Lauritsen, Charles C(hristian) (1892–1968)

Danish-born US physicist. He designed and produced radios, until R A Millikan influenced him to join the California Institute of Technology (1926–68). Lauritsen helped develop what was then the most powerful X-ray tube extant for cancer therapy (1928). He was a pioneer in nuclear astrophysics and rocketry for most of his career, and produced components for the atomic bomb (1944). He was an outspoken opponent of nuclear testing during the 1950s. Lauritsen was born in Holstebro, Denmark, and moved to the USA in 1917.