, as the control rods were pulled out to approach criticality, Fermi was checking at each stage whether the distance from criticality was what he expected. He didn't approach criticality until he was satisfied in all respects that the pile was behaving exactly as he had predicted.
So it wasn't any accident for him. It was something that he had well planned and thoroughly orchestrated, and was really a beautiful example of how to combine theory and experiment.
Phil
Morrison described the way physics infused Fermi's every waking moment:
I want to mention the "Fermi Questions." …
Fermi was the first physicist to my knowledge who enjoyed doing physics out loud walking through the hall. … We were walking though the wooden barracks-like structure of the Theoretical Physics Building at Los Alamos, and as we walked, the sounds of our footsteps reflected off the high surface -- wood, no acoustic treatment -- and seemed to bounce throughout. And he said, … "How far do you think our footsteps can be heard in this building." And then he began to tell me what the yield of sound would be from the impulse, how far that would go, how you have to worry about the wood conduction and the air passage. And pretty soon, by the end of the hall, he had [an answer]. It was a fast calculation. Sounded very reasonable. And when I tried to recalculate it, I got something like the same result -- slowly and looking at the numbers over and over again.
This was my idea of a Fermi Question: Turn every experience into question. Can you analyze it? If not, you'll learn something. If you can, you'll also learn something.
Argonne's
Dave Rose (RE-Retired) told the following anecdote during the reminiscence
session that followed the evening's dinner:
The rumor was that when Fermi got his copy of Physical Review, he would first read the abstracts to see what the problems were. Then he worked out the solutions, and finally read the articles to see if the authors got it right.
Rose pointed out that the story is probably apocryphal, though some of the panelists had also heard it. But even as a myth, it illustrates the high regard the entire scientific world holds for Enrico Fermi.
Volney
Wilson was a member the Fermi-led team that created the world's first
controlled nuclear chain reaction in a squash court at the University of
Chicago's Stagg Field. Wilson is credited with coining the use of the word
"scram" for the sudden shutdown of a reactor.
All over the world, reactor control panels have emergency shutdown buttons labeled "SCRAM." One often-heard story holds that the term is an acronym for Safety Control Rod Ax Man, an homage to Norman Hilberry, Argonne's second director, who stood poised with an ax during the start-up of the first reactor, ready to cut a rope and release the control rods that would stop the reaction should all else fail. But during the break after the symposium's first panel, Wilson laid this myth to rest.
He said that he and Wilcox Overbeck were working in the squash court where the reactor was under construction while an electrician wired the control panels. The electrician finished wiring the red emergency-shutdown button, turned to them, and asked how he should label it.
According to Wilson, Overbeck responded by asking, "Well, what to you do when you push the button?"
And Wilson replied, "You scram out of here as fast as you can."
-- David Baurac
Media Services has an image of the new Enrico Fermi stamp that can be reproduced in sizes large enough for framing or mounting for employees' office walls.
For more information, contact Angela Johnson-Ware (IPD-MED) at ext. 2-7660 or ajohnsonware@anl.gov. A cost code is required.
Argonne-West's United Way campaign ended Sept. 14 after raising $63,310 for the charity, over $9,000 more than last year's record-setting campaign. Nearly half the lab site's employees contributed.
"We'd like to thank everyone who helped make this campaign a success," said David Duncan (ENT), campaign organizer. "Many people came up with some really creative ways to get others involved."
At the kickoff barbecue Aug. 2, the campaign got off to a strong start, with tickets for the raffle and activities such as a basketball shoot, which raised about $1,000. Later events, such as the white elephant auction and bake sale, also proved popular. The auction raised $2,300--$500 more than last year -- and the bake sale sold out before 10 a.m. the morning it opened, raising $339.
Organizers also put a twist on that old staple of fund-raising activities, the fun run.
"If you weren't running, you could `sponsor' a runner who you thought would win," Duncan said. "If you picked well, you got back more than you put in. One person put in $25 and got back $40."
Another variation was the poker run, in which participants chose playing cards at five stations along the race course. The runner with the best poker hand received a night at the nearby Black Swan Inn.
"Overall, we had a 16.7% increase in contributions from last year," Duncan said.
-- Chad Boutin
As a recent workday entered its final hour, Alice Kloc (DOE) unwrapped a stick of spearmint chewing gum and popped it into her mouth. A few minutes later, she began to choke.
The quick action of her "three angels" -- co-workers Tanisha Edwards, Marlene Martinez and her team leader Christopher Swierczek -- prevented a tragedy.
Edwards heard Kloc gasping for air and went to her office to check. Seeing Kloc in dire straits, she called out for help.
