june february american physicist world war led group manhattan_project laboratory developed atomic bombing hiroshima nagasaki graduate earned doctorate attended oxford_university rhodes scholarship world war worked helped develop proximity fuse group leader dozen prominent scientists petitioned president declare united_states use hydrogen bomb war returned teaching berkeley supervised graduate students addition research teaching occupied number positions academic assistant presidents sat numerous advisory panels boards early life education born washington june son professor biology wife née second set born brothers wallace older brother attended went earn distinguished careers scientists academics graduated degree entered awarded doctor philosophy physics year awarded degree thesis absorption slow gases showed molecules similar arrangements external similar cross sections collisions slow results readily explained classical physics importance realised graduation associate physicist awarded rhodes scholarship study oxford england study germany princeton_university returning united_states married september sons assistant professor physics professor awarded fellowship enabled return england study cambridge_university friends british physicist impressed cloud chambers set graduate students work projects starting manhattan_project start world war went work helped develop proximity fuse joined manhattan_project appointed leader group consisted civilians military officers enlisted men task develop fuse detonate atomic bomb specified height ground normally bombs cheap relatively expensive atomic bomb extremely expensive failure triggering device unacceptable hand reason employed expensive conventional bomb group tasked develop mechanism chance failing detonate feet required height required height initially known depended yield uncertain group investigated radar proximity barometric testing carried naval proving ground virginia august march dummy drops barrage balloons end modified tail warning radar known employed performed atomic bombing hiroshima nagasaki later life war returned teaching berkeley dozen prominent scientists petitioned president declare united_states use hydrogen bomb returned england year time graduate students conducted research direction supervised students included president vice president addition research teaching occupied number positions academic assistant presidents vice president academic affairs served selection panels rhodes kennedy scholarships awards chairman member chairman colleges times vice president member president chairman associate director research delegate acting director director united_kingdom professor emeritus berkeley died home berkeley february survived wife son john papers
Robert Brode