CHAPTER 16
1. Hewlett and Anderson, pp. 54–55.
2. Szilard “Memorandum for Professor A. H. Compton,” January 19, 1942; Szilard “Progress Report to Dr. Doan and Dr. Hilberry on the Search for a Site in the New York Area,” January 20, 1942 (EWP).
3. Physicist Isidor I. Rabi, who talked with the participants after the war, said that had Pegram been more assertive, he could have convinced Compton to keep the uranium work at Columbia. Rabi interview, August 19, 1985.
As Anderson reported to Szilard on January 21, his seven favored sites were (1) the Pegassus Club polo field in Bergen County, New Jersey; (2 and 3) the Fokker Hangar or the Goodyear blimp hangar at Bendix Field in Bendix, New Jersey; (4) a Curtiss-Wright hangar in Valley Stream, Long Island; (5) a concrete-and-steel industrial building in Clifton, New Jersey; (6) a golf course in Yonkers, New York; and (7) the Armonk airfield hangars in Armonk, New York. Anderson memorandum to Szilard, January 21, 1942 (LSP 4/12).
Szilard memorandum to Anderson, Fermi, Feld, Marshall, Teller, Zinn, Alvarez, Compton, and Lawrence, January 26, 1942 (EWP). Szilard Rough Draft to Compton, January 27, 1942 (LSP 6/30). It is possible the Compton letter was not sent.
4. Civil Service Commission investigation, July 6–9, 1959, p. 2 (LSP 96/2).
5. FBI report, October 13, 1954, p. 2 (LSP). MIT Vol. II, pp. 146–47.
6. Szilard to Trude, May 10, 1942 (EWP).
7. Navy secretary’s consent, March 24, 1942. Signed J. R. Cannon (LSP). Compton to Conant, May 16, 1942 (MED).
8. Compton to Conant, May 16, 1942. RG 227, Bush-Conant, folder 217, Szilard, Leo (MED).
9. Szilard to Bush, May 26, 1942. MIT Vol II, pp. 151–52.
10. S-1, RG 227, Bush-Conant, folder 217, Szilard, Leo (MED).
11. Compton to Bush, June 1, 1942 (MED).
12. Szilard to Compton, June 1, 1942 (MED).
13. See MIT Vol. II, p. 193, n10.
14. Spencer R. Weart, “The Road . . .” p. C8-317. Eugene Wigner interview, October 12, 1984.
15. Bush to Conant, June 3, 1942, S-1, RG 227, folder 217, Szilard, Leo (MED). Gannett to Gertrud Weiss Szilard, January 15, 1981 (LSP). Undated pink routing slip to Bush and Conant. S-l, RG 227, Bush-Conant, folder 217, Szilard, Leo (MED).
16. Briggs to Bush, June 9, 1942 (LSP).
17. Enrico Fermi, “Physics at Columbia,” January 30, 1954. Physics Today, November 1955, pp. 12–16.
18. MIT Vol. I, pp. 332–39 and 346–50.
19. Szilard Memorandum for Allison, Compton, Fermi, Wigner, Doan, and Hilberry, July 1, 1942 (EWP).
20. “A Magnetic Pump for Liquid Bismuth” by Szilard and Feld, July 14, 1942. MIT Vol. I, pp. 351–58.
21. Szilard to Trude, back of letter dated July 8, 1942 (EWP).
22. Szilard to Trude, July 8 and 28, 1942 (EWP).
23. After several visits, Brush company officials told Szilard there was “a sporting chance” uranium metal could be made by the same process used to make beryllium metal, but Szilard’s efforts at the Met Lab to buy more uranium for experiments failed, and the idea was dropped. See Szilard to Compton, July 31, 1942; Szilard telegram to Dr. C. B. Sawyer of Brush Beryllium Company, July 29, 1942; Szilard memo to Compton, July 30, 1942 (LSP). Creutz to the author, September 27, 1986, and October 22, 1986. David Gurinsky to the author, November 21, 1986.
24. Glenn Seaborg, History of Met Lab Section C-l, April 1942 to April 1943 (Berkeley, Calif: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, 1977), pp. 192ff.
