Philip Morrison died

[drscott]

Philip Morrison, who I knew as an energetic teacher and cosmology enthusiast, died at 89 Friday. My closest contact with him was when he directed me to open and close the shades for slide presentations during lectures. The energy he put into teaching people around the world will be missed. By the time I knew him, his body was wizened (his early polio had left him gnarled and twisted, and since he was short to begin with he ended up looking rather like Yoda) but his eyes never dimmed. Here's the obit from the Times, Philip Morrison, 89, Builder of First Atom Bomb, Dies which goes into his background.

Comments

[labeartorycub.livejournal.com]

Just read the autobiography from the LA Times. He seemed like someone you would want to get to know because of he helped build the bomb, personally saw its destructive effects, and his efforts at disarmament. It's also a shame he was hounded for years afterward, especially because of his sympathy for Russia. The world has definitely lost a talented man!

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Like a lot of smart, sensitive people in the 30s, he hoped (against the thin evidence available at the time) that they represented a progressive alternative. From what I remember, he had changed his position by the 50s (again like most smart, sensitive people of the time), but got caught up in the suspicion surrounding Oppenheimer, his former mentor. There's an interesting controversy about his supposedly having been a Soviet spy codenamed Perseus who helped steal the secrets of the Bomb from Los Alamos, but it seems to have been whipped up out of thin air and it seems wildly unlikely to me.