Lowell Wood

Overview

Lowell Lincoln Wood Jr. (born 1941): Astrophysicist, LLNL, Hoover Institution. Edward Teller's protégé — 'father of Brilliant Pebbles just as Teller was father of the hydrogen bomb.' 1,813 US patents (surpassed Edison June 2015). Chaired the EMP Commission. Currently at Intellectual Ventures (Bill Gates/Nathan Myhrvold). SDI programs: nuclear-powered x-ray laser ('Excalibur,' conceived with George Chapline 1970s, underground nuclear tests), Brilliant Pebbles (O Group, SDIO-funded 1987, baseline 1990, discontinued 1994), free-electron lasers. Strategy: 'Avoid Congress and go straight to the White House.' Woodruff affair: LLNL scientist resigned over Teller/Wood 'overly optimistic and technically incorrect' x-ray laser claims. Congress asked weapons labs to do something besides designing warheads — x-ray laser was the answer. Geoengineering: space mirrors, stratospheric sulfate aerosols. Consults for Bill Gates. TELLER-WOOD LINEAGE: Teller (H-bomb) → Wood (x-ray laser, Brilliant Pebbles, EMP) → SDI → Shiva Star → MARAUDER → FRCHX → 'orb.'

Entity Type: Individual — Lowell Wood is profiled as a key figure in the research network.

Network Relationships

Lowell Wood connects to 5 entities in the intelligence network:

Experiments (1):

• → NIF: LLNL weapons lineage: x-ray laser → NIF

Organisations (1):

• → LLNL: O Group leader at LLNL

Persons (1):

• ← Edward Teller: Mentor — 'father of H-bomb' mentored 'father of Brilliant Pebbles'

Programs (2):

• → SDI Directed Energy: Architect: x-ray laser, Brilliant Pebbles, FEL
• → EMP Commission: Chaired EMP Commission

Source Documents

Intelligence derived from 5 source documents:

• Wikipedia — Lowell Wood
• Seattle Times — 'Meet The Father Of Brilliant Pebbles' (1992)
• LLNL archives — Brilliant Pebbles
• GAO NSIAD-88-181BR — X-ray laser accuracy of statements
• Optics & Photonics News — 'History of the X-ray Laser'