Mikado14 wrote:
Nice to see you back online.
Now Langley, you know very well how much I pick at you so do me a favor and explain this statement a little better for I see an implication but I want to hear what you say.
Mikado
Oh all right. But I think Ive burnt my column space for at least the next 3 chapters..
First, I noticed this:
http://www.antiqbook.com/boox/poor/11327.shtml
Did machine work at Los Alamos. Now, why would filters be important at Los Alamos?
And Brown didnt pluck this guy out of thin air did he?
Now I have no link between Shank and electrostatic filters, but what's the initial technical link between Brown and Shank?
And I think you and others Mikado previously discussed pre Brown electrostatic filters. Now, if a cluey guy was into filters, why would he neglect electrostatic ones?
And so we jump back to Teller noting the Fan/speaker, being interested but saying he didnt know how it worked....
And you have a patent re device to precipitate radium daughters using a negative ion generator...So if one was into electrostatic filters AND was aware of Brown's negative ion generator as a means of clumping positively charged unstable radioactive flecks, then so much the better because they would be deaerosolised PRIOR to hitting the filter, making the filter more effective.
And if the bomb didnt work and a radiological weapon was called for, well a portable man packable version of the above filter would be a needed protective for this:
"(2) As a gas warfare instrument the material would be ground into particles of microscopic size to form dust and smoke and distributed by a ground-fired projectile, land vehicles, or aerial bombs. In this form it would be inhaled by personnel. The amount necessary to cause death to a person inhaling the material is extremely small. It has been estimated that one millionth of a gram accumulating in a person's body would be fatal. There are no known methods of treatment for such a casualty
Two factors appear to increase the effectiveness of radioactive dust or smoke as a weapon. These are: (1) It cannot be detected by the senses; (2) It can be distributed in a dust or smoke form so finely powdered that it will permeate a standard gas mask filter in quantities large enough to be extremely damaging. An off-setting factor in its effectiveness as a weapon is that in a dust or smoke form the material is so finely pulverized that it takes on the characteristic of a quickly dissipating gas and is therefore subject to all the factors (such as wind) working against maintenance of high concentrations for more than a few minutes over a given area."
http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/Groves-Me ... 0oct43.htm
And then there was Seaborg's concern which called for full precautions
(The first appreciable quantities of plutonium became available by
January 1944. At that time, Seaborg warned of its potential
health hazards and suggested immediate studies to learn its
biological behavior. This was a critical issue: the longer the
material stayed in the body, the more damage it could do.
Hundreds of workers would soon be exposed to plutonium, and
exposure standards were necessary. Overexposure would not only
hurt workers; it could compromise secrecy and disrupt production
schedules.
http://www.whale.to/b/plutonium.html Seaborgs actual memo is
Glenn Seaborg, head of Chemistry Section C-1 of the Metallurgical Laboratory, to Robert Stone, Health Director of the Metallurgical Laboratory, 5 January 1944 ("Physiological Hazards of Working with Plutonium") (ACHRE No. DOE-070194-A-3))
An advanced mask probably was within the sphere of specialty of Shank and of the people Brown might have called forth from Los Alamos, well Shank is at least logically consistent. His expertise in the wider applications of the principles embodied in the Fan is demonstrated in his written article (previous posts) re the discs post war. It could well be of course that Shank was known to Brown pre war. Through NRL. But I get the strong impression that Shank was no slouch when it came biochemistry. An important facet of Health Physics. That he was technically expert beyond "machinist" is seen in his technical role re films. That he was in a position to correspond with Pauling and to be a member of Federation of American Scientists shows how the title machinist is to overlook his level of expertise.
name search for Bradford Shank in the Library of Congress catalogue.
Filters and their uses was first published 1939. There are entries for this in 39, 48, and 54 (seems he dropped his first initial W after 1939.)
He also wrote a book titled Fragments published in 1959. Its poetry :
http://primal-page.com/shank.htm
I
conclude that Shank was involved in health physics specifically Radiological Protection and Countermeasures. His Specialty in Filters prewar made him valuable to Manhattan Project in the protection of workers processing uranium and plutonium. Seaborg made such protection a high priorty in 1944 with the synthesis of Plutonium. (memo to Stone)
Shank was allied to Brown. Brown had the means to boost dramatically the effectiveness of filters of the era. Shank had the skills to produce prototype compound ion generator boosted high efficiency filters. IMO
this war time concentration on radiological safety explains his post war activities re radiation safety. (eg films, contact with Pauling) Was part of the Western anti nuke movement.
