Elizabeth Riddle Graves

Elizabeth Riddle was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on 23 January 1916 to James Marion Riddle from South Carolina and Georgia Clymetra Boykin from Arkansas. She had two brothers, James Marion Riddle Jr. and John Burwell Boykin Riddle. Around 1921, the Riddle family moved to Chicago, Illinois. Graves entered the University of Chicago, where she was known as "Diz". She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1936, While there, she met and married Alvin C. Graves, a fellow physics major. In 1939, Alvin took a position at the University of Texas, == Manhattan Project ==

In 1942, Graves joined the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory, working with Enrico Fermi on the calculations involved in determining the feasibility of a nuclear chain reaction, which eventually led to the development of Chicago Pile-1, the world's first nuclear reactor. She worked on selecting a neutron reflector to "surround the core of the atomic bomb". At the time of the Trinity nuclear test in 1945, Graves was seven months pregnant with her first child. The Graves family therefore requested that they be assigned to a post far from the blast. They listened to Allison's countdown to the explosion on the radio, and using Geiger counters, they monitored the test's radioactive fallout, which took until the afternoon to reach them. Graves finished an experiment while in labor, timing her contractions with a stopwatch. The child was a healthy daughter, Marilyn Edith. Elizabeth and Alvin had two more children, Alvin Palmer and Elizabeth Anne. == Post-war ==

Elizabeth and Alvin Graves remained at Los Alamos after the war. On 21 May 1946, Alvin was in the room with seven other men when Canadian physicist Louis Slotin accidentally slipped and filled the room with a "blue ionization glow" during a demonstration of what became known as the demon core. Slotin knew he had absorbed a fatal dose of radiation, and Alvin Graves was standing the closest to Slotin when the incident occurred. He survived but had chronic neurological and vision problems. In 1950, Graves became a group leader in the experimental physics division at Los Alamos, and researched neutron interactions with matter and material. Graves died of cancer at age 55 on 6 January 1972, at Bataan Memorial Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Both were interred at Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos. == Personality ==

at Fuller Lodge, 1946: Betty Brixner (wife of Berlyn Brixner), unknown woman, Robert D. Richtmyer, Elizabeth Riddle Graves, Charles Critchfield. Colleagues described her as a "very" hard worker and someone who was "very good at her job". Graves was a self-proclaimed Stoic, and reportedly once described the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as being no worse than (an attack by) napalm. ==Select publications==

Patents • Low voltage 14 MeV neutron source. Dissertation and thesis • Energy Released from Be 9 (d, α) Li 7 and the Production of Li 7. 1940. Thesis Papers 1930s–1940s • Allison, Samuel K., Graves, Elizabeth R., Skaggs, Lester S., & Smith Jr, Nicholas M. (1939). A Precise Measurement of the Mass Difference Be 9 4—Be 8 4; The Stability of Be 8 4. Physical Review. 55(1): 107. • Allison, S. K., Graves, E. R., & Skaggs, L. S. (1940). Alpha-Particle Groups from the Disintegration of Beryllium by Deuterons. Physical Review. 57(2): 158. • Graves, A. C., Graves, E. R., Coon, J. H., & Manley, J. H. (January 1946). Cross Section of D (D, P) H-3 Reaction. Physical Review. 70(1-2): 101. • Manley, J. H., Coon, J. H., & Graves, E. R. (January 1946). Cross Section of D (D, N) He-3 Reaction. Physical Review. 70(1-2): 101. • Graves, E. R., & Coon, J. H. (January 1946). Disintegrations of Neon and Argon by dd Neutrons. Physical Review. 70(1-2): 101. • Manley, J. H., Agnew, H. M., Barschall, H. H., Bright, W. C., Coon, J. H., Graves, E. R., Jorgensen, T. & Waldman, B. (1946). Elastic Backscattering of d− d Neutrons. Physical Review. 70(9-10): 602. • Barschall, Henry Herman, Battat, M. E., Bright, W. C., Graves, E. R., Jorgensen, T., & Manley, J. H. (1947). Measurement of Transport and Inelastic Scattering Cross Sections for Fast Neutrons. II. Experimental Results. Physical Review. 72(10): 881. • Graves, E. R. (1949). Mayer. Physical Review. 76(1): 183. • Graves, E. R., Rodrigues, A. A., Goldblatt, M., & Meyer, D. I. (1949). Preparation and use of tritium and deuterium targets. Review of Scientific Instruments. 20(8): 579-582.am 1950s–1960s • Coon, J. H., Graves, E. R., & Barschall, H. H. (1952). Total Cross Sections for 14-MeV Neutrons. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory of the University of California. • Graves, E. R., & Rosen, L. (January 1952). Energy Spectrum of Neutrons from the Interaction of 14-Mev Neutrons with C, Al, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ag, Cd, Sn, Au, Pb, and Bi. Physical Review. 87(1): 239. • Coon, J. H., Graves, E. R., & Barschall, H. H. (1952). Total Cross Sections for 14-Mev Neutrons. Physical Review. 88(3): 562. • Phillips, D. D., Davis, R. W., & Graves, E. R. (1952). Inelastic Collision Cross Sections for 14-Mev Neutrons. Physical Review. 88(3): 600. • Forbes, S. G., Graves, E. R., & Little, R. N. (1953). Low Voltage 14‐Mev Neutron Source. Review of Scientific Instruments. 24(6): 424-427. • Graves, E. R., & Rosen, Louis. (1953). Distribution in Energy of the Neutrons from the Interaction of 14-MeV Neutrons with some Elements. Physical Review. 89(2): 343. • Graves, E. R., & Davis, Roland W. (1955). Cross sections for nonelastic interactions of 14-Mev neutrons with various elements. Physical Review. 97(5): 1205. • Battat, M. E., & Graves, E. R. (1955). Gamma Rays from 14-Mev Neutron Bombardment of C 12. Physical Review. 97(5): 1266. • McDole, C. J., Graves, E. R., & Davis, R. W. (1955). Calibration of a Mock Fission Neutron Source by Indium Resonance Mapping of the Standard Graphite Pile (No. LA-1982). Los Alamos Scientific Lab., New Mexico. • Seagrave, J. D., Graves, E. R., Hipwood, S. J., & McDole, C. J. (1958). D (d, n) 3 He and T (d, n) 4 He Neutron Source Handbook. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Lams, 2162. • Graves, E. R. (1963). Howard Eberline Neutron Survey Instrument PNC-1 Evaluation and Recommendation for Use. (No. LA-2860). Los Alamos Scientific Lab., New Mexico. • Davis, R. W., & Graves, E. R. (1969). The Radiation Instrument Calibration Facility at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. (No. LA—4090). Los Alamos Scientific Lab., New Mexico. • Davis, R., & Graves, E. (1969). The Radiation Instrument Calibration Facility at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. (Construction and calibration of radiation survey instruments). ==References==