Close Up Radio Spotlights Dr. Thomas J. Bowles of Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos, NM – Dr. Tom Bowles is a nuclear physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the most prestigious laboratories in the world. He served as the laboratory's Chief Science Officer from 2004 to 2006, where he oversaw all science programs, with a $108 million yearly budget for discretionary research considered important to the future of the country.

“Science has a role to play in every in the solution to every problem that we have,” says Dr. Bowles. “One of the reasons I like Los Alamos so much is that it's a multidimensional laboratory. We started off as a nuclear security laboratory, but it’s expanded to include national security and research in health, environmental security, economic security. It's people coming together.”

In the 20th century, physics and geology emerged as serious science and tools like the microscope opened our eyes to the unseen world. Following World War II, technology advanced suddenly and dramatically. By the 1960s we were flying to and landing on the Moon. The next evolution, says Dr. Bowles, is computing.

“Advancing our knowledge of the universe will depends heavily on computing,” says Dr. Bowles. “As computing grows, our knowledge of the world will continue to grow.”

Eventually, says Dr. Bowles, computing will be used to help fight climate change.

Science can even influence politics. Dr. Bowles served as science advisor from Los Alamos to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson from 2006 to 2010.

“I want to reinforce the point that science is apolitical, science doesn't have an agenda,” says Dr. Bowles. “We're just out to describe what is there as accurately and as carefully as we can, and the growth of science is exponential, so there are probably still surprises out there.”