<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyril Stanley Smith</span>

Cyril Stanley Smith

<p><b>Cyril Stanley Smith</b> (4 October 1903 – 25 August 1992) was a British <a href="/en/Metallurgy" title="Metallurgy" class="wl">metallurgist</a> and <a href="/en/History_of_sciences" title="History of sciences" class="mw-redirect wl">historian of science</a>. He is most famous for his work on the <a href="/en/Manhattan_Project" title="Manhattan Project" class="wl">Manhattan Project</a> where he was responsible for the production of <a href="/en/Nuclear_fission" title="Nuclear fission" class="wl">fissionable</a> metals. A graduate of the <a href="/en/University_of_Birmingham" title="University of Birmingham" class="wl">University of Birmingham</a> and <a href="/en/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology" title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology" class="wl">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> (MIT), Smith worked for many years as a research metallurgist at the <a href="/en/American_Brass_Company" title="American Brass Company" class="wl">American Brass Company</a>. During <a href="/en/World_War_II" title="World War II" class="wl">World War II</a> he worked in the Chemical-Metallurgical Division of the <a href="/en/Los_Alamos_Laboratory" title="Los Alamos Laboratory" class="mw-redirect wl">Los Alamos Laboratory</a>, where he purified, cast and shaped <a href="/en/Uranium-235" title="Uranium-235" class="wl">uranium-235</a> and <a href="/en/Plutonium" title="Plutonium" class="wl">plutonium</a>, a metal hitherto available only in microgram amounts, and whose properties were largely unknown. After the war he served on the <a href="/en/United_States_Atomic_Energy_Commission" title="United States Atomic Energy Commission" class="wl">Atomic Energy Commission</a>'s influential General Advisory Committee, and the <a href="/en/President's_Science_Advisory_Committee" title="President's Science Advisory Committee" class="wl">President's Science Advisory Committee</a>.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">British metallurgist</div>
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<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Cyril Stanley Smith, Born, Died, Nationality,...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox biography vcard mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="font-size:125%;"><div class="fn" style="display:inline">Cyril Stanley Smith</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span><a href="/en/File:Cyril_S_Smith.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Cyril_S_Smith.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Cyril_S_Smith.jpg/240px-Cyril_S_Smith.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="335" data-file-height="428" data-file-type="bitmap" height="307" width="240" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Cyril_S_Smith.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Cyril_S_Smith.jpg 2x" alt="Cyril_S_Smith.jpg"></a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Born</th><td class="infobox-data">4 October 1903<br><div style="display:inline" class="birthplace"><a href="/en/Birmingham" title="Birmingham" class="wl">Birmingham</a>, England</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Died</th><td class="infobox-data">25 August 1992<span style="display:none">(1992-08-25)</span> (aged<span>&nbsp;</span>88)<br><div style="display:inline" class="deathplace"><a href="/en/Cambridge,_Massachusetts" title="Cambridge, Massachusetts" class="wl">Cambridge</a>, Massachusetts, USA</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Nationality</th><td class="infobox-data category">British</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Alma<span>&nbsp;</span>mater</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/University_of_Birmingham" title="University of Birmingham" class="wl">University of Birmingham</a><br><a href="/en/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology" title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology" class="wl">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Known<span>&nbsp;</span>for</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Metallurgy" title="Metallurgy" class="wl">metallurgy</a><br>production of <a href="/en/Nuclear_fission" title="Nuclear fission" class="wl">fissionable</a> <a href="/en/Metal" title="Metal" class="wl">metals</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Awards</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Medal_for_Merit" title="Medal for Merit" class="wl">Medal for Merit</a> (1946)<br><a href="/en/The_Franklin_Institute_Awards" title="The Franklin Institute Awards" class="mw-redirect wl">Francis J. Clamer Medal</a> (1952)<br><a href="/en/Andrew_Gemant_Award" title="Andrew Gemant Award" class="wl">Andrew Gemant Award</a> (1991)</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><b>Scientific career</b></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Institutions</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/American_Brass_Company" title="American Brass Company" class="wl">American Brass Company</a><br><a href="/en/Los_Alamos_Laboratory" title="Los Alamos Laboratory" class="mw-redirect wl">Los Alamos Laboratory</a><br><a href="/en/University_of_Chicago" title="University of Chicago" class="wl">University of Chicago</a><br><a href="/en/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology" title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology" class="wl">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Doctoral students</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/William_W._Mullins" title="William W. Mullins" class="wl">William W. Mullins</a></td></tr><tr style="display:none"><td colspan="2">
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<p>Smith founded the <a href="/en/James_Franck_Institute" title="James Franck Institute" class="wl">Institute for the Study of Metals</a> at the <a href="/en/University_of_Chicago" title="University of Chicago" class="wl">University of Chicago</a>, the first interdisciplinary academic organization devoted to the study of metals in the United States. He studied the details of faults and <a href="/en/Grain_boundaries" title="Grain boundaries" class="mw-redirect wl">grain boundaries</a> in metals, and developed theoretical models of them. In 1961, he moved to MIT as an Institute Professor with appointments in both the Departments of Humanities and Metallurgy. He applied the techniques of metallurgy to the study of the production methods used to create artefacts such as <a href="/en/Samurai_sword" title="Samurai sword" class="mw-redirect wl">samurai swords</a>.</p>



Cyril Stanley Smith was a British metallurgist and historian of science. He is most famous for his work on the Manhattan Project where he was responsible for the production of fissionable metals. A graduate of the University of Birmingham and Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Smith worked for many years as a research metallurgist at the American Brass Company. During World War II he worked in the Chemical-Metallurgical Division of the Los Alamos Laboratory, where he purified, cast and shaped uranium-235 and plutonium, a metal hitherto available only in microgram amounts, and whose properties were largely unknown. After the war he served on the Atomic Energy Commission's influential General Advisory Committee, and the President's Science Advisory Committee. Smith founded the Institute for the Study of Metals at the University of Chicago, the first interdisciplinary academic organization devoted to the study of metals in the United States. He studied the details of faults and grain boundaries in metals, and developed theoretical models of them. In 1961, he moved to MIT as an Institute Professor with appointments in both the Departments of Humanities and Metallurgy. He applied the techniques of metallurgy to the study of the production methods used to create artefacts such as samurai swords. 