God and Nature Spring 2024
From Scientific Research to Science Thriller |
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By Sid Niemeyer
About a decade into my career as a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), I faced a decision. Should I apply to become the Division Leader for Nuclear Chemistry? If I got the job, it would mean the end of doing research. I loved the work I was doing with graduate students and postdocs, especially in the areas of cosmochemistry and geochemistry. On the other hand, I realized my division might soon need to diversify beyond its primary mission in the nuclear weapons program.
I got the job, and three months later the nuclear test ban went into effect. Funding for my division began to plummet, thrusting me into program development mode. I took particular interest in addressing a new problem: How should the country respond after an “unattributed” nuclear explosion? In contrast to hundreds of nuclear bombs mounted on missiles raining down on our country, we began to consider the threat of a single nuclear weapon covertly detonated in a city. I began to articulate the need to develop a nuclear forensics capability to address the new reality of a post-Cold-War world.
About a decade into my career as a physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), I faced a decision. Should I apply to become the Division Leader for Nuclear Chemistry? If I got the job, it would mean the end of doing research. I loved the work I was doing with graduate students and postdocs, especially in the areas of cosmochemistry and geochemistry. On the other hand, I realized my division might soon need to diversify beyond its primary mission in the nuclear weapons program.
I got the job, and three months later the nuclear test ban went into effect. Funding for my division began to plummet, thrusting me into program development mode. I took particular interest in addressing a new problem: How should the country respond after an “unattributed” nuclear explosion? In contrast to hundreds of nuclear bombs mounted on missiles raining down on our country, we began to consider the threat of a single nuclear weapon covertly detonated in a city. I began to articulate the need to develop a nuclear forensics capability to address the new reality of a post-Cold-War world.
I argued that nuclear forensics should be viewed as a key element of nuclear deterrence |
The technical objective of nuclear forensics is to determine the attributes of a nuclear material or weapon that can help determine its origin and history. It requires a diverse team of scientists from different scientific disciplines (primarily chemistry, physics, geology and nuclear engineering), who utilize various analytical methods—e.g., mass spectrometry, radiochemistry, microscopy, and analytical chemistry. The key research goal is to determine the signatures that best link the characteristics of a nuclear material or weapon to its origin and history.
My contributions to nuclear forensics went beyond science to include advocacy of a policy nature. Basically, I argued that nuclear forensics should be viewed as a key element of nuclear deterrence. I also urged for developing this capability through cooperation with other countries. In 1995, I chaired an international conference that led to the formation of the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group (ITWG). I co-chaired the ITWG for its first twelve years, and to this day, it’s recognized as the major international entity for the technical development of nuclear forensics.
When Year 2000 dawned, I faced a crossroads. My wife had died six months earlier, I had just embarked on an exciting new role at the Lab, and then my local church asked me to become their first Executive Pastor. It was a tough decision, which came down to asking, “where does God want me to continue developing my leadership gifts?”
After weeks of deliberating, culminating with fasting and prayer, the answer became clear--I would become a pastor. I inquired whether I might begin by doing both jobs part-time. Surprisingly, my Lab supervisor agreed to support me financially, intellectually, and emotionally. Though I expected this bi-vocational stint to last three years, it turned out to be seven.
That same year proved to be a turning point in the development of nuclear forensics. Earlier, Bulgarian authorities had seized a sample of highly enriched uranium as it crossed its border. The U.S. State Department arranged to have the material sent to LLNL, and I led a full-scale investigation. We used a broad range of experimental techniques to examine the nuclear material, as well as the associated non-nuclear materials, in what ended up as the most often cited example of a nuclear forensics investigation.
During this same time, my new boss asked me to participate on a Department of Defense (DoD) Science Board Task Force that was addressing “Unconventional Nuclear Warfare Defense.” At the conclusion of our deliberations, the Task Force put forward six recommendations, and one of them concerned nuclear forensics. I was asked to write this section of our report, which recommended improving the nuclear forensics capability to support timely response. The DoD followed up on our recommendation to launch a new program.
I focused my efforts on advocating for a program to invest in pre-detonation nuclear forensics. During the planning phase for the new Department of Homeland Security, I gave a briefing that convinced the transition team to include nuclear forensics in its counterterrorism program. Soon after, DHS asked me to become a detailee to fill two roles: to lead the DHS research program for “RadNuc Forensics” and to work with the interagency to develop an integrated nuclear forensics capability. My work in this latter area reached fruition with the formation of the National Technical Nuclear Forensics Center.
At this point in my career, I was fifteen years removed from personally doing scientific research. Instead, I’d invested my efforts in promoting and shaping a new field of research for other scientists. I decided I had done enough and retired from LLNL to work full-time as a pastor, though I did agree to continue helping DHS by joining its Nuclear Forensics Science Panel.
A dozen years later, when I retired as a pastor, I challenged myself to rewrite a memoir I’d created in the year after my first wife’s death. At my first writer’s conference, I learned that a memoir should be written in scenes, like a novel. Which planted a seed—after I finished my memoir, I’d write a novel featuring nuclear forensics, a field for which I’ve been called a founding father. At a second writers conference, God sent me a wave of people with the same message: put the memoir away and start writing novels instead. One Christian author looked me square in the face, and emphatically said, “I guarantee you, if you write the memoir first and then write novels, you’ll be sorry.”
