The story of the world’s first hydrogen bomb maker at the age of 23

A scientist who made the world’s first working hydrogen bomb. Who completed his PhD inside the Enrico Fermi, who won the Nobel at the age of 21. Which Enrico Fermi called such a single ‘true genius’ from whom he met. We are talking about Richard Garvin, who died on 13 May 2025 at the age of 97. He is called the world’s most influential scientist that you have never heard of “. On any scale, Richard Garvin has been one of the most prestigious and successful engineers of the 20th century.

Today, when he has said goodbye to the world, let us tell you why they are counted in the list of GOAT (Greatest of All Time).

Edward Taylor is called the Father of Hydrogen Bomb. Garvin was his student. At the age of 23 and inside Edward Taylor, Garvin designed the first working hydrogen bomb, called the “sausage”. In November 1952, it was exploded at the Test Code-Name Iv Mike at Anvetak Atol, which led to a 10.4 megaton TNT. Hiroshima is about 700 times more powerful than the power of the bomb. For the next 50 years, no one could know his work because he was not made public. In 2001, New York Times published Edward Taylor’s 22 -year old interview. In it, Taylor praised Garvin’s design and announced, “That first design was created by Dick Garvin.”

In new technology, in addition to weapons and satellites, he has played an important role in the invention of touch screen, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), laser printer and GPS technology.

He was awarded the National Medal of Science by US President George W. Bush in 2002. In 2016, President Barack Obama honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Input from- The Conversation, IEEE Spectrum