Demon Core

In 1945 and 1946, two scientists working on experiments to enhance the efficiency of nuclear fuel died as the result of accidental radiation poisoning.  In August 1945, Harry Daghlian received a lethal dose of radiation when he accidentally caused a plutonium core that he was working on to go critical; in May 1946, Louis Slotin suffered a similar fate while working on the same plutonium core.  The core was nicknamed the “demon core” for its role in the two men’s deaths, and was eventually used for a test detonation to validate their work.  The men, who both managed to prevent the reaction from proceeding further at the cost of their own lives, were memorialized in a poem:

“May God receive you, great-souled scientist!
While you were with us, even strangers knew
The breadth and lofty stature of your mind
Twas only in the crucible of death
We saw at last your noble heart revealed.”