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RARE! "Manhattan Project" Ernest Titterton Signed Announcement Todd Mueller COA
$ 184.79
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Description
Up for auction aRARE! "Manhattan Project" Ernest Titterton Hand Signed Announcement Dated 1981.
This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-86A
Sir Ernest William Titterton
CMG
FRS
FAA
(4 March 1916 – 8 February 1990) was a British
nuclear physicist
. A graduate of the
University of Birmingham
, Titterton worked in a research position under
Mark Oliphant
, who recruited him to work on radar for the
British Admiralty
during the first part of the
Second World War
. In 1943, he joined the
Manhattan Project
's
Los Alamos Laboratory
, where he helped develop the first
atomic bombs
. He eventually became one of the laboratory's group leaders. He participated in the
Operation Crossroads
nuclear tests at the
Bikini Atoll
in 1946, where he performed the
countdown
for both tests. With the passage of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1946
, known as the McMahon Act, all British government employees had to leave. He was the last member of the
British Mission
to do so, in April 1947. Returning to England, Titterton joined the
Atomic Energy Research Establishment
in
Harwell, Oxfordshire
, heading a group responsible for research with
nuclear emulsions
and
cloud chambers
. He investigated
ternary fission
, a comparatively rare type of nuclear fission in which the nucleus breaks into three pieces instead of two, and the
photodisintegration
of light nuclei by
gamma rays
. He was also a consultant to the
Atomic Weapons Research Establishment
(AWRE) at
Aldermaston
that designed and developed Britain's first nuclear weapons. In August 1950, Titterton accepted an offer from Oliphant to become the foundation Chair of Nuclear Physics at the
Australian National University
(ANU) in
Canberra
. Over the next thirty years, Titterton held high positions on various science, defence and nuclear-related committees, institutes and councils in Australia. He helped build up the physics department at ANU through the acquisition of accelerators. As a member of the Atomic Weapons Tests Safety Committee (AWTSC), Titterton witnessed many of the
British nuclear tests at Maralinga
. His reputation was tarnished by the
McClelland Royal Commission
in 1984 and 1985, which accused him of loyalty to Britain instead of Australia. He was a strong public advocate of
nuclear power in Australia
, arguing that "nuclear power is the cheapest, cleanest and safest method of power production yet devised by man."