Vonnegut, Bernard

Atmospheric scientist Dr. Bernard Vonnegut was born in 1914 in Indianapolis. He was the older brother of American novelist, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and his research inspired elements of Kurt Vonnegut's science fiction work such as the Ice-9 catalyst in Cat's Cradle. Dr. Bernard Vonnegut earned his bachelor's degree in Chemistry in 1936 and doctorate in Physical Chemistry in 1939 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). He worked at M.I.T. before joining General Electric Company (GE) in 1945, where he conducted his most notable series of experiments, Project Cirrus. GE undertook the Project Cirrus weather modification program in conjunction with the United States Signal Corps, Office of Naval Research, and the United States Air Force, with general oversight handled by the Department of Defense. The objective of the program was to discern ways to artificially influence precipitation. Vonnegut's discovery of AgI, Silver Iodide, as a superior nucleation agent significantly influenced the science of artificial precipitation, since this method came to be adopted as the chief method of "rain making". The discovery that a Silver Iodide smoke could be emitted from ground level to stimulate precipitation further increased the value of this method. Throughout his career, Vonnegut accumulated multiple patents for inventions and research techniques. He left GE after the conclusion of Project Cirrus for a position with the management consultancy Arthur D. Little Corporation in 1952 where he continued research in atmospheric science. In 1967 he joined the newly formed Atmospheric Science Research Center at the State University of New York, Albany where he taught atmospheric science, including cloud physics, until his formal retirement in 1985. He continued his research at the university and to publish until his death in 1997.