Naomi Livesay
 | This article, Naomi Livesay, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Inform author |
| This article, Naomi Livesay, has recently been created via the Articles for creation process. Please check to see if the reviewer has accidentally left this template after accepting the draft and take appropriate action as necessary.
Reviewer tools: Inform author |
Naomi Livesay (1916–2001) was an American mathematician who contributed to the Manhattan Project. She received her bachelor's degree in mathematics from Cornell College in Iowa and went on to receive a Ph. M. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin in 1939. Livesay worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos from 1944-1946 where she was assigned to calculate the predicted shockwave propulsion from an implosion type bomb.
Early life and education
Livesay was born in Montana in 1916.[1] She received a B.A. in mathematics from Cornell College located in Iowa, after which she went on to the University of Wisconsin where she received a Ph. M. in Mathematics in 1939. Upon receiving her Ph.M. in Mathematics Livesay worked at Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs where she worked on calculating statistics regarding the costs of state and local governments. Livesay was also the recipient of a Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, in which she was awarded to study education at The University of Chicago. Shortly after, Livesay began assistant teaching at the University of Illinois, where she was promoted to a full-time instructor the following academic year. Livesay also was trained in operation and programming of the IBM machine, an asset that made her skillset particularly advantageous. She completed her training in the IBM machine in Philadelphia.[2]
Manhattan Project
Livesay was brought onto the Manhattan Project by American physicist Joseph Hirschfelder where he initially reached out to her with the opportunity in the Fall of 1943 and began work at Los Alamos in February of 1944. Upon her arrival, Livesay was asked to work for Richard Feynman's theoretical group, working to determine the predicted shock wave that would result from an implosion type bomb. [3] Livesay held a supervisor role on Feynman's team where she oversaw a crew that ran IBM machines 24 hours a day. She also performed hand calculations to check the work of the IBM machine.[2][4]
Personal life
While working at Los Alamos, Livesay met her husband, experimental nuclear physicist, Anthony French. She had two children with French.[2] She died in Massachusetts in 2001.[2]
References
- ^ Hafner, Katie (August 3, 2023). "Meet the Woman Who Supervised the Computations That Proved an Atomic Bomb Would Work". Scientific American.
- ^ a b c d "Naomi Livesay - Nuclear Museum". Atomic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
- ^ "No Place for a Woman in Mathematics? The Woman Who Ended up Supervising The Computations that Proved an Atomic Bomb Would Work". www.lostwomenofscience.org. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
- ^ Lewis, N. (2021-12-03). "Trinity by the Numbers: The Computing Effort that Made Trinity Possible". Nuclear Technology. 207 (sup1): S176–S189. doi:10.1080/00295450.2021.1938487. ISSN 0029-5450.
Category:1916 births
Category:2001 deaths
Category:Cornell College alumni
Category:Wikipedia Student Program