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Johnston entertains college, community
By Cheryl Heitzman
Collegian Reporter
Dr. Lawrence Johnston, retired physics professor
and great uncle of Hillsdale junior Matthew Schoeman, finished
his series of presentations Tuesday night.
Johnston worked extensively on the Manhattan
Project and worked with far infrared technology to develop a
rare hydrogen cyanide laser that developed a completely unique
realm of molecular spectroscopy.
He amused Hillsdale students, professors and
members of the community with his memoir of his work on the
atomic bomb through simple diagrams, metaphors and humor.
"Read my lips: no equations," he
said Monday night. "By the end of the night, you'll be
able to build a bomb."
Johnston provided insight into the minds and
personal lives of some of the most famous physicists to work
in the U.S.
Richard P. Feinman, a physicist working on
the project, tested the security of Los Alamos, and found it
to be not quite up to standards, Johnston said. He would enter
the compound, and much to the dismay of the security guards,
leave through a hole in the fence. They patched the hole soon
thereafter.
In another entertaining insight, J. Robert
Oppenheimer, director of the Manhattan Project, was "pretty
sure that the atmosphere wouldn't blow up" upon detonation
of the first atomic bomb, Johnston said with a smile.
Johnston addressed the controversial nature
of his work after a question from the audience, explaining that
the bombs did not kill any more people than the firebombing
that was going on every night in Japan.
"The leaders of Japan were used to losing
a city a night," he said. "I think that we saved many
more lives by dropping the bomb and avoiding the invasion…I
don't stay awake at night because I know someone's looking out
for us."
Even non-science majors found his presentation
informative, Schoeman said.
"People kept coming up to me to tell
me what a great job he did," Schoeman said. "It wasn't
too technical for anybody."
The Tuesday night lecture, though slightly more technical, featured
Johnston's work in a virtually untouched niche of physics. He
explained the phenomenon of his far infrared laser through the
idea of a mousetrap to simplify the complicated theory.
"It's always fun to talk about things
you've done," Johnston said following his Tuesday lecture
on his hydrogen cyanide laser. "It's been tremendously
enjoyable to be here in Hillsdale. I'm impressed with the college
and the physics department. They actually taught me a lot on
this visit."
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