Robert F. Christy (born 1916 in Vancouver) is an American theoretical physicist and later astrophysicist who worked on the Manhattan Project. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Theoretical physics employs Mathematical models and Abstractions of Physics in an attempt to explain experimental data taken of the natural world Astrophysics is the branch of Astronomy that deals with the Physics of the Universe, including the physical properties ( Luminosity, The World War II Manhattan Project developed the first Nuclear weapon (atomic bomb He is a Professor Emeritus at Caltech. The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private, Coeducational research university located in Pasadena
Christy was raised in British Columbia and attended the University of British Columbia in the 1930's studying physics during the blossoming of quantum physics. Following the path blazed by George Volkoff who was a year ahead of him at UBC, Christy was accepted as a graduate student by Robert Oppenheimer at UC Berkeley, the leading theoretical physicist in the US at that time. George Michael Volkoff, OC, MBE, PhD DSc FRSC ( February 23 1914 &ndash April 24 2000) was a The University of California Berkeley (also referred to as Cal, Berkeley and UC Berkeley) is a major research university located in Berkeley
Christy received his PhD in 1941 and joined the Illinois Institute of Technology, however he also spent time at the University of Chicago where he was recruited by Enrico Fermi to join the effort to build the first reactor, having been recommended as a theory resource by Oppenheimer.
When Oppenheimer formed the Los Alamos Laboratory as part of the Manhattan Project, Christy was one of the early recruits to join the Theory Group. Christy is generally credited with the insight that a solid sub-critical mass of plutonium could be explosively compressed into supercriticality, a great simplification of earlier concepts of implosion requiring hollow shells. A critical mass is the smallest amount of Fissile material needed for a sustained Nuclear chain reaction. For this insight the solid-core plutonium model is often referred to as the "Christy gadget". " The gadget " was the code-name given to the first nuclear explosive developed under the Manhattan Project during World War II, which was
Christy joined the University of Chicago Physics department briefly after leaving Los Alamos before being recruited to join the Caltech faculty in 1946. He stayed at Caltech for his academic career, serving as Department Chair, Provost and Acting President.
In 1960 Christy turned his attention to astrophysics, creating some the first practical computation models of stellar operation. For this work Christy was awarded the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1967. The Eddington Medal, named after Sir Arthur Eddington, is awarded by the Royal Astronomical Society nominally once every two years for investigations of outstanding The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS is a Learned society that began as the Astronomical Society of London in 1820 to support astronomical research
He currently resides in Pasadena.
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| Preceded by Harold Brown |
President of the California Institute of Technology acting 1977–1978 |
Succeeded by Marvin Leonard Goldberger |
He was an interview subject in Showtime's groundbreaking miniseries Hiroshima in 1995. Harold Brown (born September 19, 1927) American scientist was U University president is the title of the highest ranking officer within a University, within university systems that prefer that appellation over other variations such as The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private, Coeducational research university located in Pasadena Marvin Leonard Goldberger (born 22 October 1922 in Chicago Illinois is a theoretical Physicist and former president of the California
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