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Birth
Edwin McMillan was born to Edwin Harbaugh McMillan and Anne Marie Mattison on September 18, 1908 in Redondo, California. -
Attends California Institute of Technology
McMillan was known for his exceptional grade work and joined the Institutes Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society and an Engineering Honor Society for Tau Beta Pi.
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
McMillan receives National Research Council Fellowship
"In 1932 he won a richly deserved and highly regarded National Research Council (NRC) fellowship to support his research at any university or research institute in the country."
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
McMillan receives Doctorate
McMillan received his Doctorate in Physics from Princeton University. -
Discovered Oxygen-15
McMillan began working at Lawrence’s Radiation Laboratory where he later discovered a radioactive oxygen called Oxygen-15.
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
McMillan Supports WWII
"During World War II, McMillan directed the field tests of America’s first airborne radar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also researched sonar at the Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory in San Diego, California, and he was an assistant to J. Robert Oppenheimer at Los Alamos. McMillan worked on both the Hiroshima-type and the Nagasaki-type atomic bombs."
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
Discovered Beryllium-10
Alongside Samuel Reuben, McMillan discovered Beryllium-10, a cosmogenic nuclide.
Source:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan
https://ams.arizona.edu/beryllium -
McMillan gets Married
Erwin married Elsie Walford Blumer with whom he had three children.
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
Became a Professor in 1946
He became a full professor of Physics at the University of California at Berkeley.
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
WWII Interrupts Research
WWII had much impact on McMillan, halting his research on Element 94, later to be continued by Glenn J. Seaborg.
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
McMillan is elected to National Academy of Sciences
"He served on the General Advisory Committee to the Atomic Energy Commission, was elected to the National Academy of Science in 1947, and was a fellow of the American Physics Society."
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
Receives Joint Nobel Peace Prize
"A team headed by Seaborg completed the work on element 94, leading to a joint Nobel Prize in 1951. Element 94, plutonium, became the principle material for atomic bombs."
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
McMillan Retires
McMillan Retired after serving as the Director of the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory for fifteen years.
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
National Medal of Science
In 1990 he received the National Medal of Science which is the nation’s highest civilian award a person can get.
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan -
Edwin McMillan dies 11 days shy of his 84th birthday
McMillan died on September 7, 1991 at his home in El Cerrito, California, after years of declining health.
Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/physics-biographies/edwin-mattison-mcmillan
