Tuxedo Park is the story of Alfred Loomis, a 1920's Wall Street investment banker who had a great interest in physics. He made his fortune crafting bonds and holding companies to capitalize utility companies as electrification continued to sweep across the nation. Loomis built a world-class laboratory at his "Tower House" home, located in a rural New York development called Tuxedo Park. On nights and weekends he would perform experiments on topics that interested him, first with ultrasonic waves and then with high precision clocks. More than an eccentric, Loomis did innovative work and published his findings in scientific journals. He also sponsored researchers to join him in Tuxedo Park. After a short while, a visit to Tower House became standard fare for world-renowned scientists traveling through New York. As time went on, Loomis took more interest in science than finance. Seeing unsustainable growth in the stock market, he cashed out prior to the 1929 crash, leaving himself with the funds to pursue whatever he wanted. In the 1930's physics world, nuclear science was a growing field and Loomis took an interest. He met cyclotron inventor Ernest Lawrence and helped him finance a massive follow-on project at Berkeley. Not just by supplying his own money, but convincing foundations to contribute, and negotiating contracts for key materials. Becoming part of the nuclear scientific community, he became aware of the possibility of the atomic bomb, and with war in Europe, the need of a government effort to coordinate research. Between being the younger cousin of Henry Stimson (who became Secretary of War) and knowing Vannevar Bush (who came to run Roosevelt's Office of Scientific Research and Development) Loomis was well-placed to push for scientific research for the war effort, and to participate in that work. [FYI: Vannevar Bush is of no relation to the idiot currently occupying the White House]. Loomis himself became directly involved with radar developments. He did some work on his own and later became part of the National Defense Research Committee overseeing war-related scientific development. The US Navy had made some advances in secret, but it was the British who developed the required electronics to make radar practical. In a share-or-perish environment the British sent all of their information and a prototype out to the States. Loomis helped coordinate the manufacturing of additional samples, developing practical systems, and getting the military to adopt the new technology.
I first heard about the story during a random viewing of "America's Castles" that talked about Tower House, the home Alfred converted into the laboratory. While the A.C. story spins Loomis as much more of an oddball, the idea of spending ones money to build a lab and do top secret work sounded pretty appealing. At first "Tuxedo Park" weighed a little heavy on me, as Loomis was related to many well-connected people. And these days I have little stomach for rich boy gets really rich stories. But the entire post-crash portion of the book was quite interesting as Loomis was pivotal in making things happen, especially in the run-up to war. The author is the granddaughter of James Conant who was president of Harvard during this period and worked closely with Loomis. I enjoyed the book and learned new information about the development of radar.