[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 49 (Friday, April 26, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E638-E639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN MEMORY OF HAROLD P. FURTH

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 25, 2002

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year, our nation lost a pioneer 
and leading intellect in the U.S. fusion energy program and the 
originator of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) project. The 
former director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) 
located in central New Jersey, Harold P. Furth died on February 21, 
2002.
  Furth made a career of research on controlled fusion, making 
countless contributions to the science of fusion plasmas (hot, ionized 
gases) and the fundamentals of plasma physics. He provided scientific 
and managerial leadership to the world fusion program throughout his 
career.
  In the 1960s, Furth and others developed a critically important 
theoretical description of instabilities arising due to resistance in a 
plasma. Later, he and two others described a method for using energized 
ion beams to heat a plasma in such a way as to enhance fusion 
reactions. This breakthrough was critical to the design of TFTR and 
enabled the production of world-record levels of fusion power and the 
study of the fusion power reactions. Furth also was instrumental in 
research on the physics of ignited (self-sustained) plasmas.
  In the early 1970s, he conceived the TFTR project, the most advanced 
and highest performance fusion device ever constructed in the United 
States. Furth served as Director of PPPL from 1981 to 1990, during 
which time TFTR was launched. The machine operated for 14 years, 
producing world record-setting and major scientific results before 
closing down in 1997.
  A native of Vienna, Furth came to the U.S. in 1941. He received a 
Ph.D., in physics from Harvard in 1960 and worked on controlled 
magnetic fusion research at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (now the 
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) in California prior to joining 
PPPL in 1967 and being appointed Professor of Astrophysical Sciences at 
Princeton University. He co-headed the Experimental Division at the 
Laboratory from 1967 to 1978, when he was appointed Associate Director 
and Head of the Research Department at PPPL. He became Program Director 
in 1980 and Director of the Laboratory in 1981.
  A fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of 
Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, 
Furth served on the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National 
Research Council's Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics and 
Resources. He received the E.O. Lawrence Memorial Award

[[Page E639]]

from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1974, the James Clerk Maxwell 
Prize in Plasma Physics from the American Physical Society in 1983, and 
the Delmer S. Fahrney Medal from the Committee on Science and The Arts 
of The Franklin Institute in 1992. In 1999, Furth said, ``It is very 
good to imagine things, but actually to do things and get results that 
make scientific sense is a solemn and inspiring path.''
  He held more than 20 patents, primarily in the areas of controlled 
magnetic fusion technology and metal forming with pulsed magnetic 
fields, and had published more than 200 technical papers. In addition, 
Furth had served on committees and panels for the Department of Energy, 
Department of Defense, NASA, the National Academy of Sciences, and 
other scientific and technical organizations, as well as on various 
advisory committees for such organizations as the Max Planck 
Gesellschaft.
  In 1999, Furth became Professor Emeritus of Astrophysical Sciences at 
Princeton University. He was active in research at PPPL until shortly 
before his death.
  Harold Furth was my friend, advisor, and leader. He hired me as his 
Assistant Director at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Although 
ill health forced him to step down as Director only a few months after 
I came to PPPL, those months working under Harold were exhilarating and 
exciting for me. He was indeed leading the research community on ``a 
solemn and inspiring path''; his work and the work of those he led has 
taken the world much closer to a fundamental understanding of plasmas 
and to the practical application of an abundant, environmentally 
attractive energy source. However, I never found Harold himself to be 
solemn. It is true that the problems Harold worked on were momentous 
and of daunting difficulty and he took very seriously the welfare of 
the people for whose jobs he was responsible, yet there was such a deep 
playful and humorous strand in his character that he constantly 
delighted us with his sparkling intellect. Harold Furth has left an 
important scientific legacy for those who never knew him and rich 
personal memories for those who were fortunate enough to know him.

                          ____________________