Once again, I put my memoir on the shelf, and I started writing my nuclear forensics thriller. It wasn’t easy to learn to write in a manner that thriller readers expect. Writing dialogue makes up much of a book in this genre, and that’s an art that is far different than writing a scientific article. At the same time, I aimed at creating a realistic portrayal of how scientists think and work. I also wanted the story to have a Christian element, but knowing many of my early readers would be scientists, I didn’t make the scientific protagonist a believer. Instead, I gave that role to his wife.
Three years later, I arrived at yet another Christian writers’ conference, armed with the third draft of my novel. I wasn’t sure whether to aim the book for the Christian market or the general market, so I posed the question to various authors and agents. Again, God sent me a wave of people with the same message. Forget the Christian market and push it towards the general book market.
But that wasn’t all they said. To my surprise, three different individuals, all leaders in the Christian market, urged me to take out all the explicit Christian elements. Two of them cited John Grisham as an example of a Christian writer who doesn’t include explicit Christian elements in his novels. But they added that such a book can still convey a Christian worldview.
These were hard words for me to hear, but I’ve learned that new authors do well to listen to the voices of seasoned experts. I left the Christian character much the same, and only rewrote the portions that explicitly referred to her Christian faith. In essence, I embedded Christian values and reflection in the story without being explicit about it. Eighteen months later, I published Atomic Peril: A Nuclear Forensics Thriller. (1)
My publicly stated goal in writing this novel is to tell an engaging story that illustrates the important role of nuclear forensics in deterring and responding to nuclear terrorism. But I had a deeper goal that I’d like to share with ASA members, who, like me, are deeply committed to their scientific work and their Christian faith. The book I still most want to write is that spiritual memoir. And if God grants any measure of success to my scientific thrillers, I hope that one day some unbelievers, who have become fans of my thrillers, will read a spiritual memoir by a Christian. And be deeply impacted.
This brief story illustrates two things I have learned over the years, which have become deeply ingrained in me. First, take one step at a time in response to where you think God is leading you, but be open to new directions emerging in the future. In retrospect, I see that God has often led me down one path so that at a future time, I’d be in a new place where I could then strike off in a previously unforeseen direction. Assurance that you are doing exactly what God wants at a particular time doesn’t mean that a big surprise isn’t just around the corner. Life with God is an adventure.
Second, God shapes and grows us through every sphere of our lives. My career as a scientist was just as important and formative as my career as a pastor. I didn’t become a pastor because I thought it was more meaningful than doing science. That’s what God wanted for me at a particular time in my life. And sometimes the scientific and ministry elements of my life blended in wonderful, unexpected ways, like setting out to write a spiritual memoir and ending up instead publishing a science thriller.
Reference
1. Sidney Niemeyer Atomic Peril: A Nuclear Forensics Thriller. ASIN : B0CKBN64D2 2023
Sidney Niemeyer received his PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. His early research focused on the origin of the solar system by studies of meteorites and lunar samples. Subsequently he conducted geochemical research on the evolution of the earth's crust and mantle, as well as applying geochemical tracing techniques to hydrological and environmental issues. As a staff scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1980-2007), his leadership roles included Nuclear Chemistry Division Leader and Special Assistant to the Associate Director for Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and International Security. In 2000, he became the Executive Pastor for Valley Community Church in Pleasanton, CA. After retiring in 2019, in addition to learning to write a novel, he continued to serve the church in various ways, including as a spiritual director.
My contributions to nuclear forensics went beyond science to include advocacy of a policy nature. Basically, I argued that nuclear forensics should be viewed as a key element of nuclear deterrence. I also urged for developing this capability through cooperation with other countries. In 1995, I chaired an international conference that led to the formation of the Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group (ITWG). I co-chaired the ITWG for its first twelve years, and to this day, it’s recognized as the major international entity for the technical development of nuclear forensics.
When Year 2000 dawned, I faced a crossroads. My wife had died six months earlier, I had just embarked on an exciting new role at the Lab, and then my local church asked me to become their first Executive Pastor. It was a tough decision, which came down to asking, “where does God want me to continue developing my leadership gifts?”
After weeks of deliberating, culminating with fasting and prayer, the answer became clear--I would become a pastor. I inquired whether I might begin by doing both jobs part-time. Surprisingly, my Lab supervisor agreed to support me financially, intellectually, and emotionally. Though I expected this bi-vocational stint to last three years, it turned out to be seven.
That same year proved to be a turning point in the development of nuclear forensics. Earlier, Bulgarian authorities had seized a sample of highly enriched uranium as it crossed its border. The U.S. State Department arranged to have the material sent to LLNL, and I led a full-scale investigation. We used a broad range of experimental techniques to examine the nuclear material, as well as the associated non-nuclear materials, in what ended up as the most often cited example of a nuclear forensics investigation.
