442. Gregg Herken, in Brotherhood of the Bomb, suggests that there was a personal element to Lawrence's animosity and cites an interview with Molly Lawrence, May 20, 1997, 404n81.
443. Lewis Strauss to Edward Teller, December 9, 1957, Strauss to file, Box 1, Lewis Strauss Papers, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, quoted in Herken, Brotherhood of the Bomb, 654n365.
444. "He is normally lightening-quick and intuitive mind seemed partially blocked, and at moments, even paralyzed." Robert Coughlan, "The Tangled Drama and Private Hells of Two Famous Scientists," Life (12/13/63), 102:
445. April 14, 1954, AEC, ITMJRO: Transcript, 153–54. The following quotations in italics from Day Two of the Hearing are from these pages.
446. Ibid., 267.
447. Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, April 13, 1954.
448. AEC, ITMJRO: Transcript, 572–76. Quotations in italics are from Kitty's testimony on April 26, 1954.
449. Ibid., 916–21. Quotations in italics are from Kitty's testimony on May 4, 1954.
450. Ibid., 137. Quotations in italics are from April 14, 1954.
451. Ibid., 140, May 4, 1954.
452. Bernstein, "Oppenheimer Loyalty-Security Reconsidered," 1449.
453. "Decisions and Opinions of AEC, June 29," in Polenberg, ITMJRO, 380.
CHAPTER 29
454. Edward Tolman to Robert Oppenheimer, April 16, 1954, Edward Tolman Folder, Box 72, JRO Papers.
455. KB/MS, Prometheus, 553. Robert's old friend Harold Cherniss helped organize the open letter of support that the Institute faculty signed.
456. Ruth Tolman to Robert Oppenheimer, January 15, 1952. Robert must have used these words to describe the Islands to Ruth in an earlier letter.
457. Anne Marks to Kitty Oppenheimer, July 7, 1954, Box 49, JRO Papers.
458. Jeremy Bernstein, Oppenheimer: Portrait of an Enigma (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004), 194.
459. Edsall, interview by CW.
460. David Lilienthal, Journals of David E. Lilienthal, Vol. 4: The Road to Change, 1955–1959 (New York: Harper & Row, 1969), 594.
461. Ruth Tolman to Robert Oppenheimer, May 30, 1952.
462. Freeman Dyson, Disturbing the Universe (New York: Basic Books, 1979). Archibald MacLeish, also from the Institute days, would write to Robert how much he had been impressed with "you & Kitty, especially Kitty." July 23, 1948, General Case File, Box 49, JRO Papers.
463. Freeman Dyson to his family, February 11, 1957, in personal communication to Patricia Klaus, February 2, 2012.
464. Hobson, interview by MS. Various friends and colleagues would comment on the fact that Oppenheimer seemed to enable Kitty's drinking and rudeness.
465. Ibid.; Francis Fergusson, interview by Martin Sherwin, June 23, 1979.
466. Ruth Tolman to Robert Oppenheimer, September 5, [early 1950s]; Anne Roe to Robert Oppenheimer, September 2, 1954, Ruth Tolman Folder, Box 72, JRO Papers.
467. Barton Bernstein, "Oppenheimer Loyalty-Security Case," 1451.
468. FBI Memorandum as printed in Mark Wolverton, A Life in Twilight: The Final Years of JRO (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008), 54.
469. Ruth Valentine to Margaret Mead, January 27, 1955, Box C, Margaret Mead Papers, LOC.
470. Lynn Margulis, "Sunday Morning with Robert Oppenheimer," in Luminous Fish: Tales of Science and Love (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2007), 149–80. All quotations are from this essay.
471. Robert Oppenheimer to Ruth Tolman, Western Union Telegram, September 1, 1955.
472. Information courtesy of Martin Vissering.
473. Ruth Tolman to Robert Oppenheimer, [1956].
474. "Report of the Death of an American Citizen" Form 192, American Consulate in Genoa, Italy, April 26, 1956. The report can be found at www.Ancestry.com, Image 196, from the NARA, Washington, D.C. Later, the Master of the Concordia Fjord, Kathe's ship, decided that she had crawled out the porthole, had hit the gangway and was killed instantly before falling into the sea. Her body was never found. See also letters between Hilde Vissering and Captain Kolnes of the Concordia Line, May 31, 1956. Letter courtesy of Martin Vissering, Bremen, Germany.
475. Hilde Vissering de Blonay, Stuttgart, Germany, to Borre Hartvig Sverdrup, Oslo, Norway, June 29, 1956. Letter courtesy of Martin Vissering.
