Eric Seaborg, son of Nobel Prize winning scientist Glenn Seaborg, spoke at the Laboratory last week about his father's successes as a scientist during a Physics (P) and Theoretical (T) Division colloquium in the Physics Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3. The talk touched on Glenn Seaborg's discovery of plutonium and his father's insights with the presidents he worked for. Eric Seaborg collaborated with his father on Glenn Seaborg's recently published autobiography, "Adventures in the Atomic Age: From Watts to Washington." Photo by James E. Rickman, Public Affairs
A son's privilege - Eric Seaborg and telling tales
It is one of the few privileges granted children of all ages - the right to demythologize a parent. On Thursday, Eric Seaborg, a son of Nobel laureate Glenn Seaborg, exercised that right with a gracious mix of humor and respect. Before a modest audience in the Physics Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3, the junior Seaborg told tales of his father's life based on experience and the interviews and research he conducted while working with his father to write the elder Seaborg's biography, "Adventures in the Atomic Age: From Watts to Washington."
"Adventures in the Atomic Age" tells the life story of Seaborg, the Nobel Prize winner who headed a Manhattan Project section, served for 10 years as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, discovered plutonium and, over the course of nearly 50 years, advised nine U.S. presidents. The Seaborg team worked on much of the book together, but Eric Seaborg was left to complete the book manuscript after his father died in February of 1999.
In his talk the younger Seaborg described what he called "the luck of Glenn Seaborg" which was essentially the shrewd choices, good timing and fortuitous circumstances that led to his father's success. In the lecture, Seaborg shared numerous anecdotal insights from his father's encounters with the presidents he worked for and provided personal insights into the man that only a brave child or very good friend would dare share. One of these insights chronicled the time Seaborg was pulled naked from his daily swim at the Washington, D.C., and University Club pool to take a phone call from President Lyndon Johnson.
Eric Seaborg described how it was the luck of Glenn Seaborg that allowed him to be at the Berkeley Cyclotron in his second year of grad school in order to collaborate with fellow Berkeley student Jack Livingood on work that documented several radioactive isotopes of tin. Luck also allowed Seaborg to affiliate himself with exceptional research associates who worked with him on most of his major discoveries, such as the time Seaborg and company accidentally produced plutonium while trying to produce neptunium.
Seaborg, a freelance writer specializing in the somewhat odd combination of outdoor and scientific writing, is the co-author, along with his wife, Ellen Dudley, of "American Discoveries: Scouting the First Coast-to-Coast Recreational Trail" and "Hiking and Backpacking." Farrar, Straus & Giroux published "Adventures in the Atomic Age" in September.
To view a QuickTime video of Glenn Seaborg, click here.
--Todd Hanson
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United Way victory celebration today at Hilltop House The Los Alamos/Northern New Mexico United Way campaign victory celebration is from 5 to 7 p.m., today on the third floor of the Hilltop House on Central Avenue. Laboratory workers and the public are invited and there is no admission fee to attend. Laboratory employees contributed more than $667,000 in pledges and donations to this year's campaign. The total amount raised this year surpasses last year's record setting total of $613,000, said Christina Armijo, CRO director and the Labwide coordinator for the campaign. For more information, see the Dec. 7 Daily Newsbulletin. |
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After a 34-year career that includes serving seven years as director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Bruce Tarter will step down as director next year, National Nuclear Security Administrator John Gordon said last Friday. Laboratory Director John Browne said of Tarter: "I have the highest respect for Bruce as a scientist and as a person. He has been a great colleague throughout the years but especially over the past four years that we have been directors together. I will miss his positive leadership and his ability to use humor to maintain perspective. "Our laboratories have shared important responsibilities for ensuring the safety and reliability of our nation's nuclear deterrent, and Bruce has demonstrated tremendous dedication to this challenging mission," Browne continued. "Bruce can take pride in knowing that our nation's security and scientific foundation has benefited from the leadership he has provided as director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory." Tarter announced his plans in a letter to University of California President Richard Atkinson and in a meeting last Friday with his laboratory colleagues. He has agreed to continue as laboratory director until a new director is named. To read full news release issued by NNSA, click here. (Adobe Acrobat required) |
Director's Colloquium focuses on global health
"Global Health: Opportunity, Under Investment and Political Risk," is the subject of a Director's Colloquium Tuesday by Dr. Richard Feachem, director of the Institute for Global Health and professor of international health at the University of California, San Francisco and UC, Berkeley.
The talk begins at 1:10 p.m., in the Physics Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3 and is open to all Laboratory workers. The talk also will be broadcast on Labnet Channel 9 and can be viewed through Real Media.
In this Director's Colloquium, Dr. Feachem will present data on the enormous disparities in health between rich and poor, the low levels of national and international investment in health, the opportunities for targeted new investment, and the fragile politics of health and health aid. For more information, see the Dec. 4 Daily Newsbulletin.
DOE Pulse highlights Energy Department laboratories
The latest issue of DOE Pulse is available online. Pulse is an online newsletter about accomplishments at the Department of Energy's national laboratories. The highlights are short, written to be interesting and very understandable.
In addition to the highlights, each issue features two longer articles -- one about a researcher and one about a multilabcollaborative effort.
Some of the headlines in this issue are "ADVISORLite simplifies
vehicle analysis" from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory,
"Hazardous airborne particles" from Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, "High-performance sulfur lamps" from the
National Energy Technology Laboratory and "Savings on the
rooftop" from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
There also is a feature on the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
team which seeks the exotic, elementary and practical, and a profile
of Brookhaven's Ketevi Assamagan.
Lab's Biosafety Committee to meet today
The Laboratory's Institutional Biosafety Committee will hold its year-end meeting from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the Tyuonyi Room of the Best Western Hilltop House Hotel, 400 Trinity Drive in Los Alamos.
The meeting is open to the public.
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On today's bulletin board |
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Commuter's Corner | Parking areas around TA-3 | Parking shuttle routes (pdf) or jpeg |
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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
director Tarter to step down
