Lyle Benjamin Borst (November 24, 1912 – July 30, 2002) was an American nuclear physicist and inventor. He worked with Enrico Fermi in Chicago, was involved with the Manhattan District Project, and worked with Ernest O. Wollan to conduct neutron scattering and neutron diffraction studies.
Lyle Benjamin Borst | |
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Born | |
Died | 30 July 2002 | (aged 89)
Alma mater | University of Illinois University of Chicago |
Known for | Numerous inventions Nuclear Train |
Spouse | Ruth Barbara Mayer |
Children | John Benjamin Borst Stephen Lyle Borst Frances Elizabeth Wright |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Nuclear physics |
Institutions | Manhattan Project Clinton Engineering Works Oak Ridge National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory University of Utah New York University State University of New York |
Thesis | The Angular Distribution of Recoil Nuclei (1941) |
Doctoral advisor | William Draper Harkins |
Signature | |
Borst was born on November 24, 1912, in Cook County at Chicago, Illinois, the son of George William Borst aged 39 of Chicago, Illinois, and Jennie Beveridge aged 26. Borst was married to Ruth Barbara Mayer Borst for 63 years and had 3 children, sons, John Benjamin and Stephen Lyle and daughter, Frances Elizabeth Wright including 7 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. He died at his home in Williamsville, New York on July 30, 2002.[1][2][3]
Borst attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and received bachelor's and master's degrees. He attended the University of Chicago and was awarded a doctorate degree in chemistry in 1941.[4] Borst worked as a senior physicist on the Manhattan Project from 1943 to 1946 at the Clinton Laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In 1944 Ernest O. Wollan and Borst used neutron diffraction to produce "rocking curves" for crystals of gypsum and sodium chloride (salt).[5][6] In 1946 Karl Z. Morgan and Borst at Oak Ridge develop a film badge to measure worker exposure to fast neutrons.[7][8] From 1946 to 1951 Borst was chairman of the department of reactor science and engineering at Brookhaven National Laboratory and was responsible for the operation and oversight of the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor.[9] He played a key role in the design of the research reactor. Borst was at the University of Utah from 1951 to 1953 as professor of physics. From 1956 to 1961 he was chairman of the department of physics at the college of engineering at New York University. From 1961 to 1983 Borst was professor of physics at State University of New York in Buffalo, New York, and was appointed professor emeritus in 1983. In 1969 he served as master of Clifford Furnas College at the State University of New York at Buffalo.[10][11]