25. Szilard to Trude, August 9, 1942 (EWP).
26. Szilard September 19, 1942, Memorandum (copy in LSP, original in EWP).
27. “What Is Wrong with Us?,” September 21, 1942 (LSP). See also MIT Vol. II, pp. 153–60.
28. Groves, pp. 39–41.
29. Memorandum from Frances Henderson to Don Bermingham (Time) on “Groves v. the Scientists,” March 8, 1946 (LSP). See also “The Elusive Dr. Szilard,” Harper’s, September 1960. Szilard University of Chicago Faculty Questionnaire, 1958/9.
30. Charles D. Coryell, oral-history interview, pp. 88–89. Columbia Oral History Research Office.
31. Groueff, pp. 35–36.
32. Compton to Szilard, October 7, 1942; Szilard to Compton, memo on “Your note concerning engineering of bismuth cooled plant, October 7, 1942,” October 9, 1942 (EWP).
DuPont engineer Crawford H. Greenwalt at first meeting thought Szilard “a queer fish—but I believe honest.” Greenwalt Diary, January 3, 1943, p. 19, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, Delaware.
33. Szilard to Trude, October 11, 1942 (EWP). Report CE-301 for month ending October 15, 1942, cited in MIT Vol. I, p. 376.
34. Samuel K. Allison interview with Alice K. Smith, April 12, 1960.
35. John Marshall, Jr., interview, February 2, 1988.
36. Szilard to Trude, Friday. Found between October 19 and November 2, 1942 (EWP).
37. MIT Vol. II, p. 149.
38. Szilard Aide Memoir, October 30, 1942 (EWP).
39. October 26, 1942, cable (MED 201 Szilard, Leo).
40. Szilard Aide Memoir, October 30, 1942 (EWP).
41. Compton to Groves, October 28, 1942 (MED 201 Szilard, Leo).
42. Secret draft, War Department Office of the Chief of Engineers, Washington, October 28, 1942 (MED 201 Szilard, Leo).
43. Groves reminiscences, October 17, 1963. See Gruber, pp. 80 and 86.
44. Compton to Szilard, October 30, 1942 (MED 201, Szilard, Leo).
45. Szilard to Trude, October, undated (EWP).
46. Szilard to Trude, November 2, 1942 (EWP).
47. Szilard to Compton, November 4, 1942 (LSP).
48. Szilard to Trude, November 5 and 16, 1942 (EWP).
49. Szilard to Compton, November 4, 1942 (LSP). Compton to Groves, November 13, 1942 (MED 201 Szilard, Leo).
50. Herbert L. Anderson, “The Legacy of Fermi and Szilard,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September 1974, p. 43.
51. Szilard’s “Uranium Aggregates for Power Unit,” November 23, 1942. A memo to Wigner on bismuth cooling was also sent the same day. See Report CP-357, cited in Vol. I, p. 376.
52. Anderson, “The Legacy of Fermi and Szilard . . .” See also Len Ackland, “Dawn of the Atomic Age,” Chicago Tribune Magazine, November 28, 1982, p. 23.
53. Charles Hartshorne to the author, January 10, 1986.
54. Humphry Osmond to Margaret Spanel, November 13, 1986. Osmond to the author, March 8, 1987.
55. Compton, p. 139.
56. Anderson, “The Legacy of Fermi and Szilard . . .” pp. 44–45.
57. “The First Reactor,” USAEC Division of Technical Information. LC 50-60514. 1960.
58. CBS Reports interview, April 2, 1960, transcript p. 47 (LSP). See Vol. II, p. 146, attribution to Mike Wallace interview, WNTA-TV, February 27, 1961. See also See It Now, November 1952, with Edward R. Murrow.
CHAPTER 17
1. Szilard to Compton, December 3, 1942 (LSP).
2. Szilard to Samuel K. Allison, December 4, 1942 (LSP).
3. Pierre Auger interview, July 3, 1987. Szilard enjoyed this story and retold it in a television interview the day Einstein died.
