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Mary Lou Curtis was a pioneer in nuclear physics, working on the Manhattan District Project to create a nuclear bomb in 1943-44 and 45. She was a researcher on the Dayton Project in Dayton, Ohio that worked under contract with Monsanto Chemical Co. The Dayton Project was responsible for developing the “Initiator” which was in effect, a trigger system (later called the “Urchin”) involving the purification and production of Polonium for use as a neutron source to start a chain reaction.

Her contributions to the project included the development of the means to measure radioactivity as to substance and purity. Her work started where Madame Curie's ended. Mme. Curie was doing measurement of Gamma Rays but the methods were not accurate enough for work on the Initiator. Mary Lou Curtis developed methods of counting Alpha and Beta particles in what was referred to as the 'Counting Room.” She and her team were able to develop and design measurement devices that were highly accurate. She personally measured out the two quantities of Polonium, one for each of the devices that were used on Japan.

Her work with Monsanto continued after the war with the creation of a nuclear research facility in Miamisburg, Ohio, Mound Laboratory. She was a Research Physicist, Sr. Research Physicist and Research Specialist at Mound until her retirement in 1974. She was born Mary Lou Rogers, August 19, 1911 and was raised in Oxford, Ohio as one of eight children. She attended local public schools and graduated from Miami University in 1932 with a BS in Education with a double major of English and Mathmatics. She received her Masters from Miami University in 1938 majoring in Mathmatics. She died in April 2002 in Dayton, Ohio

She married Jack Lee Curtis in 1938 in Oxford, Ohio. She had two children: Jane Ellen Curtis and William Taylor Curtis

Below are her major accomplishments in the field:

Major Accomplishments

1. Contributed to the design of, developed method for calibrating, and implemented the use of LOGAC, a low geometry alpha counter. This instrument was (is?) one of the most accurate counting devices in use anywhere, and it is best suited for routine alpha assay. 2. Pioneered work in absolute alpha counting, developing three additional techniques which together with LOGAC counting enabled Mound Laboratory to excel in this area. 3. Developed gas proportional counting techniques for tritium and krypton-85 in a variety of gases. This work was unique in the sensitivity obtained and its applicability to gases containing impurities and to air samples as well.This was a difficult achievement and not reported elsewhere, but was essential to several major programs at Mound Laboratory. 4. Developed and established the accuracy of a method for de-tritium leak rates. This is more sensitive by a factor of about 104 than the method reported by a Mound Laboratory competitor. 5. First to develop a method for determining tritium gas by liquid scintillation counting techniques. This is a useful technique for rapid routine assay. 6. Developed a method for determining parts per million quantities of plutonium-236 in plutonium- 238 by alpha pulse height analysis, making results available in 2 hours instead of the 30 days previously required. This analysis was essential to a major program at Mound Laboratory. 7. First to use bremsstrahlung counting for measuring tritium in a variety of materials, difficult or impossible to measure in any other way. The only nondestructive technique for an important application. 8. Devised and perfected a nondestructive method for determining uranium-238 in certain materials by gamma counting. This method had been used extensively for quality control work at Mound Laboratory. 9. Contributed to the development of a procedure for determining plutonium- 238 in waste materials by gamma counting. 10. Developed procedures for determining parts per million quantities of americum- 241 in plutonium -238 by gamma counting. 11. Developed a rapid technique for measuriing krypton- 85 by gamma counting. All the above were developed in support of programs at Mound Laboratory. All or most were in continuous use for many years.

Publications in Scientific Journals and Internal Documents:

Document Number Document Title Doc Date Authors MIL-S-0065 Absolute Alpha Counting 5/1/1955 Curtis, Mary Lou, Heyd, J. W., Olt, R. G. & Eichelberger, J. F. MIL-S-0070 Routine Energy Measurements of Soft Radiations 7/1/1955 Curtis, M. L. and Heyd, J. W. MIL-S-0083 Separation of Protactinium from Uranium Residues 7/3/1956 Salutsky, Murrell L., Shaver, Kenneth, Elminger, Andrew and Curtis, Mary Lou MIL-S-0096(J) Determination of Protactinium by Gamma Spectrometry 3/1/1957 Salutsky, Murrell L., Curtis, Mary Lou, Shaver, Kenneth, Elmlinger, Andrew and Miller, Robert A. MIL-S-0183 Improved Techniques for Routinely Counting low levels of Tritium and Krypton-85 9/1/1964 Curtis, Mary L. & Rook, H. L. MLM-0338 Relationship Between Logac Counts and Thickness of Slides on Which Samples Are Mounted (Information Report) 4/5/1949 Curtis, M. L. MLM-0340 '''Electronics Accomplishment Report 7/31/1949''' Curtis, M., Gnagey, L., Hites, C., Mead, W.L. MLM-0367-3 Proposed Program for General Research and Development for the Fiscal Year of 1950 (Part III) (Supplement to Report 49-3-7) 6/30/1949 Staniforth, Robert A., Haring, M., Shipp Jr., R., Hemler, C., Hood, W., Combs, J., Rogers, A., Curtis, M., Davenport, T., Baker, W. MLM-0368-3 Quarterly Report for General Research April - May - June, 1949 (Part III). 7/1/1949 Staniforth, R.,Haring, M.,Rembold, E.,Curtis, M.,Economides, M.,Abel, W.,Orban, E.,Baker, W.,Hutchinson, J.,McKee, D.,Shipp Jr., R.,Richmond, J.,Stanton, J.,Combs, J.,Rogers, A.,Hood, W.,Schommer, G.,Hemler, C.,Williamson, J.,Gregersen, K.,Eyles, T., Zinn MLM-0373 Counting Technique Studies II: Discrepancy in Alpha Counting Instruments 4/8/1949 Curtis, Mary Lou MLM-0572 Operator's Manual for Precision Alpha Counting 11/4/1952 Curtis, M. MLM-0602 Report for Research on Present Materials: April 2, 1951 to July 2, 1951 8/6/1951 Haring, M., Timma, D., Elmlinger, A., Curtis, M., Shipp Jr., R., Moshier, R., Augustson, R., Endebrock, R., Engle, P., Schrantz Jr., W., Watrous, R., Birden, J., Hertz, M. MLM-0603 General Research April 16, 1951 to July 30, 1951 (Supporting Research Volume) 9/30/1951 Haring, M., Curtis, M., Stanton, J., Hood, W., Zaucha, E., Beasley, T., Parks, J., Jordan, K. MLM-0653-1 Research on Present Materials October 15, 1951 to January 14, 1952 2/18/1952 Curtis, M., Dauby, J., Endebrock, R., Engle, P., Ginsburg, S., Rawlings, H., Moshier, R., Cox, G., Martin, A., Feierstein, H. MLM-0658 General Research October 29, 1951 to January 28, 1952 (Supporting Research Volume) 3/3/1952 Staniforth, R. A., Stanton, J., Baker, W., Reiter, E., Curtis, M., Combs, J., Rogers, A. MLM-0800 Evaluation of the Single - Operation Alpha Counter (Information Report) 12/8/1952 Curtis, M. L. and Paige, M. K. MLM-0801 Absolute Beta Counting of National Bureau of Standards Solutions (Information Report) 12/8/1952 Curtis, M. L., Clark, D. L. and Dauby, J. J. MLM-0834 Absolute Alpha Counting I: Determination of Backscattering Factors and Ranges 4/10/1953 Curtis, M. L. and Heyd, J. W. MLM-0842 Windowless Absorption Counter for Routine Energy Measurement of Soft Radiations 4/10/1953 Curtis, M. L. and Heyd, J. W. MLM-0843 Absolute Alpha Counting II: Standard Low-Geometry Chamber 5/7/1953 Curtis, M. L., Olt, R. G. and Eichelberger, J. F. MLM-0943 Determination of Half-Life of Radium-223 and Thorium-227 (Information Report) 3/1/1954 Hagee, G. R., Curtis, M. L. and Grove, G. R. MLM-0986 Analysis of Massive Amounts of Platinum for Tracer Amounts of Radioactivity 6/23/1954 Curtis, M. L. and Staniforth, R. A. MLM-1086 Density and Viscosity of Fused Mixtures of Lithium, Beryllium, and Uranium Fluorides 12/1/1956 Blanke, B. C., Bousquet, E. N., Curtis, M. L. and Murphy, E. L. MLM-1093 Half-Life of Radium-223 7/28/1959 Kirby, H. W., Curtis, M. L. and Salutsky, M. L. MLM-1104 Isotope Separation by Thermal Diffusion: Shape Factors for the Extreme Cylingrical Case 7/15/1960 Curtis, M. L., Wurstner, Vija, and Grove, G. R. MLM-1222(J) Routine Absolute Alpha and Beta Counting in a 4 Pi Proportional Counter. 12/7/1964 Curtis, Mary L. MLM-1229(J) Half-Life of Radium-223 1/5/1965 Kirby, H. W., Jordan, K. C., Braun, Joann Z., Curtis, M. L. and Salutsky, M. L. MLM-1305(J) Simple Technique for Rapid Analysis of Radioactive Gases by Liquid Scintillation Counting 4/1/1966 Curtis, Mary L., Ness, Sandra L. and Bentz, L. L. MLM-1368 New Techniques for Relative Calibration of Tritium Sources by Bremsstrahlung Counting 5/15/1966 Curtis, M. L. and Bentz, L. L. MLM-1506(J) Determination of Parts-per-Million Quantities of Plutonium-236 in Plutonium-238 by Alpha Pulse Height Analysis 7/1/1968 Curtis, Mary Lou MLM-1582(J) Gamma Pulse Height Determination of Plutonium-238 in Solid Wastes 2/1/1969 Mershad, E. A., Curtis, M. L., Jarvis, J. Y. and Amos, W. R. MLM-1654 Gamma Counting of Polonium-210 In Solution 8/12/1969 Bishop, C. T., Curtis, M. L. and Bolton, M. M. MLM-1865(J) Detection and Measurement of Tritium by Bremsstrahlung Counting 6/14/1971 Curtis, Mary Lou MLM-1901 An Investigation into the Determination of Plutonium in Soil by a Fusion Procedure 6/15/1972 Gillette, R. K., Curtis, M. L., Nunn, E. B., Frye, J. O. and Bishop, C. T. MLM-2078(OP) Determination of Tritium Leak Rates from Waste Processing Equipment 1/1/1971 Curtis, M. L., Bishop, C. T., Bolton, M. M. and Ryan, R. L. MLM-2087(OP) New Approach to Tritium Leak Rate Determination 11/14/1973 Sheehan, W. E. and Curtis, Mary Lou MLM-2205 Development of a Low Cost Versatile Method for Measurement of HTO and HT in Air 2/14/1975 Sheehan, W. E., Curtis, M. L. and Carter, D. C. MLM-M-0810 Unit III Seminar, December 16, 1946: Counting Techniques 12/16/1946 Curtis, Mary Lou MLM-MU-71-61-0401(J) Liquid Scintillation Counting of Alpha Emitting Isotopes 1/2/1971 Curtis, M. L.

SOURCES: Video Interviews of Mary Lou Curtis by son, Bill Curtis Resume written by Mary Lou Curtis Mound Laboratory Records WTC47 (talk) 20:26, 2 July 2016 (UTC) WTC47 (talk) 21:25, 2 July 2016 (UTC)