Libby, however, was a strong proponent of the progress of science, which he believed resulted in more benefits than detriments for the human race.
Willard Frank Libby was born to Ora Edward and Eva May Libby on December 17, 1908, on a farm in Grand Valley, Colorado. In 1913, the family, which included Libby and his two brothers and two sisters, moved to an apple ranch north of San Francisco, California, near Sebastopol, where Libby received his grammar school education. A large boy who would eventually grow to be six-feet three-inches tall, Libby developed his legendary stamina while working on the farm. He played tackle for his high school football team and was called "Wild Bill," a nickname used by some throughout Libby's life. After graduating from high school in 1926, Libby enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley. He made money for college by building apple boxes, earning one cent for each box and sometimes $100 in a week. "I was the fastest box maker in Sonoma County," he told Theodore Berland, who interviewed Libby for his book The Scientific Life.
Although Libby was interested in English literature and history, he felt obligated to seek a more lucrative career and entered college to become a mining engineer.
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