Trailer for "Ring of Truth," 1987. Video: PBS/YouTube/ACME Crimenet.Philip Morrison, born 100 years ago today, was only 27 when he was recruited to work for the Manhattan Project.An ambitious physicist, he volunteered to conduct dangerous criticality experiments with prototype bombs, which fellow physicist Richard Feynman called "tickling the dragon's tail." He even shared a backseat with the core of the Trinity bomb on the ride out to the New Mexico test site.
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His profound experiences working for the Manhattan Project as a young man informed his sensibilities as a scientist, ethicist, and popular author and television personality throughout his career. He exuded a Sagan-level sense of wonderment about the universe around us, and tireless optimism for our ability to sustainably survive in it."Scientific knowledge and understanding is not a purely cerebral affair. It is soaked with emotion, excitement, and nervous tension."
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