Quarterman, Lloyd (1918-1982), was an African American nuclear chemist. As a member of the Manhattan Project team during World War II (1939-1945), he helped create the first atomic bomb. From 1943 to 1946, he worked in the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory, which had been established in 1942 as part of the Manhattan Project. Quarterman and the rest of the Manhattan Project team worked with the nuclear scientist Enrico Fermi to develop the world’s first nuclear reactor (see Fermi, Enrico ). They built the reactor beneath the stands of the university’s athletic field. The Metallurgical Laboratory was later moved to a location 27 miles (43 kilometers) southwest of Chicago and renamed Argonne National Laboratory. Quarterman stayed with Argonne for about 30 years.
Quarterman is also known for his research in inorganic chemistry, which deals with chemical substances that do not contain bonds between carbon atoms (see Chemistry ). He was a member of a team of scientists and technicians at Argonne who in 1962 created the first simple compound of a noble gas. The noble gases—argon, helium, krypton, neon, radon, and xenon—are chemical elements that do not combine readily with other elements. The Argonne group combined xenon (Xe) and fluorine (F) to create xenon tetrafluoride (XeF4).
To study the molecular makeup of various substances, Quarterman devised a “diamond window.” This window consisted of tiny diamonds capable of resisting corrosion by even the most caustic matter. The window enabled scientists to study solutions of such difficult-to-handle substances as hydrogen fluoride (HF). Light from the substance would pass through the window to a device called a spectrometer, which would analyze the light. The analysis would reveal details of the chemical makeup of the substance.
Lloyd Albert Quarterman was born in Philadelphia. He graduated from St. Augustine’s College in North Carolina in 1943 and received an M.S. degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in 1952. Quarterman wrote many scientific articles and belonged to a number of prestigious societies. In addition to his professional duties, Quarterman often took time to visit Chicago public schools, where he encouraged students to pursue careers in science.
