Theodore “Ted” Taylor, nuclear weaponeer and disarmament advocate, died on October 28.
Dr. Taylor worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1948 to 1956, designing a series of very large, pure fission bombs intended as a back-up in the event the the “Super” didn’t work out.
The fission bombs were tested as “Operation Ivy,” with the largest test Mk 18 Super Oralloy Bomb (SOB) design with a yield of 500 Kt (15 November 1952).
Dr. Taylor left Los Alamos in 1956, a few years after the birth of his daughter caused him to doubt the wisdom of stockpiling nuclear weapons. He eventually became an advocate of nuclear disarmament.