Lyle Benjamin Borst

Lyle Benjamin Borst (November 24, 1912 – July 30, 2002) was an American nuclear physicist and inventor. He worked with Enrico Fermi in Chicago, was involved with the Manhattan District Project, and worked with Ernest O. Wollan to conduct neutron scattering and neutron diffraction studies.

Lyle Benjamin Borst
Born	(1912-11-24)24 November 1912 Chicago, Illinois
Died	30 July 2002(2002-07-30) (aged 89) Williamsville, New York
Alma mater	University of Illinois University of Chicago
Known for	Numerous inventions Nuclear Train
Spouse	Ruth Barbara Mayer
Children	John Benjamin Borst Stephen Lyle Borst Frances Elizabeth Wright
Scientific career
Fields	Nuclear physics
Institutions	Manhattan Project Clinton Engineering Works Oak Ridge National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory University of Utah New York University State University of New York
Thesis	The Angular Distribution of Recoil Nuclei  (1941)
Doctoral advisor	William Draper Harkins
Signature

Life and times

Borst was born on November 24, 1912, in Cook County at Chicago, Illinois, the son of George William Borst aged 39 of Chicago, Illinois, and Jennie Beveridge aged 26. Borst was married to Ruth Barbara Mayer Borst for 63 years and had 3 children, sons, John Benjamin and Stephen Lyle and daughter, Frances Elizabeth Wright including 7 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. He died at his home in Williamsville, New York on July 30, 2002.^[1][2][3]

Career

Borst attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and received bachelor's and master's degrees. He attended the University of Chicago and was awarded a doctorate degree in chemistry in 1941.^[4] Borst worked as a senior physicist on the Manhattan Project from 1943 to 1946 at the Clinton Laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In 1944 Ernest O. Wollan and Borst used neutron diffraction to produce "rocking curves" for crystals of gypsum and sodium chloride (salt).^[5][6] In 1946 Karl Z. Morgan and Borst at Oak Ridge develop a film badge to measure worker exposure to fast neutrons.^[7][8] From 1946 to 1951 Borst was chairman of the department of reactor science and engineering at Brookhaven National Laboratory and was responsible for the operation and oversight of the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor.^[9] He played a key role in the design of the research reactor. Borst was at the University of Utah from 1951 to 1953 as professor of physics. From 1956 to 1961 he was chairman of the department of physics at the college of engineering at New York University. From 1961 to 1983 Borst was professor of physics at State University of New York in Buffalo, New York, and was appointed professor emeritus in 1983. In 1969 he served as master of Clifford Furnas College at the State University of New York at Buffalo.^[10][11]

Professional service

• National Board of the American Civil Liberties Union, member
• ACLU, Niagara Frontier Chapter, chairman
• American Physical Society, Fellow
• American Association for the Advancement of Science, member
• Association of Oak Ridge Scientists, founding member
• Federation of Atomic Scientists, founder

Publications

Thesis and dissertation

• The Angular Distribution of Recoil Nuclei. 1941^[12]

Patents

• Adjustable support for spectrometer reflectors. 18 December 1951.^[13]
• Method of testing hermetic containers. 17 February 1959.^[14]
• Central control system. 22 September 1959.^[15]
• Neutronic reactor shielding. 11 July 1961.^[16]
• Convergent Neutronic Reactor. 5 June 1962.^[17]
• Neutron amplifier. 2 October 1962.^[18]
• Process for cooling a nuclear reactor. 11 December 1962.^[19]
• Improvements in neutron reactors. 1962.^[20]
• Temperature measuring method and apparatus. 30 July 1963.^[21]
• Nuclear reactor for a railway vehicle. 31 March 1964.^[22]
• Neutron reactors. 20 July 1965.^[23]
• Nuclear power reactor. 27 July 1965.^[24]
• Process for controlling thermal neutron concentration in an irradiated system. 18 October 1966.^[25]
• Neutron amplifier. 13 December 1966.^[26]
• Photographic process. 29 June 1976.^[27]

