An Unlikely Atomic Landscape

Abstract

The Westinghouse atom smasher, built by the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in 1937, launched the company's world-changing innovations in nuclear research. The five-story tall, light bulb-shaped structure is the last vestige of the Westinghouse Research Laboratories-though it has admittedly seen better days since being toppled last winter. To the world, the smasher was a pioneering laboratory for one of the first large-scale nuclear physics research programs. To residents of Forest Hills and neighboring Chalfant and East Pittsburgh, it was a vital part of their neighborhoods, connected to the widespread Westinghouse network yet nestled among the small houses of the company-supported Westinghouse Plan.
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