Karl Ziegler Morgan (September 27, 1907 – June 8, 1999), was an American physicist who was one of the founders of the field of radiation health physics. For almost three decades, he worked for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Karl Ziegler Morgan | |
|---|---|
 Karl Morgan in 1995 | |
| Born | 27 September 1907 Enochville, North Carolina, USA |
| Died | 8 June 1999 (aged 91) |
| Awards | Gold Medal for Radiation Protection (1962) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Radiation Health Physics |
| Doctoral advisor | Walter M. Nielsen |
Late in life, in 1982 he became a critic of nuclear power and nuclear weapons production.
Early life and education
editBorn in Enochville, North Carolina in 1907, Karl Morgan attended Lenoir-Rhyne College (now University) as a freshman and sophomore and then transferred to the University of North Carolina, where he graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in physics and mathematics. He continued graduate study in physics at Duke University, where he received a PhD degree in 1934 for research into cosmic radiation.
Career
editHe began an academic career as a faculty member at Lenoir Rhyne College, and was part of the Manhattan Project.[1][2][3]
Morgan was initially at the University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory and later in Oak Ridge.[4]
He worked for Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Health Physics Society in executive roles.[5]
After his retirement from ORNL in 1972, he joined the faculty of Georgia Institute of Technology as professor of nuclear energy in the school of nuclear engineering, retiring from that position in 1982. Thereafter he became a consulting professor at Appalachian State University.[3]
Morgan died in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on June 8, 1999, apparently from a ruptured aortic aneurysm.[3][6]
Reception
editJohn Cameron, a developer of a dosimeter in the 1960s, criticized Morgan's autobiography. He wrote a posthumous critique, called the book otherwise interesting for its historical detailing of the Manhattan Project's health physics evolution and criticized what he called generally "flawed" anti-nuclear stance, an exaggeration of the Linear no-threshold model.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Pearce Wright, Karl Morgan, The Guardian, Tuesday 15 June 1999
- ^ Leland R. Johnson, Karl Z. Morgan, Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
- ^ a b c "Dr. Karl Z. Morgan; Pioneer health physicist," The Oak Ridger, June 10, 1999
- ^ Dick Smyser, "Founder of the science of health physics and also a pioneer of the environmental movement," The Oak Ridger, June 24, 1999
- ^ Angry Genie: One Man's Walk Through the Nuclear Age[permanent dead link]
- ^ K.Z. Morgan, health physics pioneer, dies, ORNL Reporter, July 1999
- ^ John Cameron (2000). "A Flawed History of Radiation Protection". 21sci-tech.com. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
External links
edit- Human Radiation Studies: Remembering the Early Years; Oral History of Health Physicist Karl Z. Morgan, Ph.D. Archived 2009-09-17 at the Wayback Machine, conducted January 7, 1995, DOE/EH-0475, U.S. Department of Energy
- Lady Science (2018-05-18). "Women Radiobiologists and 'Standard Man'". The New Inquiry. Retrieved 2023-03-10.