4. Szilard to Trude, December 26 and 31, 1942 (EWP).
5. Szilard to Marshall MacDuffie, June 13, 1956, pp. 1–3 (LSP).
6. Szilard to Compton, January 8, 1943. “Memorandum on the Production of 94 and the Production of Power by Means of the Fast Neutron Reaction.” MIT Vol. I., p. 175.
7. Weinberg 1982 interviews for William Lanouette, “Dream Machine,” Atlantic Monthly, April 1983. Weinberg interview, December 17, 1985, for this biography. “Liquid Metal Cooled Fast Neutron Breeders,” by Szilard, UC-LS-60. March 6, 1945. This memorandum cites Szilard’s presentations at breeder discussions on April 16 and 28, 1944. MIT Vol. I, pp. 369–75.
Although they scarcely produce any extra fuel, breeders that have operated in the United States and France were cooled by electromagnetic pumps of the kind that Szilard and Einstein designed in the 19
20s.
8. Szilard to Trude, January 15, 1943 (EWP).
9. Szilard to Compton, January 2, 1943 (MED).
10. MIT Vol. II, p; 149. Hans Bethe interview, November 21, 1985.
11. On February 22, 1943, T. O. Jones wrote to Maj. John Lansdale mentioning that Szilard’s “mail was being watched” (MED 77, 201).
12. Gruber, p. 80, n 25. T. O. Jones to Maj. John Lansdale, February 22, 1943 (MED RG 77, 201). Szilard to Trude, February 8, 1944 (EWP).
13. Szilard to Trude, March 6, 1943 (EWP).
14. FBI report, November 30, 1954 (LSP). (FLP D.237). See also Confidential June 24, 1943, Memo to Officer in Charge, pp. 1 and 56 (LSP).
15. July 12, 1945, letter and memo to Groves (FLP D.237 and D.35).
16. Groves to Calvert, June 12, 1943 (MED 201 LS).
17. The account of Szilard’s June 20 and 22, 1943, visit to Washington comes from FBI memorandum, June 24, 1943 (LSP).
18. Confidential June 24, 1943, Memo to Officer in Charge, p. 5 (LSP).
19. Lavender to Szilard, August 23, 1943 (MED 201 Szilard, Leo).
20. Samuel K. Allison interview with Alice K. Smith, April 12, 1960.
21. Connie Fay to Szilard, January 2, 1962 (LSP).
22. John Marshall, Jr., interview, February 2, 1988.
23. Szilard to Trude, July 5, 1943 (EWP).
24. Szilard to Compton, July 20, 1943. Compton to Szilard, August 4, 1943 (MED).
25. Compton to Szilard, August 4, 1943 (LSP).
26. Szilard to Trude, August 4, 1943 (EWP).
27. James Hume interview, February 14, 1986. See also Hume to Szilard, January 27, 1944, and enclosures. I am grateful to the late James Hume for sharing his Szilard files with me. Hume interview, October 3, 1986.
28. Szilard to Compton, August 7, 1943 (LSP).
29. Szilard to Trude, August 16, 1943 (EWP).
30. Szilard to Trude, August 19, 1943, letter number 3 (EWP).
31. Friday (September 24) letter by Szilard to Trude, found between letters dated September 22 and 26, 1943 (EWP).
32. Groves to Szilard, October 8, 1943 (LSP and MED RG 77, 201LS). Szilard cable to Lavender, October 8, 1943 (LSP and MED 201 Adam, Mr. Isbert; Szilard, Leo).
33. Lavender memo, October 12, 1943 (MED 201 Szilard, Leo).
34. Four-hour meeting on November 21, 1943, noted in Hume to Szilard, January 27, 1944. James Hume interview, October 3, 1986.
35. James Hume interview, October 3, 1986.
36. The psychoanalyst Szilard had in mind was Taseau Bennet. Szilard to Trude, October 31, 1943 (EWP).
37. Szilard to Lavender, November 24, 1943 (MED).
38. James Hume interview, October 3, 1986. Metcalf “Memorandum of a conference held at the Chicago Area Office, US Engineers, on 3 December 1943,” December 27, 1943. MUC.PA-418(MED).
