Part two of the story is that I had it analyzed by a couple of fellows who "owed me one" after I supplied a "sample" to them after an accidental tritium release at the Lab and I happened to be the only one in the area that was potentially exposed. All was well in the end but the "sample" I gave proved that the human exposure was minimal even though it was a reportable incident.

Now, that's my kind of student! Would that we could inspire more like him. You must be very proud and thankful. I'd wager that he would have done a different report, had he not been exposed to the circle that you worked in; and we all would have been lesser for it.

Is that Trinitite still radioactive? Can he read by his own light now?

I have several stories but I think the best involves my son, Ross, who in junior high school had to choose his first research project and term paper. His topic, "Why We Should Not Have Dropped the Atomic Bomb" was controversial at best. The requirements of the project included the mandatory paper, an accompanying oral report, a first person interview and a show and tell element. (One would think that he would have chosen something a tad easier.)

After reading books and taking tons of notes came the tough parts-who to interview and a physical item for the show and tell portion of the report. Owen had long since retired and was quite disabled by Parkinson's Disease but we called upon him and went to his home and recorded a first person interview of his involvement in the Manhattan project, his participation in the developing the bomb, his watching the first test drop with Clyde Weigand (the BEST homework helper of all time) and finally his letters to President Truman trying to convince him not to use the weapon of mass destruction.

Additionally, through my ,mom, Alice Rodriguez, with many old Berkeley contacts, John and Janet Sage heard about Ross’s working on this report and mailed him a baggie of trinitite, the product of the first atomic blast. And to top it off, it was analyzed by friends at Berkeley Lab who were able to show its content including the melted pieces of tower that held the bomb prior to it vaporizing everything. (That’s another story!)

I’m sure the teacher was amazed that this thirteen year old kid came up with living Manhattan project participants, Nobel laureates and actual trinitite as part of his report.

Over the years as more research projects were requested by teachers, the report became longer, more detailed and more sophisticated. Multiple English and science classes have been amazed. This “ever green” report lasted through my son’s freshman year in college when it received its final “A” grade.