---
born: 1920-02-15
category: Nuclear Scientists & Programs
died: 2012-04-20
location: Worcester, Massachusetts
summary: American nuclear weapons designer at Los Alamos for over twenty years who
  acknowledged close associations with Israeli physicists from the Weizmann Institute.
tags:
- Person
- Nuclear
- Physicist
- Israel
---

George A. Cowan was an American scientist who spent more than twenty years designing nuclear weapons at [Los Alamos](/places/los-alamos/). He acknowledged that there was always a close association with Israeli physicists from the [Weizmann Institute of Science](/organizations/weizmann-institute-of-science/), who visited the labs. Cowan believed that the Israelis were smart enough to do their own research and that the need for secret information was largely promoted by spy novelists.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 15.