Game Changer: World War 2, Radar, the Atomic Bomb, and the Life of Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge

by David A. Bainbridge

World War II has been called the “physicist’s war” because physics underpinned the development of both radar and the atomic bomb. Talented but unpretentious, physicist Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge had a remarkable career while playing a crucial role in ending WWII. He was the first physicist recruited for the radar lab at MIT and one of the research project team said Ken was a central figure in the development of radar that could detect the deadly German submarines.

Ken was then chosen to work on atomic bomb development at Los Alamos. He and his team had to select the test site, develop the site and then all the instrumentation and details for the test. This was a success, on July 16, 1945. Throughout his career he was credited with not only exceptional skill and successful development of complex projects, but also his effective but kind and gentle management.

In this book, you will meet this noteworthy, but unsung Game Changer.

190 pages, Paperback

Published March 10, 2022

About the author

Born in New York state in 1948, but raised in the western US, David A. Bainbridge is a restoration ecologist, and has degrees in earth science and ecology from UC San Diego and UC Davis. His other interests include solar energy, straw bale construction, environmental economics, and bears.