39. Szilard to Compton, “Report about conversation with General Groves, Friday, December 3rd,” December 11, 1943 (MED).
40. Szilard to Hume, December 3, 1943, and Metcalf Memo, December 27, 1943. MUC.PA-418 (MED). See also December 23, 1946, FBI report, p. 5 (LSP).
41. Szilard to Bush, December 13, 1943 (MED S-l, RG 227, Bush-Conant, folder 217 Szilard, Leo).
42. Bush to Conant, December 18, 1943; reply on December 23 (MED).
43. (Bush-Conant, 277 MED).
44. See December 3, 1943, account in Szilard to Moses, January 17, 1944 (LSP).
45. Frederick Seitz to the author, May 26, 1987.
46. Davis, p. 163. See also Rhodes, p. 451.
47. Szilard notes for “Proposed Conversation with Bush,” February 28, 1943, Part IV, p. 5. MIT Vol. II, p. 178.
48. MIT Vol. II, pp. 161–63.
49. Conant to Bush and Bush to Conant, both March 9, 1944 (MED).
50. See MIT Vol. I, pp. 295ff. and 376ff.
51. Szilard to Trude, April 20, 1944 (EWP).
52. Szilard to Trude, May 20, 1944 (EWP).
53. See Szilard to Trude, March 24 and July 31, 1944 (EWP).
54. Szilard to Trude, November 11, 1944 (EWP).
55. Memorandum, August 10, 1944. MIT Vol. II, pp. 189–92. Manuscript copy (EWP).
56. Charles D. Coryell, oral-history interview, pp. 87–88. Columbia Oral History Research Office.
57. Crick, pp. 13–14.
58. Szilard to Bush, October 14, 1944, with an October 17 memo attached by Compton (LSP).
59. Jeffries to Compton, November 18, 1944. AKS/MIT, pp. 18 and 23.
60. Szilard draft speech on US-Russian relations, October 30, 1953 (LSP).
CHAPTER 18
1. Memorandum March 6, 1944 (LSP). “Reminiscences,” pp. 122–23.
2. MIT Vol. II, pp. 196–204.
3. Ibid., p. 181.
4. The meeting opened with Stimson addressing questions put to FDR in a March 3 memorandum by James F. Byrnes, his director of war mobilization, seeking results of the $2 billion secret program. Byrnes had admitted he knew little about it, and Stimson listed the eminent scientists engaged in the project, including four Nobel laureates. Hewlett and Anderson, p. 340.
5. Hewlett and Anderson, p. 340; cf. Titus, “Collective Conscience,” p. 7; Stimson in Harper’s, February 1947, pp. 97–107.
6. Bohr to Roosevelt, March 24, 1945 (FDR).
7. MIT Vol. II, pp. 205–207.
8. LP Disc Recording, “Leo Szilard: Inventor of the Atomic Bomb.” George Garabedian Production, 1984 (LSP 107). MIT Vol. II, p. 180. Hewlett and Anderson, pp. 203 and 681 n43. Conant to Bush, July 31, 1943, and Bush to Conant, September 22, 1944 (MED/OSR).
9. U.S. News & World Report, August 15, 1960, pp. 68–71.
10. MIT Vol. II, p. 182.
11. Rhodes, p. 636. “Reminiscences,” p. 124–25. MIT Vol. II, pp. 182–83.
12. AEC Document 286 in Sherwin, p. 169.
13. Hewlett and Anderson, p. 345.
14. MIT Vol. II, p. 184. Szilard later reversed his view. “I saw his point at that time, and in retrospect I see even more clearly that it would not have served any useful purpose to keep the bomb secret, waiting for the government to understand the problem and to formulate a policy; for the government will not formulate a policy unless it is under pressure to do so, and if the bomb had been kept secret there would have been no pressure for the government to do anything in this direction.” “Reminiscences,” p. 127.
15. MIT Vol. II, p. 184. “Reminiscences,” p. 128.
16. Hewlett and Anderson, p. 355. Byrnes, p. 284.
17. Hewlett and Anderson, p. 690, n38. Szilard’s S-14 dictation, May 22, 1956, transcript p. 21 (LSP 107). Walter Bartky interview with Alice K. Smith, July 8, 1957.
