Neighbor

The plaque in Ken Jordan’s living room bears the inscription: “With thanks in recognition to your contribution to the radiotisotopic thermoelectric generator program that plays a significant role in the Galileo mission encounter with the planet Jupiter.”

The old Baptist Church on Route 179 burned down in the 1970s.

COLLECTION OF MARTHA JORDAN/COURTESY OF PAUL AND VERNA JORDAN

The award cites Jordan’s contributions to the invention of a radioactive battery used as a generator for one of the greatest spacecraft of all time, the Galileo. It traveled around Jupiter for 10 years on many research missions.

Jordan, a longtime Waltham resident born into the family that originally settled the town, was a major contributor to two inventions that defined the 21st century.

During World War II, Jordan was sent to California to help in the invention of the hydrogen bomb. He was involved in testing the bomb in the Pacific.

On Nov. 17, 1959, Jordan and his partner, John H. Birden, patented a radioactive battery that was used as a generator for spacecraft, including the Galileo.

These two contributions are but part of what Jordan did during his years as a world-renowned scientist. He worked for the Atomic Energy Commission in Dayton, Ohio, for 34 years. He also worked in France at the University of Marseilles on research projects.

Jordan’s story starts out like that of many Waltham residents. He was born in a house only a mile from where he lives today. He attended Ellsworth High School and graduated from the University of Maine in 1944 with a degree in physics.

After finishing school he joined the Army Reserves. He was sent to France and began working at the Eiffel Tower as a radio controller.

“I was in charge of keeping radio contact with military outfits as far as 100 miles away,” he said, “That’s where I met Paula.”

Paula, Jordan’s wife, was a native of France who fell for the young intelligence man on top of France’s most recognizable sight.

“She stopped in one day and we began talking,” he said, “and then we got married a few years later.”

Toward the end of the war, Jordan was sent to California for three months to help test the hydrogen bomb.

“After that, the war didn’t last long,” he said.

Jordan moved to Dayton, Ohio, and began working for the Atomic Energy Commission in 1947. He stayed there until the end of his career, working in the development of a number of parts used for the space program and bombs.

In 1982, when Jordan retired, he moved back to Waltham.

“This is where I was brought up. I wanted to live on the land I was born on,” he said, “The Jordans were some of the first settlers here. There’s still more Jordans than all the others put together.”

Billy Jordan built the house on Graham Lake where he lives today.

“I fool around,” he said when asked what he does for extra-curricular hobbies, “and I go to France.”

“I must go home,” Paula said. The couple tries to fly overseas once a year.

Jordan is an avid reader and nature lover. On his coffee table are current editions of History, Time, Science and two copies of Physics Today.

“He reads everything he can get his hands on,” said Paula.

Outside his home sits a number of birdfeeders, and in the doorway near the garage he and Paula house a pet raccoon. As the sun sets over the lake, the newly formed ice sparkles like diamonds.

“Not much is different than when I grew up here,” Jordan said with contentment, “There’s more four wheelers, but not much else has changed in Waltham.”