Ernest Titterton
Sir Ernest William Titterton CMG FRS FAA (4 March 1916 – 8 February 1990) was a British nuclear physicist.
SirErnest Titterton
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."[1]
Early life[edit]
Ernest William Titterton, was born in Kettlebrook, Tamworth, Staffordshire, England, on 4 March 1916,[2] the son of William Alfred and his wife Elizabeth née Smith. He had a younger brother, Maurice.[3] He had a talent for music, singing with the choir at the Church of St Editha, Tamworth.[2]
Titterton's primary education began next door to the family home in Kettlebrook at a single-room school for infants, starting at the age of four. After two years, he moved to a boys-only school in Glascote, Tamworth. This council school in a mining town had basic science facilities (uncommon at that time), and it was there that his interest in science was first kindled. At ten, Titterton won a scholarship to attend Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Tamworth, where he performed consistently well. He also excelled at sports, playing cricket and hockey for the school's first teams, and learned to play the piano and the organ. He received his School Certificate with seven credits when he was fourteen, and entered sixth form, which was at that time reserved for gifted students expected to continue to study at a tertiary level. He studied mathematics, chemistry, and physics. His physics teacher, William Summerhayes, cultivated Titterton's interest in science. Summerhayes believed that his pupils should learn how to conduct research, and had Titterton and another boy measure the diurnal variation of Earth's magnetic field. Their results were published in the school magazine.[2]
Summerhayes hoped that Titterton would be able to enter the University of Cambridge, but the paper mill that his father worked for closed due to the Great Depression, leaving his father unemployed for a time, and unable to afford it. Instead, in 1934, Titterton was accepted into University of Birmingham on a teacher's scholarship, which paid his tuition fees, board and residence at Chancellor's Hall, a hostel for male undergraduates. Due to his achievements at secondary school, Ernest was allowed to begin his tertiary studies with second-year subjects, and even then he was said to have found them easy. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in 1936 with distinctions in both pure and applied mathematics and, of course, physics. An honours year quickly followed, and Titterton topped the year in physics. He continued his interest in music, playing the piano at social events. He also played hockey with the university First XI from 1934 to 1936.[2]
In 1937, Ernest was presented with a £92 university scholarship, and worked in a research position under Mark Oliphant, the chairman of the physics department. The scholarship was insufficient to cover his living expenses, so he lived at home and commuted by bus and train. The project he shared with another student was to determine if the weak alpha particle activity of samarium was due to the electron or gamma ray components of cosmic rays. The work had to be carried out in a coal mine, 5,000 feet (1,500 m) below the surface. Upon completion of these experiments, Titterton was awarded a Master of Science degree in 1938. As a requirement of his scholarship, Ernest was required to become a teacher for a year. This met with a lukewarm reception, but he graduated with his Diploma in Education, and was even awarded the Elizabeth Cadbury Prize for achieving top marks in the class. As part of his training, he taught at King Edward's School, Birmingham. To support himself, he also taught three nights a week at Birmingham Central Technical College. With his diploma in hand, he became a teacher at Bridgnorth Endowed School, a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the market town of Bridgnorth in the rural county of Shropshire.[2][3]
After a call from Oliphant, who wanted to develop a 10 cm wavelength radiation generator, Titterton worked as a research officer with the British Admiralty for the early part of the Second World War, working on radar systems at the University of Birmingham. He was awarded a PhD in physics in 1941. Though the work was classed top secret, he was allowed to submit it. His examiners were the nuclear physicists John Cockcroft and Philip Dee, both of whom were engaged in work on radar at that time. He also carried out some research with Otto Frisch. The two noted spontaneous fission in uranium, but were unable to publish due to wartime security restrictions. Credit for the discovery therefore went to Georgy Flyorov and Konstantin Petrzhak, who discovered it independently in 1940.[4][5] While at the University of Birmingham, Titterton met Peggy Eileen Johnson, a laboratory assistant, who helped him build a prototype spark gap generator. They were married on 19 September 1942 at St John the Baptist in Hagley, Worcestershire.[2][3]
Australia[edit]
Australian National University[edit]
In August 1950, Titterton accepted an offer from Oliphant, now the Director of the Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, of its foundation chair of Nuclear Physics.[3] He arrived in Australia on the liner SS Orcades in May 1951.[2] Nonetheless, his international interests continued and he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society and the American Physical Society, both in 1952. In 1954 a similar honour was bestowed upon him as one of the earliest fellows of the Australian Academy of Science. Over the next thirty years, Titterton held positions on various science, defence and nuclear-related committees, institutes and councils, including the Australian Atomic Weapons Tests Safety Committee from 1954 to 1956, the Australian Atomic Energy Commission's Scientific Advisory Committee from 1955 to 1964, the Council of the Institute of Defence Science, Department of Supply from 1957 to 1972, Australian Atomic Weapons Tests Safety Committee from 1957 to 1973, the National Radiation Advisory Committee from 1957 to 1973, the Federal Government's Defence Research and Development Policy Committee from 1958 to 1973, the Council of the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering from 1960 to 1984, the Council of the Australian Academy of Science from 1964 to 1966, and the Advisory Committee of the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre from 1967 to 1981.[19]
Retirement[edit]
Titterton officially retired in 1981, but retained a position as a visiting fellow in the Department of Nuclear Physics at the ANU. He suffered a stroke in 1982, but recovered. He divorced in 1986, and was injured seriously in a car accident in September 1987, which left him a quadriplegic.[2][23] He considered himself as "on the scrap heap of life", and claimed that "if euthanasia were legal I should opt for it tomorrow".[23] Nonetheless, he died from a pulmonary embolism on 8 February 1990. His remains were cremated, and his ashes scattered along the White Cliffs of Dover. He was survived by his ex-wife and three children.[28] His papers are held by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre at the University of Melbourne.[29]