18. Groves diary, May 30, 1945 (MED 77).
19. Szilard LP Disc Side D (LSP 107). MIT Vol. II, p. 185. “Reminiscences,” pp. 128–29.
20. MIT Vol. II, p. 185.
21. Hewlett and Anderson, p. 356. “Notes of the Interim Committee Meeting, May 31, 1945.” Appendix L of Sherwin, pp. 295ff.
22. Sherwin, Appendix, pp. 295–304. (Byrnes is cited on p. 301.) As the meeting’s secretary recorded: “Mr. Byrnes expressed the view, which was generally agreed to by all present, that the most desirable program would be to push ahead as fast as possible in production and research to make certain that we stay ahead and at the same time make every effort to better our political relations with Russia.”
23. This is based on notes of the meeting secretary and is not a direct quote from Groves.
24. AKS/MIT, p. 41.
25. Szilard to Norman Hilberry, June 6, 1945 (LSP).
26. Feis, p. 50 n. AKS/MIT, p. 42. Other members of the Franck Committee were Thorfin R. Hogness, Donald Hughes, C. J. Nickson, Eugene Rabinowitch, Glenn T. Seaborg, and Met Lab director Joyce Stearns.
27. Feis, p. 51.
28. Compton to Nichols, June 4, 1945, MUC-AC-1306/7 (MED 201 Szilard).
29. Ibid.
30. Barton J. Bernstein introduction to MIT Vol. III. Stimson in Harper’s, 1947. Teller, “Seven Hours . . .” p. 191. She
rwin, Appendix M.
31. Groves to Compton, June 29, 1945 (MED 201 Szilard, Leo).
32. Groves to Cherwell, July 4, 1945. (FLP D.35 and 49.3).
33. “Reminiscences,” p. 130.
34. Szilard to Waldo Cohen, July 4, 1945 (LSP).
35. Edward Teller, “Seven Hours . . .” p. 191.
36. (MED 201 Szilard, Leo.) Teller claims he dated the letter July 2 but actually wrote it days later. A more likely explanation is that he knew about the petition in advance and drafted his reply on the second, even before receiving a copy.
37. Teller to Szilard, July 2, 1945. MIT Vol. II, pp. 208–209.
38. Teller, “Seven Hours . . .” p. 191.
39. Ralph Lapp interview, April 2, 1987. MIT Vol. II, pp. 212–13. See also Edward Creutz to Szilard, July 13, 1945 (MED 201 E. Creutz).
40. Lieutenant Parish to Groves, July 9, with a copy of Szilard’s July 4 letter to Teller, and Teller’s reply (MED). Ralph Lapp interview, April 2, 1987.
41. MIT Vol. II, p. 213.
42. The results of Daniels’s poll, in votes and percentage, are as follows:
(1) Use the weapons in the manner that is from the military point of view most effective in bringing about prompt Japanese surrender at minimum human cost to our armed forces. (23, 15%)
(2) Give a military demonstration in Japan, to be followed by a renewed opportunity for surrender before full use of the weapons is employed. (69, 46%)
(3) Give an experimental demonstration in this country, with representatives of Japan present; followed by a new opportunity for surrender before full use of the weapons is employed. (39, 26%)
(4) Withhold military use of the weapons, but make public experimental demonstration of their effectiveness. (16, 11%)
(5) Maintain as secret as possible all developments of our new weapons, and refrain from using them in this war. (3, 2%)
(MED DCN-55442, p. 9; see also Young to Szilard, January 31, 1961, LSP).
43. “Reminiscences,” p. 130.
44. Szilard dictation, May 22, 1956 (LSP 100). Claude C. Pierce, Jr., to Groves, November 26, 1947. Papers of Leslie R. Groves (MED 200, Entry 2, Correspondence 1941–70, Box 7, Folder “P”). My thanks to Stanley Goldberg for this source.
45. MIT Vol. II, pp. 211–12.
46. Szilard to Creutz, July 10, 1945, and Creutz to Szilard, July 13, 1945 (MED 201 E. Creutz).
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