Briggs, Lyman

Briggs, Lyman (James)

(1874–1963) physicist; born in Assyria, Mich. He worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (1896–1920), became chief of the Mechanics and Sound Division of the Bureau of Standards, then served as director of the Bureau (1932–45). Effectively the founder of soil physics, in 1939 he headed the committee that investigated the military potential of atomic energy.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.