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Trinity by the Numbers: The Computing Effort that Made Trinity Possible

Journal Article · · Nuclear Technology
Utilizing rarely used source materials and identifying points of bias among more commonly used sources, this critical review provides a more complete representation of wartime Los Alamos computing operations and personnel, including the Laboratory’s typically underrepresented human computers and how they contributed to the success of the Trinity test. This paper also identifies how the Laboratory’s unusual wartime computing demands served as a formative experience among many Los Alamos personnel and consultants who contributed significantly to the development and use of mechanized computing at and beyond Los Alamos after the war.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001
OSTI ID:
1836993
Report Number(s):
LA-UR--20-30196
Journal Information:
Nuclear Technology, Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Vol. 207; ISSN 0029-5450
Publisher:
Taylor & Francis - formerly American Nuclear Society (ANS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (6)

Critical Assembly book January 2010
From Mars to Minerva: The Origins of Scientific Computing in the AEC Labs journal October 1996
Early Computing at Los Alamos journal October 1982
The Influence of the Los Alamos and Livermore National Laboratories on the Development of Supercomputing journal April 1991
Arthur Compton’s 1941 Report on explosive fission of U-235: A look at the physics journal December 2007
Neutron Fluence and Atomic Displacement Rates for Graphite Irradiations journal January 1974

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