George Irving Bell
1597869
201926289
2008-03-29T23:56:20Z
Iain99
4490215
/* Mountaineering */ link new article
{{otherpeople|George Bell}}
'''George Irving Bell''' (born [[August 4]], [[1926]] in [[Evanston, Illinois|Evanston]], [[Illinois]]; died [[May 28]], [[2000]]) was an American [[physicist]], [[biologist]] and [[mountaineering|mountaineer]]. He died from complications of [[leukemia]] after [[surgery]].<ref name="nyt">"George Irving Bell, 73, Leader In Studies of Genome" (obituary), ''New York Times'', June 18, 2000, Section 1, p. 32.</ref>
==Education==
Bell received a [[bachelor's degree]] in physics from [[Harvard University]] in 1947. He studied [[theoretical physics]] with [[Hans Bethe]] at [[Cornell University]], obtaining his [[doctorate]] in 1951.<ref name="lanl">[http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/pa/News/060800text.html Los Alamos National Lab News]</ref>
==Physics==
Immediately after receiving his Ph.D., Bell came to the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory]] and joined the "T Division." At the time, this division was primarily occupied in the design of the first [[thermonuclear weapon]]. Bell contributed by solving problems of [[neutron]] transport.<ref name="lanl"/>
Such problems are also crucial in the design and analysis of [[nuclear reactor]]s, so it was natural that Bell became a leading expert on the physics of reactors. He co-authored the book ''Nuclear Reactor Theory''<ref name="nrt">''Nuclear Reactor Theory'', Robert E. Krieger Publishing, 1985. See [http://www.rpi.edu/~danony/PhysNucRea/PNROutline.htm Physics of Nuclear Reactors] at [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute|RPI]]</ref> with Samuel Glasstone.<ref name="lanl"/>
==Biology==
Bell's interests turned to biology in the 1960s, creating quantitative models in [[immunology]]. He headed the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group at Los Alamos from 1974 to 1990.<ref name="lanl"/> He also worked on mathematical models in biophysics.<ref name="nyt"/> In 1988, he became the founding director of the Center for Human Genome Studies, which became a major participant in the [[Human Genome Project]]. He was director for only one year (simultaneously acting as the head of T Division and the group leader for the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group), and retired from Los Alamos in 1990.<ref name="nyt"/> He continued to work as an associate of the laboratory until September 1999.<ref name="lanl"/>
Bell was the author of over 100 research papers, and the co-editor of ''Theoretical Immunology'' (1978) and ''Computers and DNA'' (1989; ISBN 0201515059).<ref name="nyt"/>
==Mountaineering==
Bell was an avid and accomplished mountaineer and participated in some of the most notable [[United States|American]] expeditions of the 1950s and 1960s. His first climbs were during his high school years, in the [[Teton Range|Tetons]], and he was an active participant in the [[Harvard Mountaineering Club]]. In the 1940s, he made first ascents of four peaks in the area around [[Mount Waddington]] in the [[Coast Range]] of [[British Columbia]], on an HMC expedition. During this period, he also climbed in the Tetons, the [[Wind River Range]], and the [[Cascade Range|Cascades]].<ref name="aajo">[http://www.americanalpineclub.org/AAJO/pdfs/2001/448_inmemoriam_aaj2001.pdf In Memoriam section] of the ''[[American Alpine Journal]]'', 2001</ref>
Bell then moved to more significant objectives, organizing the expedition in 1950 that made the first ascent of [[Yerupajá]], {{Convert|21769|ft|m|0}}, in the [[Cordillera Huayhuash]] of [[Peru]], one of the most difficult and dangerous peaks in the [[Andes]]. Bell did not make the summit, but reached an altitude of {{Convert|20600|ft|m|-2|abbr=on|abbr=on}}. He returned to Peru in 1952 to make the first ascent of another steep and difficult peak of the Peruvian Andes, [[Salcantay]] in the [[Cordillera Vilcabamba]]. He made two significant return trips to Peru in 1954 and 1956.<ref name="aajo"/>
Bell also climbed in the [[Karakoram]] of [[Pakistan]], participating in two very notable expeditions. In 1953, Bell took part in the [[Third American Karakoram Expedition]] to [[K2]] was one of five climbers who fell on during a failed attempt of the first ascent of the peak. Their fall was arrested by Peter Schoening in one of the great feats of mountaineering. Bell went on several more Himalayan expeditions and made the first ascent of [[Masherbrum]], the 22<sup>nd</sup> highest peak in the world, in 1960.<ref name="aajo"/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.geocities.com/gibell.geo/dad/ Memorial page by George I. Bell Jr.]
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[[Category:American physicists]]
[[Category:People from Evanston, Illinois]]
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]