476. Borre Sverdrup to Hilde Vissering de Blonay, July 2, 1956. Letter courtesy of Martin Vissering.
477. Foreign Service Operations Memorandum from the Consulate General, Genoa, Italy, U.S. Department of State, May 4, 1956. Memorandum can be found at www.Ancestry.com, Image 510, NARA.
478. Kitty Oppenheimer to Hilde Vissering de Blonay, Telegram, July 2, 1956. Courtesy of Martin Vissering.
479. Wolverton, A Life in Twilight, 84.
480. Jeremy Bernstein, Oppenheimer: Portrait of an Enigma, 174.
481. Robert Oppenheimer to Hedwig Stern, February 2, 1957, JRO Papers.
482. Victor Cohn, "Can a Security Risk Survive? Oppenheimer Tells for First Time of Fight Against 'Final Judgment.'" Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, June 16, 1957, quoted in Wolverton, A Life in Twilight, 95–101. Wolverton says that the only other writer with whom Robert supposedly discussed the Hearing was John Mason Brown, who wrote in Through These Men (New York: Harper, 1956). Actually, Brown relied not on a personal interview with Robert, but on published articles and interviews.
483. Ruth Tolman to Robert Oppenheimer, 1956.
484. Hedwig Stern to Robert Oppenheimer, September 30, 1957, General Case File, Box 69, JRO Papers.
485. Edward Tolman to Robert Oppenheimer, October 1957, General Case File, Box 72, JRO Papers.
486. Theodore Newcomb to Robert Oppenheimer, October 25, 1957, Ruth Tolman Folder, Box 72, JRO Papers.
487. Bruner, In Search of Mind, 237–38.
488. Lilienthal, Journals, Vol. 4, 232.
CHAPTER 30
489. Edsall, interview by CW.
490. Ibid., quoted in Thorpe, Oppenheimer, The Tragic Intellect, 39. See also Mary Jo Nye, Blackett: Physics, War and Politics in the Twentieth Century (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2004). In correspondence with Patricia Klaus, Nye supported this interpretation: "Nor is it surprising, given Oppenheimer's temperament at the time, that he was envious at Cambridge of the very skilled and the very handsome Blackett, then in his late 20s," 3/5/13.
491. Edsall, interview by CW.
492. Edward Bullard, "Patrick Blackett . . . an Appreciation" Nature 250 (1974): 370; Sir Edward Crisp "Teddy" Bullard,' geophysicist and close friend to Patrick Blackett. Stephan Budiansky, Blackett's War: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013), 45. The comment was made by Ivor Richards, a noted literary critic and Cambridge don.
493. KB/MS, Prometheus, 50.
494. Monk also suggests this interpretation in Inside The Centre, 111–12.
495. The idea of Robert creating a persona or re-inventing himself has been commented on by others; I.I. Rabi wrote in The New Yorker, October 1975, that "You carried on a charade with him. He lived a charade and you went along with him." Hans Bethe commented that Robert had undergone a fundamental adaptation when he became the administrator at Los Alamos and then another after the bomb when he became the public Oppenheimer.
496. Edsall, interview by CW.
497. Unlike Robert, who may have spent a a good portion of his lifetime trying to belong, Blackett was by birth and heritage solidly a member of the English establishment: one grandfather was a Church of England vicar, the other a ranking naval officer; his uncle served in India. His political views remained consistently left wing and, in the 1950s, became very controversial with his support of the Soviet Union. See Patrick Blackett, Fear, War, and the Bomb: Military and Political Consequences of Atomic Energy (New York: Whittlesey House, 1949).
498. Bernstein, Oppenheimer: Portrait of an Enigma, 173.
499. Ruth's close friends, including Jean Bacher, Sigrid Lauritsen and her daughter, denied that there had been an affair. We began
the book assuming on the basis of most biographers' interpretations (Jeremy Bernstein an exception) that Ruth and Robert had an affair; after years of reading their letters word by word, we noticed a shift in intensity that occurs immediately after Richard's death, but that it only lasted a year or so. And Ruth would write to others, such as David Shakow, about wanting to find a little time to spend with him. Her friendships with her friends and her words were both warm and affectionate.
500. Bruner, interview by Klaus.
501. Lilienthal, Journals, Vol. 4, 260.
502. Peter Oppenheimer to Shirley Streshinsky, May 2013.
503. Hobson, interview by Sherwin.
504. Ruth Valentine to Margaret Mead, June 19, 1959. General correspondence, Margaret Mead Papers.
505. Richard Pfau, No Sacrifice Too Great: The Life of Lewis L. Strauss (Charlottesville, VA: U of V Press, 1984), 241.
506. David Lilienthal, The Journals of David E. Lilienthal, Vol. 5: The Harvest Years, 1959–1963 (New York: Harper & Row, 1971), 440.
