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and fragmentation of the sciences. He believed that our educational culture was enforcing intellectual fragmentation through conservative university programs that depended on specialized grants and funded work. It seemed that cross-disciplinary team efforts were discouraged by membership in traditional, isolated science and social science disciplines. He knew that beginning in the 1980s numerical experiments through computer simulations were capable of providing the tools to think about very complex problems in a more holistic fashion. He began to imagine a new and independent type of institute that would combine the charter of a university while sharing some of Los Alamos' personnel and computer power. This could be a place where senior researchers could work on particularly speculative ideas, where one could educate a person starting in pure science to deal with the real messy, inelegant world, which science wasn't engaging. In 1983, Cowan assembled a group of senior scientists interested in researching complex, adaptive systems. One year later, this assembly became the
313:(CP-1) generated the first controlled nuclear reaction. This controlled release of energy from the nucleus of the atom provided a method to obtain nuclear fuel for the first atomic weapons. His experience made him one of the experts on the chemistry of radioactive elements in the field of applied nuclear fission. Because he was single and possessed high expertise, project managers transferred him around the nation to help resolve bottlenecks. He was one of the select group with knowledge of the separate components of the project, kept separate for security reasons. He received a draft deferment from the president of the United States for possessing skills uniquely useful to the war effort.
361:, which he declared to be the next major thrust in science. The Santa Fe Institute fosters interdisciplinary research between physicists, mathematicians, economists, computer scientists, and others. Although most of his duties as president did not allow time for research, as Distinguished Fellow of the Institute, Cowan applied neuroscience principles to investigate relationships between children's brain physiological changes and behavioral development.
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for "a lifetime of exceptional achievement in the development and use of energy," the New Mexico
Academy of Science Distinguished Scientist Award, the Robert H. Goddard Award, the E.O. Lawrence Award, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory Medal, which is the highest honor the Laboratory bestows upon
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In 1982, Cowan accepted a seat on the White House
Service Council. While serving in this capacity and facing problems involving interlinked aspects of science, policy, economics, environment and more, he realized that this demanded a comprehensive expertise beyond the existing reductionist approach
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In 1988, Cowan became a senior fellow emeritus at Los Alamos, part of a group of six longtime Los Alamos employees rewarded with research positions free from administrative chores that would also advise the laboratory director on policy issues. Cowan served as president of the Santa Fe
Institute
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Following the end of the war and obtaining his PhD in physical chemistry from
Carnegie Tech, Cowan returned to work for Los Alamos in 1950. Only weeks after his arrival, he directed the detection of radioactive fallout from samples collected near the Russian border indicating the Soviets were in
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could be achieved. His knowledge of chemistry and nuclear physics experience provided expertise necessary to the
Manhattan Project. In 1942, Wigner, Cowan, and several others transferred to the Metallurgy Lab at the University of Chicago where the first
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and others in 1984, based upon his recognition of the need for a place where scientists could be offered a broader curriculum for "a kind of twenty-first century
Renaissance man" and associated research. A graduate of
309:. Starting as a junior member, Cowan became a jack-of-all-trades, capable of machining graphite blocks used to control the pile's reaction rate and in casting uranium metal. In 1942, the
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in 1953. He founded the Los Alamos
National Bank in 1963 to fund housing for Los Alamos employees and served for 30 years as its chair. He was also the driving influence in founding the
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In 1953, Cowan was a member of the group which founded the Santa Fe Opera. Another member of this group was Arthur
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as director of chemistry, associate director of research and senior laboratory fellow. He participated in founding the
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fortune. Spiegel was later to help Cowan in his initial fund raising efforts to finance the Santa Fe
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with the intention of taking graduate courses in physics. He worked there with future Nobel Prize
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possession of a nuclear bomb. He participated for some years on the Bethe Panel, whose first chairman was
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Cowan died on April 20, 2012, from complications of pneumonia in his Los Alamos home.
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This article is about the physical chemist. For the British Columbia politician, see
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Manhattan Project to the Santa Fe Institute: The Memoirs of George A.Cowan
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Complexity, the Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos
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Los Alamos National Labs Staff Biographies: George A. Cowan
206:; February 15, 1920 ā April 20, 2012) was an American
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23:. For the Canadian lawyer and Conservative politician, see
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2006 Video Interview with George Cowan by Cynthia C. Kelly
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1993 Audio Interview with George Cowan by Richard Rhodes
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American physical chemist and businessperson (1920ā2012)
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572:Businesspeople from Worcester, Massachusetts
357:and others. George was enthusiastic about
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592:Scientists from Worcester, Massachusetts
587:Fellows of the American Physical Society
577:Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel
243:(bachelor of science in chemistry) and
547:Worcester Polytechnic Institute alumni
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174:, Los Alamos National Laboratory Medal
493:, Santa Fe Institute (April 20, 2012)
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218:He conducted early research in the
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552:Carnegie Mellon University alumni
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234:together with Nobel Prize winner
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413:Computational complexity theory
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284:in chemistry, he worked on the
282:Worcester Polytechnic Institute
241:Worcester Polytechnic Institute
98:Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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393:University of New Mexico Press
370:until his retirement in 1991.
268:an individual or small group.
255:, he worked on the top secret
224:Los Alamos National Laboratory
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567:Enrico Fermi Award recipients
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122:physical chemist, businessman
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247:(doctorate of science),
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86:Los Alamos, New Mexico
259:at Los Alamos during
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108:University of Chicago
351:Department of Energy
290:Princeton University
249:Princeton University
145:Board member of
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181:George Arthur Cowan
172:E.O. Lawrence Award
60:George Arthur Cowan
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343:Santa Fe Institute
276:Cowan was born in
265:Enrico Fermi Award
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531:Categories
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429:References
365:Later life
324:Hans Bethe
251:, and the
447:Telegraph
286:cyclotron
272:Biography
214:Education
130:1951ā1991
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407:See also
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