During this same time, my new boss asked me to participate on a Department of Defense (DoD) Science Board Task Force that was addressing “Unconventional Nuclear Warfare Defense.” At the conclusion of our deliberations, the Task Force put forward six recommendations, and one of them concerned nuclear forensics. I was asked to write this section of our report, which recommended improving the nuclear forensics capability to support timely response. The DoD followed up on our recommendation to launch a new program.
I focused my efforts on advocating for a program to invest in pre-detonation nuclear forensics. During the planning phase for the new Department of Homeland Security, I gave a briefing that convinced the transition team to include nuclear forensics in its counterterrorism program. Soon after, DHS asked me to become a detailee to fill two roles: to lead the DHS research program for “RadNuc Forensics” and to work with the interagency to develop an integrated nuclear forensics capability. My work in this latter area reached fruition with the formation of the National Technical Nuclear Forensics Center.
At this point in my career, I was fifteen years removed from personally doing scientific research. Instead, I’d invested my efforts in promoting and shaping a new field of research for other scientists. I decided I had done enough and retired from LLNL to work full-time as a pastor, though I did agree to continue helping DHS by joining its Nuclear Forensics Science Panel.
A dozen years later, when I retired as a pastor, I challenged myself to rewrite a memoir I’d created in the year after my first wife’s death. At my first writer’s conference, I learned that a memoir should be written in scenes, like a novel. Which planted a seed—after I finished my memoir, I’d write a novel featuring nuclear forensics, a field for which I’ve been called a founding father. At a second writers conference, God sent me a wave of people with the same message: put the memoir away and start writing novels instead. One Christian author looked me square in the face, and emphatically said, “I guarantee you, if you write the memoir first and then write novels, you’ll be sorry.”
Once again, I put my memoir on the shelf, and I started writing my nuclear forensics thriller. It wasn’t easy to learn to write in a manner that thriller readers expect. Writing dialogue makes up much of a book in this genre, and that’s an art that is far different than writing a scientific article. At the same time, I aimed at creating a realistic portrayal of how scientists think and work. I also wanted the story to have a Christian element, but knowing many of my early readers would be scientists, I didn’t make the scientific protagonist a believer. Instead, I gave that role to his wife.
Three years later, I arrived at yet another Christian writers’ conference, armed with the third draft of my novel. I wasn’t sure whether to aim the book for the Christian market or the general market, so I posed the question to various authors and agents. Again, God sent me a wave of people with the same message. Forget the Christian market and push it towards the general book market.
But that wasn’t all they said. To my surprise, three different individuals, all leaders in the Christian market, urged me to take out all the explicit Christian elements. Two of them cited John Grisham as an example of a Christian writer who doesn’t include explicit Christian elements in his novels. But they added that such a book can still convey a Christian worldview.
These were hard words for me to hear, but I’ve learned that new authors do well to listen to the voices of seasoned experts. I left the Christian character much the same, and only rewrote the portions that explicitly referred to her Christian faith. In essence, I embedded Christian values and reflection in the story without being explicit about it. Eighteen months later, I published Atomic Peril: A Nuclear Forensics Thriller. (1)
My publicly stated goal in writing this novel is to tell an engaging story that illustrates the important role of nuclear forensics in deterring and responding to nuclear terrorism. But I had a deeper goal that I’d like to share with ASA members, who, like me, are deeply committed to their scientific work and their Christian faith. The book I still most want to write is that spiritual memoir. And if God grants any measure of success to my scientific thrillers, I hope that one day some unbelievers, who have become fans of my thrillers, will read a spiritual memoir by a Christian. And be deeply impacted.
This brief story illustrates two things I have learned over the years, which have become deeply ingrained in me. First, take one step at a time in response to where you think God is leading you, but be open to new directions emerging in the future. In retrospect, I see that God has often led me down one path so that at a future time, I’d be in a new place where I could then strike off in a previously unforeseen direction. Assurance that you are doing exactly what God wants at a particular time doesn’t mean that a big surprise isn’t just around the corner. Life with God is an adventure.
Second, God shapes and grows us through every sphere of our lives. My career as a scientist was just as important and formative as my career as a pastor. I didn’t become a pastor because I thought it was more meaningful than doing science. That’s what God wanted for me at a particular time in my life. And sometimes the scientific and ministry elements of my life blended in wonderful, unexpected ways, like setting out to write a spiritual memoir and ending up instead publishing a science thriller.
Reference
1. Sidney Niemeyer Atomic Peril: A Nuclear Forensics Thriller. ASIN : B0CKBN64D2 2023
Sidney Niemeyer received his PhD in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. His early research focused on the origin of the solar system by studies of meteorites and lunar samples. Subsequently he conducted geochemical research on the evolution of the earth's crust and mantle, as well as applying geochemical tracing techniques to hydrological and environmental issues. As a staff scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1980-2007), his leadership roles included Nuclear Chemistry Division Leader and Special Assistant to the Associate Director for Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and International Security. In 2000, he became the Executive Pastor for Valley Community Church in Pleasanton, CA. After retiring in 2019, in addition to learning to write a novel, he continued to serve the church in various ways, including as a spiritual director.