507. As quoted in KB/MS, Prometheus, 563.
508. Lilienthal, Journals, Vol. 5, 439.
509. Ibid., 529–30.
510. David Lilienthal, The Journals of David E. Lilienthal, Vol. 6: Creativity and Conflict, 1964–1967 (New York: Harper & Row, 1976), 22.
511. Lyndon B. Johnson, "Remarks Upon Presenting the Fermi Award to Dr. JRO," The American Presidency Project. www.Presidency.ucsb.edu.
512. Lilienthal, Journals, Vol. 6, 439.
513. Lettie Abacassis, interview by Shirley Streshinsky, 2002.
514. Lilienthal, Journals, Vol. 6, 255.
515. As quoted in Wolverton, A Life in Twilight, 255.
516. As quoted in KB/MS, Prometheus, 503.
517. Dyson, Disturbing the Universe, 81–82.
CHAPTER 31
518. Fiona St. Clair (Serber), interview by Patricia Klaus, March 12, 2012.
519. Fiona St. Clair, interview by MS, February 17, 1982.
520. Serber, Peace and War, 205.
521. Ibid., 197, 208; Serber, interview by Streshinsky.
522. Serber, Peace and War, 208.
523. Serber, interview by MS.
524. Serber, interview by Streshinsky.
525. Serber, interview by MS. KB and MS recount many of Kitty's island "adventures" in Prometheus, Chapter 31.
526. Hobson, interview by MS.
527. Robert Serber to Hilde Vissering [Fall, 1979, shortly after Kitty's death]. Courtesy of Martin Vissering. The description of the rest of the voyage and Kitty's illness are taken from this letter.
OUTSIDE THE TIMELINE
528. Katherine Page Chaves to Robert Oppenheimer, [ca. 1949], General Case File, Box 55, JRO Papers.
529. Fiona St. Clair, interview by Klaus.
530. Lanie Ramseyer Dickel, personal communication to Klaus, April 2013.
531. Lin Ramseyer Clayberg, personal communication to Klaus, April 2013.
532. John Tatlock, personal communication with Patricia Klaus, 2012.
533. Private investigator, "What we should have done so far," July 15–16, 1991, Thompson Investigations, San Francisco. Box 62, Tatlock File, MS/LOC.
534. Ibid. "What We Should Do Next," and "Surmises and Speculations," July 16, 1991.
535. Patterson letter, "Conversations with Pathologist," July 16, 1991.
536. Bruner, interview by Klaus.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Acheson, Dean. Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department. New York: Norton, 1969.
Alperovitz, Gar. The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.
Alsop, Joseph, and Stewart Alsop. We Accuse!: The Story of the Miscarriage of American Justice in the Case of J. Robert Oppenheimer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1954.
Andrews, T. G., and Mitchell Dreese. "Military Utilization of Psychologists During World War II." American Psychologist 3, no. 12 (1948): 533–538.
Atomic Energy Commission. In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer: Transcript of Hearing before Personnel Security Board and Texts of Principal Documents and Letters. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1971. Text reproduced from the original editions published by Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., May 27, 1954.
Babington, Anthony. Shell-Shock: A History of the Changing Attitudes to War Neurosis. London: Leo Cooper, 1997.
Bacher, Robert F. Robert Oppenheimer, 1904–1967. Los Alamos: Los Alamos Historical Society, 1999.
Badash, Lawrence, Joseph O. Hirshfelder, and Herbert P. Broida, eds. Reminiscences of Los Alamos, 1943–1945. New York: Springer, 1980.
Baker, Rodney, and Wade E. Pickren. Psychology and the Department of Veterans Affairs: A Historical Analysis of Training, Research, Practice, and Advocacy. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 2007.
Banner, Lois W. Intertwined Lives: Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, and Their Circle. New York: Vintage Books, 2004.
Barnett, Correlli, ed. Hitler's Generals. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1989.
Baudelaire, Charles. The Flowers of Evil. Translated by James McGowan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Benveniste, Daniel. "The Early History of Psychoanalysis in San Francisco." Psychoanalysis and History 8, no. 2 (2006): 195–233.
Bernstein, Barton J., ed. The Atomic Bomb: The Critical Issues. Boston: Little, Brown, 1976.
