Herrick L. Johnston facts for kids

Herrick Lee Johnston (born March 29, 1898 – died October 6, 1965) was an American scientist. He was born in Jacksonville, Ohio, and became an expert in cryogenics. Cryogenics is the study of how materials behave at very low temperatures.

Early Discoveries at University of California

From 1925 to 1928, Johnston worked as a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. He teamed up with William Giauque, another scientist who was a pioneer in cryogenics.

Together, they did important experiments. These experiments proved that oxygen exists in different forms called isotopes. Before their work, scientists thought oxygen only came in one form, called ¹⁶O. Johnston and Giauque showed that oxygen also has isotopes with slightly different weights, called ¹⁷O and ¹⁸O.

This discovery was a big deal. It changed how scientists calculated the weights of other elements. Their work, published in 1929, also helped lead to the discovery of deuterium (often called "heavy hydrogen") in 1932 by Harold Urey. William Giauque later won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1949 for this research. He always made sure to recognize Johnston's important contributions.

Building a Cryogenics Lab at Ohio State

In 1929, Johnston became a professor at Ohio State University. He had a big dream: to build a cryogenics laboratory that would be as good as the one at Berkeley.

It took some time, but by 1939, he finally got enough money. A lot of this funding came from the government for research related to World War II. Johnston played a key role in the Manhattan Project from 1942 to 1946. This was a secret project to develop the first atomic bombs.

A new building, called the War Research Building, was finished in late 1942. In February 1943, Johnston's lab successfully made its first liquid hydrogen.

Johnston was known for working very hard and expecting his team to do the same. He didn't like slow paperwork and sometimes found ways to speed things up. Even with these traits, his students and staff admired him greatly. They were very loyal to him. One of his students, Paul Flory, who later won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1974, said Johnston's "boundless zeal" was a huge inspiration.

During his time at Ohio State, Johnston also worked at the University of Göttingen in Germany (1933) and at General Electric laboratories in Schenectady, New York (1937).

Starting His Own Business

After World War II, the U.S. government started working on a new, very powerful type of bomb called a thermonuclear device (or hydrogen bomb). Johnston saw this as a chance to use his skills. He was an expert in making, storing, and moving large amounts of liquid hydrogen and deuterium.

In 1952, he started his own company, H L Johnston Company Inc. His company produced deuterium for the first thermonuclear device. This device was successfully tested on November 1, 1952, at Eniwetok Atoll.

His company also created huge, mobile refrigerated containers called dewars. These were used to transport large amounts of liquid hydrogen. They even developed giant mobile factories that could make liquid hydrogen on the go for the United States Air Force. Even while running his company, Johnston remained a professor at Ohio State University, though he spent less time there.

Personal Life

Herrick Johnston married Margaret Vanderbilt on June 14, 1923. They had two sons, William Vanderbilt and Robert Edgar, and one daughter, Margaret Louise.

Recognition

In 1970, the War Research Building at Ohio State University was renamed Johnston Laboratory. This was done to honor his important work and contributions.