William Rudolph Kanne (7 July 1913 – 24 October 1985), was a physicist, inventor and pioneer in the field of gas flow through ionization detectors, a member of the group responsible for the first self-sustained nuclear chain fission reaction at Staggs Field in Chicago, and participated in the Manhattan Project at the Chicago, Oak Ridge and Hanford sites.
Biographyedit
In 1913, Kanne was born in Baltimore, Maryland to William G. and Adele Bianka Kanne née Thienemann. His father was born in Germany and his mother was born in Maryland.[1]
In 1958, Kanne moved to San Jose, California to work at GE's Atomic Power Equipment Department as manager and then the engineering physics, core and fuel engineering department. He returned to Schenectady to become the group liaison scientist at the GE Research and Development Center. In 1973, Kanne retired from General Electric.[5]
Kanne, W. Rudolph. (4 July 1950). Detecting device. U.S. Patent No. 2,513,805. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Kanne Chamber patent. Kanne, W. Rudolph. (10 June 1952). Monitoring of gas for radioactivity. U.S. Patent No. 2,599,922. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Kanne, W. Rudolph. (13 January 1953). Monitoring gas for radioactive xenon. U.S. Patent No. 2,625,657. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Kanne, W. Rudolph. (14 October 1958). Nuclear reactor slug provided with thermocouple. U.S. Patent No. 2,856,341. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Kanne, W. Rudolph. (24 November 1959). Thermal couple for measuring temperature in a reactor. U.S. Patent No. 2,914,594. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Selected publicationsedit
Dissertation: Kanne, William Rudolph. (1937). Disintegration of Aluminum by Polonium Alpha-Particles. Physical Review. 52(4): 266.
Kanne, W. Rudolph. (15 August 1937). On the Preparation of Polonium Sources. Physical Review. (52): 380.
Kanne, W.R., R.F. Taschek, and G.L. Ragan. (1940). A Search for Resonance Scattered Protons from 11B and 19F. Physical Review. (58): 693.
Ragan, G.L., W.R. Kanne, and R.F. Taschek. (1941). The Scattering of Protons by Protons from 200 to 300 KeV. Physical Review. (60): 628.
Wilkening, M.H. and W.R. Kanne. (1942). Localization of the Discharge in G-M Counters. Physical Review. (62): 534.
Kanne, W. R. (1955). Introduction to Nuclear Engineering. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 77(5): 1394.
Kanne, W. R. (1961). Basic Principles of Nuclear Science and Reactors. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 83(2): 508.
Kanne, W. R. (1968). Creep Behavior in Stoichiometric NiAl. University of Wisconsin—Madison.
Citationsedit
Fitzgerald, J. J., & Borelli, B. W. (1954). Determination of Efficiency of Kanne Chamber for Detection of Radiogases (No. KAPL-1231). Knolls Atomic Power Lab.
Hoy, J. E. (1961). Operational experience with Kanne ionization chambers. Health Physics. 6(2): 203-210.
Referencesedit
^United States Census, 1920. Database with images. FamilySearch. W Rudolph Kanne in household of August Roeder, Baltimore Ward 13, Baltimore (Independent City), Maryland, United States. Citing sheet 12B, family 312, NARA microfilm publication T625. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.
^United States Census, 1940. Database with images. FamilySearch. William Kanne. Ward 13, Madison, Madison City, Dane, Wisconsin, United States. Citing enumeration district (ED) 13-52, sheet 7B, family 142, NARA digital publication T627. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012. roll 4469.
^ abcEditor. (19 March 2010). Elizabeth Mueller 'Lib' Kanne. Obituary, Condolences. San Jose Mercury News. San Jose, California.
^California Death Index, 1940-1997. Database. FamilySearch. William Rudolph Kanne, 24 Oct 1985. Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
^ abcdeEditor. (26 October 1985). Dr. W.R. Kanne, Pioneer in Nuclear Energy, 72. Schenectady Gazette. Schenectady, New York. p.35.
^Kanne, William Rudolph. (1937). Disintegration of Aluminum by Polonium Alpha-Particles. Physical Review. 52(4): 266.
^Editor. (30 November 1962). 34 Scientists to Mark Dawn of Atomic Age. Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. Page 12.
^Kanne, William Rudolph. (10 June 1952). Monitoring of gas for radioactivity. U.S. Patent No. 2,599,922. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.