________. "The Atomic Bombings Reconsidered." Foreign Affairs 74, no. 1 (January–February, 1995), 135–152.
________. "The Oppenheimer Loyalty-Security Case Reconsidered." Stanford Law Review, 42, no. 6 (July 1990): 1383–1484.
________., ed. Politics and Policies of the Truman Administration. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1970.
________. "Reconsidering the 'Atomic General': Leslie Groves." Journal of Military History 67, no. 3 (July 2003): 883–920.
________. "Sacrifices and Decisions: Lewis L. Strauss." The Public Historian 8, no. 2 (Spring 1986): 105–120.
Bernstein, Jeremy. Oppenheimer: Portrait of an Enigma. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004.
Bethe, Hans. J. Robert Oppenheimer, April 22, 1904–February 18, 1967. Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society, 71. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 1997.
Bird, Kai, and Martin Sherwin. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
Blackett, Patrick. Fear, War, and the Bomb: Military and Political Consequences of Atomic Energy. New York: McGraw Hill, 1948.
Blum, John Morton. V Was For Victory: Politics and American Culture During World War II. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976.
Boring, Edwin G."The Woman Problem." American Psychologist 6 (1951): 679–682.
Brode, Bernice. Tales of Los Alamos: Life on the Mesa, 1943–1945. Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos Historical Society, 1997.
Brown, John Mason. Through These Men: Some Aspects of Our Passing History. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1952.
Bruner, Jerome. In Search of Mind: Essays in Autobiography. New York: Harper & Row, 1983.
Bryan, Alice I., and Edwin G. Boring. "Women in American Psychology: Factors Affecting Their Professional Careers." American Psychologist 2, no. 1 (1947): 3–20.
________. "Women in American Psychology: Prolegomenon." Psychological Bulletin 41 (1944): 447–454.
________. "Women in American Psychology: Statistics from the OPP Questionnaire." American Psychologist 1, no. 3 (1946): 71–79.
Budiansky, Stephen. Blackett's War: The Men Who Defeated the Nazi U-Boats and Brought Science to the Art of Warfare. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.
Bullard, Edward C. "Patrick Blackett . . . an Appreciation." Nature 250 (1974).
Burack, Michael L. "Scientists, Security, and Secrecy." Stanford Law Review 23, no. 6 (June 1971): 1148–1166.
Capshew, James H. Psychologists on the March: Science, Practice, and Professional Identity in America, 1929–1969. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Carnochan, W. B. "English at
Stanford, 1891–2000: A Brief History." Sandstone and Tile 26, no. 1 (Winter/Spring 2002).
Carroll, Peter. The Odyssey of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade: Americans in the Spanish Civil War. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994.
Cassidy, David C. J. Robert Oppenheimer and the American Century. New York: Pi Press, 2004.
________. Uncertainty: The Life and Science of Werner Heisenberg. New York: W.H. Freeman, 1992.
Chace, Elizabeth Buffum. Chace Family Papers. Manuscripts Division. Rhode Island Historical Society.
Chambers II, Dr. John Whiteclay. "Office of Strategic Services Training During World War II." Studies in Intelligence 54, no. 2 (June 2010).
Chevalier, Haakon. Oppenheimer: The Story of a Friendship. (New York: Braziller, 1965), 31–32.
Church, Peggy Pond. The House at Otowi Bridge: The Story of Edith Warner and Los Alamos. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1959.
Clemens, Dorothy T. Standing Ground and Starting Point: 120 Years with the YWCA in Berkeley. Berkeley, CA: Big Hat Press, 1990.
Conant, Jennet. 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
Coughlan, Robert. "The Tangled Drama and Private Hells of Two Famous Scientists." Life (13 Dec 1963).
Dallet, Joseph. Letters from Spain. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1938.
Daniels, Elizabeth A. Bridges to the World: Henry Noble MacCracken and Vassar College. Clinton Corners, NY: College Avenue Press, 1994.
Davis, Nuel Pharr. Lawrence and Oppenheimer. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Books, 1968.
"Education." Victoria County History. A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10. Ed. Janet Cooper. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
Degler, Carl N. At Odds: Women and the Family in America from the Revolution to the Present. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980.
D'Emilio, John, and Estelle B. Freedman. Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America. New York: Harper & Row: 1988.
Dutton, Samuel W. S. An Address at the Funeral of Hon. Roger Sherman Baldwin, February 23, 1863. New Haven, CT: T.J. Stafford), 1863.
Dyson, Freeman. Disturbing the Universe. New York: Basic Books, 1979.
An Atomic Love Story Page 37