Theodore Brewster "Ted" Taylor (July 11, 1925 – October 28, 2004) was an American theoretical physicist, specifically concerning nuclear energy. His higher education included a PhD from Cornell University in theoretical physics. His most noteworthy contributions to the field of nuclear weaponry were his small bomb developments at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico. Although not widely known to the general public, Taylor is credited with numerous landmarks in fission nuclear weaponry development, including having designed and developed the smallest, most powerful, and most efficient fission weapons ever tested by the U.S. program. The later part of Taylor's career was focused on nuclear energy instead of weaponry, and included his work on Project Orion, nuclear reactor developments, and anti-nuclear proliferation. and his father, Walter Clyde Taylor, was the director of a YMCA in Mexico City. While at Los Alamos, Taylor's strictly anti-nuclear development beliefs changed. Then, in 1966 he created a consulting firm called the International Research and Technology Corporation, located in Vienna, Austria, which sought to prevent the development of more nuclear weapons programs. Arnim was majoring in Greek at Scripps College, a liberal arts university in Claremont, California, and Taylor would visit her whenever he could.

Legacy

Taylor was involved in many important projects and made numerous contributions to nuclear development for the United States. During his time at Los Alamos, he was responsible for designing the smallest fission bomb of the era, the 'Davy Crockett', which weighed only , measured approximately across, and could produce between 10 and 20 tons of TNT equivalent. The Davy Crockett itself was the M388 Atomic Round fired from the weapons system, featuring a recoilless rifle either erected and fixed on as freestanding tripod or mounted on the frame of a light utility vehicle, such as the Jeep, the former functioned similarly to other modern rocket propelled rounds (see RPG-7). According to reviews, the book predicted a future where nuclear energy was the primary energy source in the United States, and therefore needed enhanced protective measures to protect the public. In the book, Taylor and Willrich provide multiple recommendations on ways to prevent nuclear material from ending up in the wrong hands, as they anticipated that there would be multiple more sources of nuclear byproducts and therefore more opportunity for nuclear theft. This book was also a culmination of his focus on nuclear security and the ramifications of the use of nuclear weaponry. The book explains the two most dangerous mechanisms by which nuclear proliferation could be devastating for the world, as well as how to disincentivize nuclear proliferation within destabilizing political systems. The patent concerning the production of isotopes from thermonuclear explosions was groundbreaking because of its efficiency and cost effectiveness. the only known extant source on Taylor's concept of the "Santa Claus machine" is found in Nigel Calder's Spaceships of the Mind. The concept would use a large mass spectrometer to separate an ion beam into atomic elements for later use in making products.

Taylor was a member of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and attended several of its meetings during the 1980s. After his retirement, he lived in Wellsville, New York.

Freeman Dyson on Taylor

Freeman Dyson said of Taylor, "Very few people have Ted's imagination. ... I think he is perhaps the greatest man that I ever knew well. And he is completely unknown."

Media appearances

  • The Voyage of the Mimi: Water, Water, Everywhere (PBS, 1984)
  • History Undercover: Code Name Project Orion (1999)
  • To Mars by A-Bomb: The Secret History of Project Orion (BBC, 2003)

See also

  • Alvin C. Graves
  • Amory Lovins
  • List of books about nuclear issues
  • List of nuclear whistleblowers
  • National Security Archive
  • Nevada Test Site
  • Nuclear disarmament
  • Nuclear weapons of the United States

References

Further reading

  • Nigel Calder Spaceships of the Mind, Viking Press, New York, 1978.
  • Robert A. Freitas Jr. and Ralph C. Merkle. Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines, 2004, 3.10
  • John McPhee, The Curve of Binding Energy, Ballantine, 1973, 1974. . This book about proliferation is largely an account of Taylor's ideas, including his idea that it is "easy" for rogue actors to produce nuclear bombs.
  • George Dyson, Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship, Henry Holt and Company, 2002.
  • Mason Willrich, Ted Taylor, Nuclear Theft: Risks and Safeguards: A Report to the Energy Policy Project of the Ford Foundation, Ballinger, 1974,
  • Taylor, Theodore B., Humpstone, Charles C., The Restoration of the Earth, Harper and Row, 1973
  • Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons, an anti-proliferation essay by Taylor (1996)
  • Oral History interview transcript with Ted Taylor on February 13 1995, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives
  • Audio Interview with Ted Taylor by Richard Rhodes, Voices of the Manhattan Project
  • Annotated Bibliography for Ted Taylor from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues