Biographical entry Titterton, Ernest William (1916 - 1990)

Summary

Ernest Titterton was Professor of Nuclear Physics, Australian National University, Canberra 1950-1981. He worked on a number of committees concerned with atomic energy and weapons.

Details

Born Kettlebrook, Staffordshire, England, 4 March 1916. Died Canberra, 8 February 1990. CMG 1959; Kt 1970. Educated Birmingham University (BSc (Hons) 1937, MSc 1938, DipEd 1939, PhD 1941). Research Officer, British Admiralty working on radar 1939-43; member of the British Scientific Mission in the USA working on the development of the first nuclear weapons 1943-47; senior member of the timing group responsible for firing the first nuclear weapon at Alamagordo, New Mexico 1945; Chief Adviser on Instrumentation to the Task Force Commander at the Bikini Nuclear Weapons Tests 1946; Head, Electronics Division, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, New Mexico 1946-47; Group Leader in charge of Nuclear Emulsion and Cloud Chamber Research, Atomic Energy Research Establishment (AERE) , Harwell 1947-50; Foundation Professor of Nuclear Physics, Australian National University 1950-68, Dean, Research School of Physical Sciences 1966-68, Director, Research School of Physical Sciences 1968-73, Professor of Nuclear Physics 1973-81, Visiting Fellow, Department of Nuclear Physics 1981-87. Fellow, Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of London 1952; Fellow, American Physical Society 1952; Fellow, Australian Academy of Science 1954. Chairman, Australian Atomic Weapons Tests Safety Committee 1957-73; president, Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering 1973-74.

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Ernest William Titterton - Records, 1940 - 1990, MS 168; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Published resources

Articles

• Sherratt, Tim, Political Fallout: Australian Scientists and the Atomic Bomb, Australasian Science, vol. Spring, 1996. Also available at http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/journal/as_fallout.htm. Details

Books

• Ophel, Trevor and Jenkin, John, Fire in the Belly: the First Fifty Years of the Pioneer School at the ANU, Research School of Physical Science and Engineering, Institute of Advanced Studies, ANU, Canberra, 1996, 157 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Newton, J. O., 'Ernest William Titterton 1916-1990', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 9, no. 2, 1992, pp. 167-187. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9920920167.htm. Details

Online Resources

• Guide to the Records of Ernest William Titterton, Australian Science Archives Project, 1993, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/guides/titterton/. Details
• 'Career Summary', in Guide to the Records of Ernest William Titterton, Australian Science Archives Project, 1996, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/pubs/guides/titterton/titt_his.htm. Details
• William Ernest Titterton Guide to Records, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 2004, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/guides/titt/titterton.htm. Details
• National Library of Australia, 'Titterton, E W', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-475667. Details

See also

• Caro, D. E.; Martin, R. L., 'Leslie Harold Martin 1900-1983', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 7, no. 1, 1987, pp. 97-107. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9870710097.htm. Details