Voting Station

Bernard Vonnegut

Please vote to return to collections.

Scientist

The Resume

    (August 29, 1914-April 25, 1997)
    Born in Indianapolis, Indiana
    Atmospheric scientist
    Worked in the General Electric Research Laboratory (1945-52)
    Professor at the University of Albany (1967-85)
    Received 28 patents
    Discovered that silver iodine could be used in cloud seeding to produce snow and rain
    Brother of Kurt Vonnegut

Why he might be annoying:

    The principles behind cloud seeding had previously been demonstrated by fellow GE scientist Vincent Schaefer, who used dry ice.
    The Pentagon attempted (without success) to use cloud seeding as a weapon.
    His experiments also inspired ultimately futile efforts to use cloud seeding to eliminate hurricanes.
    He received an Ig Nobel Prize for his report ‘Chicken Plucking as a Measure of Tornado Wind Speed.’ (1997)

Why he might not be annoying:

    The silver iodine he used was much more effective than Schaefer’s dry ice.
    Silver iodine is still used for rain and snow making.
    He quit GE and went into academia over ethical concerns about the military trying to weaponize his discoveries.
    His got his brother a public relations job at GE; Kurt’s interviews of the corporation’s scientists inspired the novels ‘Player Piano’ and ‘Cat’s Cradle.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 38.46% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 9 Votes: 22.22% Annoying