George Irving Bell

George Irving Bell (August 4, 1926 – May 28, 2000) was an American physicist, biologist, and mountaineer, and a grandson of John Joseph Seerley. He died in 2000 from complications of leukemia after surgery.

Education Bell received a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1947. He studied theoretical physics with Hans Bethe at Cornell University, obtaining his doctorate in 1951.

Physics Immediately after receiving his Ph.D., Bell went to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and joined the "T Division." At the time, this division was primarily occupied in the design of the first thermonuclear weapon. Bell contributed by solving problems of neutron transport. with Samuel Glasstone.

Bell then moved to more significant objectives, organizing the expedition in 1950 that made the first ascent of Yerupajá, 21,769 feet (6,635 m), in the Huayhuash mountain range of Peru, one of the most difficult and dangerous peaks in the Andes. Bell did not make the summit but reached an altitude of 20,600 ft (6,300 m). He returned to Peru in 1952 to make the first ascent of another steep and difficult peak of the Peruvian Andes, Salcantay in the Vilcabamba mountain range. He made two significant return trips to Peru in 1954 and 1956.

Bell also climbed in the Karakoram of Pakistan, participating in two very notable expeditions. In 1953, Bell took part in the Third American Karakoram Expedition to K2 and was one of five climbers who fell during a failed attempt of the first ascent of the peak. Their fall was arrested by Pete Schoening in one of the greatest feats of mountaineering. Bell went on several more Himalayan expeditions and made the first ascent of Masherbrum, the 22nd highest peak in the world, in 1960.

Bell's son, also named George, is also a climber.