Obituaries in the News

AP ^ | July 11, 2004

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Ernst R. G. Eckert

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Ernst R. G. Eckert, a pioneer in the sciences of heat transfer and thermodynamics, died Thursday, his daughter Karin Winter said. He was 99.

Eckert was internationally known for his work with the early development of jet engines and later for discovering ways to increase rocket efficiency.

Eckert spent seven decades at research and published more than 550 papers and books. He developed the "Eckert Number" - a formula used to calculate high-speed heat transfers.

During World War II, he developed methods for cooling overheated jet engines at a research laboratory in Prague.

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Thomas Mancuso

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Thomas F. Mancuso, a pioneering researcher who exposed the health hazards of chemicals, low-level radiation and metals used in the workplace, died July 4. He was 92.

Mancuso died of esophageal cancer, said his son, Thomas P. Mancuso.

An epidemiologist, Mancuso became a hero to many in his field for maintaining his scientific integrity in the face of political pressure over his study of the effects of low-level radiation exposure on humans.

He developed methods now widely used to examine the long-term effects of dyes, asbestos and other chemical compounds and metals used in industry.

Mancuso was hired by the Atomic Energy Commission in the mid-1960s to study the effects of low-level radiation on 500,000 workers in the nation's nuclear weapons production plants.

Mancuso charged that he was removed as director of the $6 million study because he refused to cover up findings of radiation hazards to workers.

A General Accounting Office report disputed Mancuso's allegations and concluded that he had been dismissed because of poor management. But the report also questioned the federal government's decision to turn the study over to a private research laboratory with strong ties to the nuclear agency.