While Martinez dialed 911, Swierczek performed the Heimlich maneuver: He wrapped his arms around Kloc from behind, clasping his fist with his other hand, and quickly thrust his fist upwards, under her breastbone.
Kloc was able to breathe again on the third try.
The Argonne Fire Department arrived moments later, but Kloc declined treatment.
"Just two days before the incident Chris and I were talking about the Heimlich maneuver and what you should do when you live alone and begin to choke on something," said Kloc, who works in the DOE Office of Acquisitions and Assistance. "Lean over a chair and lunge into it, right below the ribs," was the advice given.
Ten years ago, Kloc successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver on her father, who was choking on a piece of food.
Swierczek received the third lifesaving award ever given by the Argonne Fire Department Aug. 16.
For information on CPR training, call Cynthia Hijuelos (PFS-FD) at ext. 2-6136.
John J. McGrath, director of Argonne's Office of Public Affairs, died Thursday, Oct. 4.
McGrath came to Argonne in 1993 as management and marketing communications director. Prior to that he had worked for organizations including Ford Motor Co., Miller Brewing Co., McDonnell Douglas Corp. and the U.S. Department of Defense.
McGrath also had worked as a Washington bureau chief, editor, reporter, and correspondent with a Texas newspaper group, The Associated Press, UPI, Reuters and Agence France Presse. He led a Marine Amphibious Force Combat News Team in Vietnam. He received several Associated Press Managing Editors awards and was a Pulitzer Prize nominee.
Speeches written by McGrath have appeared in Vital Speeches of the Day and other publications.
Ahmed Hassanein (ET) has been promoted to senior nuclear engineer. Hassanein is the manager of the Energy Technology Division's Computational Physics and Hydrodynamics Section.
Hassanein is recognized internationally for his leadership and expertise in the field of plasma-material interactions. Plasma is a gas of equal numbers of negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions -- atoms that have been stripped of one or more electrons.
Hassanein has developed a computer software package called HEIGHTS, for High Energy Interaction With General Heterogeneous Target Systems. Hassanein has taken the successful HEIGHTS models that describe the interaction of high-energy beams and materials in fusion reactors and applied them to projects in defense and space programs, nuclear physics, high-energy physics and medical research.
By participating in numerous invited talks, chairing conferences and workshops and making technical advice visits to other countries, Hassanein has demonstrated his leadership in areas ranging from heat transfer to hydrodynamics to photon and radiation transport.
Hassanein joined Argonne in 1982 after he obtained his fifth engineering degree, a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since then, he has written more than 200 journal publications and technical reports.
Children of current Argonne employees who are entering their first year of graduate school at the University of Chicago may apply for the J. Harris Ward Graduate Fellowship.
The non-renewable, $4,500 stipend is for the applicant's first year of graduate study in any field. Applicants must have been admitted to one of the departments or committees of the university's four graduate divisions or to one of its six professional schools.
Candidates should apply for the fellowship by sending a letter that includes a statement of interest, the name of the program to which the candidate has applied and the name of the parent to Madeline Hamblin, director of the Office of Graduate Affairs, University of Chicago, 5801 Ellis Avenue, Room 228, Chicago, IL 60637. The letter must be received no later than Jan. 31, 2002.
The deadline for same-day shipment of packages sent through Argonne's Shipping Department will change to 12:30 p.m., effective Oct. 15.
The Shipping Department will attempt to process shipments received after the deadline, but shipments received before the deadline will be processed first.
Some shipments, such as those which pose export issues or which may be subject to transportation regulations, may require additional time for processing.
For more information, call the Shipping Department at ext. 2-2934 or ext. 2-5779.
Talks on "September 11, 2001: Has Terrorism Changed Our Lives?" will be presented at Argonne-East by Don Lavey, counterintelligence officer, and Larry Collins, senior counterintelligence officer.
Presentations will be Wednesday, Oct. 17, in the Building 402 Auditorium at 10:30 a.m. and in the 203 Auditorium at 2 p.m.
All employees whose schedules permit are encouraged to attend.
Donald E. Bohringer (IPNS) retired Sept. 4 with 34 years of service.
Blaine J. Field (RPS) retired Sept. 6 with 17 years of service.
Hann-Sheng Huang (ES) retired Sept. 17 with 27 years of service.
Charles Malefyt (ET) retired Sept. 27 with 23 years of service.
Algirdas Paugys (UPD) retired Sept. 28 with 40 years of service.
Thomas Saddler (ECT) retired Sept. 7 with 36 years of service.