The Resume

(December 17, 1908-September 8, 1980)
Born in Grand Valley, California
Physical chemist
Developed carbon-14 dating (1947)
Member of the Atomic Energy Commission (1954-59)
Won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1960)

Why he might be annoying:

His attitude towards nuclear weapons was 'Let's build them as big as we can, and build all we can. Then war will become inconceivable.'
He tried to demonstrate that protection from a nuclear attack could be had for as little as $30 by building a backyard fallout shelter from sandbags, plastic sheeting and two-by-fours.
A week later, it (and his home) burned up in a brush fire, making you wonder how well it would have stood up to nukes.
Leo Szilard said about the fire, 'This proves not only that there is a God, but He has a sense of humor.'

Why he might not be annoying:

He put himself through college by building crates for fruit packers.
His development of carbon-14 dating revolutionized archaeology.
One of the scientists nominating him for the Nobel Prize noted, 'Seldom has a single discovery in chemistry had such an impact on the thinking in so many fields of human endeavor. Seldom has a single discovery generated such wide public interest.'
Young-Earth Creationist go through amusing contortions in an attempt to discredit him, usually by misapplying the carbon-14 dating technique and getting a ludicrous result. (Which does not invalidate carbon-14 so much as provide evidence for a different scientific theory: 'Garbage in, garbage out.')

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• 20th Century Scientists
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 57]
• I Attended University of California, Berkeley
• I Died in 1980 (Ranked: 71)
• I was Cremated
• Look at Me, I'm on the Cover of Time
• Look at My Magazine Cover
• Manhattan Project
• My House Burned Down
• Nobel Prize for Chemistry (Ranked: 1960)
• Parents of Twins
• Profiles 36501-36750 (Ranked: 36620)
• Redheads - Male
• Scientists

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying