Richard Freeman Post (November 14, 1918 – April 7, 2015) was an American

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

notable for his work in

nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manife ...

plasma physics Plasma ()πλάσμα
, Henry George Liddell, R ...

magnetic mirror A magnetic mirror, known as a magnetic trap (магнитный захват) in Russia and briefly as a pyrotron in the US, is a type of magnetic confinement device used in fusion power to trap high temperature plasma using magnetic fields. T ...

magnetic levitation Magnetic levitation (maglev) or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic fields. Magnetic force is used to counteract the effects of the gravitational force and any other forces. The ...

, magnetic bearing design and

direct energy conversion Direct energy conversion (DEC) or simply direct conversion converts a charged particle's kinetic energy into a voltage. It is a scheme for power extraction from nuclear fusion. History and theoretical underpinnings Electrostatic direct coll ...

. Post was a winner of the

James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics The James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics is an annual American Physical Society (APS) award that is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the field of the Plasma Physics. It was established in 1975 by Maxwell Technologies, ...

and led the controlled thermonuclear research group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for 23 years. He held a total of 34

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

s in the fields of

particle accelerator A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams. Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...

s, and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

and

mechanical energy In physical sciences, mechanical energy is the sum of potential energy and kinetic energy. The principle of conservation of mechanical energy states that if an isolated system is subject only to conservative forces, then the mechanical energy is ...

storage.

Early life and education

Post was born in 1918 in Pomona, California, the son of Miriam (Colcord) and Freeman Post.Richard Post
at Array of Contemporary American Physicists; accessed 6-28-2013 He received a BA in physics from

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became t ...

in 1940 and a PhD in physics from Stanford University in 1951. After his PhD, he was inspired to pursue fusion energy research by a college professor.

Career

Post joined the staff at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) as leader of the controlled thermonuclear research group until 1974. During this time, he developed many of the concepts behind

s and

. He worked with Marshall Rosenbluth to develop the stability of plasma inside mirror machines. From 1974 to 1987 he was deputy associate director of the magnetic fusion energy program at LLNL. This was a heavily funded effort by the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

to build a succession of magnetic mirror machines, including the

Mirror Fusion Test Facility The Mirror Fusion Test Facility, or MFTF, was an experimental magnetic confinement fusion device built using the tandem magnetic mirror design. It was, by far, the largest, most powerful and most expensive mirror machine ever constructed. Due to ...

(MFTF) and the Tandem Mirror Facility. After 1987, Post was senior scientist in the magnetic fusion energy program. He has held advisory roles at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

, the National Academy of Sciences and the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

. His notable work includes

inductrack Inductrack is a passive, fail-safe electrodynamic magnetic levitation system, using only unpowered loops of wire in the track and perslide magnets (arranged into Halbach arrays) on the vehicle to achieve magnetic levitation. The track can be in on ...

and magnetically levitated

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, as ...

Personal life

Post and his wife Marylee (a poet) are the parents of actress

Markie Post Marky or Markie may refer to: Nickname * Marky Cielo (1988–2008), Filipino actor and dancer * Marky Delgado (born 1995), American soccer player * Markie Mark (born 1974), BBC Radio director * Marky Markowitz (1923–1986), American jazz trumpete ...

and her two brothers, Steve and Rodney. Although he retired in 1994, Post continued to work in his lab four days a week, up until the week of his death on April 7, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Post, Richard F. American physicists American nuclear physicists 1918 births 2015 deaths People from Pomona, California Pomona College alumni Stanford University alumni Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory staff Fellows of the American Physical Society