References

1. Wright, Frances Elizabeth. (2002). Dr. Lyle Benjamin Borst, 1912 – 2002, professor of physics at University of Buffalo, 1961-1983. University of Buffalo.
2. O'Connor, Anahad. (12 August 2002). Lyle Benjamin Borst. New York Times.
3. Moser, Whet. (16 August 2002). Physicist Borst dies at 89. The Chicago Maroon. The University of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois.
4. Borst, Lyle Benjamin. (1941). The Angular Distribution of Recoil Nuclei. II. Notes on the Deuteron Hydrogen-three Reaction (Doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago, department of chemistry.).
5. Wollan, E. O. and Borst, L. B. (1945). Physics Section III Monthly Report for the Period Ending December 31, 1944. Metallurgical Project Report No. M-CP-2222. Clinton Laboratories. Oak Ridge, Tennessee, US. 1945.
6. Mason, T. E.; Gawne, T. J.; Nagler, S. E.; Nestor, M. B.; Carpenter, J. M. (2013). "The early development of neutron diffraction: Science in the wings of the Manhattan Project" (PDF). Acta Crystallographica Section A 69: 37–44. doi:10.1107/S0108767312036021
7. Morgan, K. Z. (1947). Health Physics and its control of radiation exposures at Clinton Laboratories. Technical Information Division, Oak Ridge Operations.
8. Morgan, K. Z. (1947). Health physics and its control of radiation exposures at Clinton National Laboratory. Chem. Engineering News. 25, 3794.
9. Crease, Robert P. (1999). Making Physics: A Biography of Brookhaven National Laboratory, 1946-1972. University of Chicago Press.
10. Wright, Frances Elizabeth. (2002). Dr. Lyle Benjamin Borst, 1912 – 2002, professor of physics at University of Buffalo, 1961-1983. University of Buffalo.
11. O'Connor, Anahad. (12 August 2002). Lyle Benjamin Borst. The New York Times.
12. Borst, Lyle Benjamin. (1941). The Angular Distribution of Recoil Nuclei. II. Notes on the Deuteron Hydrogen-three Reaction (Doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago, department of chemistry.).
13. Borst, L. B., & Fox, R. J. (18 December 1951). Adjustable support for spectrometer reflectors. U.S. Patent No. 2,579,225. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
14. Borst, L. B. (17 February 1959). Method of testing hermetic containers. U.S. Patent No. 2,873,603. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
15. Borst, L. B. (22 September 1959). Central control system. U.S. Patent No. 2,905,612. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
16. Borst, L. B. (11 July 1961). Neutronic reactor shielding. U.S. Patent No. 2,992,175. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
17. Borst, L. B., & Michael, P. A. (5 June 1962). CONVERGENT NEUTRONIC REACTOR (No. CA 642347). "A convergatron-type neutron amplifier is designed in which a neutron flux is increased stage by stage, where each stage comprises a moderator region, a fuel region, and a thermal neutron absorber region. The amplifier may be modified to reduce the inherent feedback and to enhance the transparency to neutrons in the desired polarized direction. The modifications include inhomogeneous fuel distribution, oriented cavities in the fuel region, and arcuately bent cylinders in the moderator region."
18. Borst, L. B., & Michael, P. A. (2 October 1962). Neutron amplifier. U.S. Patent No. 3,056,737. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
19. Borst, L. B. (11 December 1962). Process for cooling a nuclear reactor. U.S. Patent No. 3,068,159. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
20. Borst, L. B., & Michael, P. A. (1962). Improvements in neutron reactors (No. GB 900055).
21. Borst, L. B. (30 July 1963). Temperature measuring method and apparatus. U.S. Patent No. 3,099,745. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
22. Borst, L. B. (31 March 1964). Nuclear reactor for a railway vehicle. U.S. Patent No. 3,127,321. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. "A homogeneous reactor is designed for use as a mobile power plant, e.g. for the propulsion of a railway vehicle. The reactor core or fuel chamber is in the shape of a right circular cylinder with an axial length-to-diameter ratio of less than 0.75, and the circular end portions serve as tube sheets for a multiplicity of small diameter cooling tubes. A catalytic recombiner for the dissociated gases is provided, and the pressure of the dissociated gases and fission gases is used in the circulation of the fuel (uranyl sulfate solution). The reactor is located in a secondary shield filled with a high-viscosity hydrogenous liquid." Patent filed: 1 April 1955.
23. Borst, L. B. (20 July 1965). Neutron reactors. U.S. Patent No. 3,196,081. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
24. Borst, L. B. (27 July 1965). Nuclear power reactor. U.S. Patent No. 3,197,375. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
25. Borst, L. B., & Harmer, D. E. (18 October 1966). Process for controlling thermal neutron concentration in an irradiated system. U.S. Patent No. 3,280,329. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
26. Borst, L. B. (13 December 1966). Neutron amplifier. U.S. Patent No. 3,291,694. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
27. Borst, L. B. (29 June 1976). Photographic process. U.S. Patent No. 3,967,117. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.