CUTV News Radio Spotlights Nuclear Physicist Thomas J. Bowles PhD

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, as well as science advisor to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson from 2006 to 2010.

When Dr. Bowles was first offered a job at Los Alamos National Laboratory, he said yes without even asking the salary. That was because it was the science that was most important to him.

As program manager for the nuclear physics program, Dr. Bowles dedicated most of his years of research to the study of neutrino physics.

“Neutrinos are produced through the fusion processes in the center of the sun, so we built observatories a mile underground to look into the center of the sun,” recalls Dr. Bowles. “We wanted to experiment to see whether neutrinos had enough mass to close the universe.

As the chief science officer and chief scientist at Los Alamos, Dr. Bowles oversaw all science programs, with a $108 million yearly budget for discretionary research considered important to the future of the country.

“I was the primary contact for efforts outside the laboratory with businesses, technology, universities and the public,” says Dr. Bowles.

As a Christian, Dr. Bowles says he believes there's absolutely no contention or issue between science and religion.

“Science simply answers: What are the laws of nature? What causes an apple to fall? Those are comparatively simple questions,” says Dr. Bowles. “Religion, philosophy answers the question of “why.” Science can't answer any of those questions. That's not what we do. When I look out at the universe, it is so incredible and so beautiful, who but God could have created something like this?”