by Ray Monk
139. ‘conference will be devoted’: see Kumar (2009), 255
139. The congress ran: what follows is based on the account of the Solvay Congress given in Kumar (2009), Chapter 11, 253–80.
140. ‘We consider’: ibid., 258
140. ‘towering over everybody’: ibid., 275
140. ‘I am satisfied’: ibid., 276
140. ‘My brother and I’: FO, interview with AKS, 14.4.1976, quoted S & W, 108
140. ‘He’s too much’: Michelmore (1969), 23
141. ‘We were not highly regarded’: IIR, interview with TSK, 8.12.1963, AIP, available at: http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4836.html
141. ‘There are no physicists in America’: Raymond T. Birge to John Van Vleck, 10.3.1927, quoted Schweber (1986), 55–6
141. ‘We all got’: quoted Goodchild (1980), 22
141. Else Uhlenbeck later recalled: interview with AKS, 20.4.1976, quoted S & W, 107
141. Charlotte stayed: see Michelmore (1969), 24–5
7. Postdoctoral Fellow
143. ‘Three Notes on the Quantum Theory of Aperiodic Effects’: Oppenheimer (1928a)
143. the polarisation of impact radiation: see Oppenheimer (1927d)
143. the capture of electrons by alpha particles: see Oppenheimer (1928b)
143. ‘very best felicitations’: JRO to PAMD, 28.11.1927, S & W, 108
144. ‘Details of the theory’: Oppenheimer (1928c), 262
144. ‘a thin high-strung postdoctoral fellow’: Morse (1977), 87, quoted S & W, 109–10
144. ‘Crossing’: Hound and Horn: A Harvard Miscellany, 1 (4), 335, June 1928, quoted S & W, 110
145. ‘own dry, sterile intellectuality’: Royal (1969), 43
146. ‘very much the man’: JRO to ECK, 16.2.1928, S & W, 111
146. Linus Pauling: the chief source for what follows is Hager (1995)
146. the definitive textbook: Pauling (1939)
146. ‘was then still stuck on crystals’: JRO, interview with TSK, 18.11.1963, quoted S & W, 112
147. ‘tryst to Mexico’: Hager (1995), 152
147. ‘Poems by J. Robert Oppenheimer 1928’: see Cassidy (2005), 125
147. ‘may possibly be of use to you’: JRO to FO, March 1928, S & W, 113
147. Helen Campbell: see Helen C. Allison, interview with AKS, 7.12.1976, S & W, 113
147. ‘many invitations’: JRO to KDN, 4.3.1954, ITMO, 7
148. ‘I am trying to decide’: JRO to FO, March 1928, S & W, 113
148. ‘I thought I’d like to go to Berkeley’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 114
148. 10 April 1928: see S & W, 114
148. ‘like to be able to accept’: JRO to Theodore Lyman, 21.4.1928, S & W, 114
148. Oppenheimer wrote again: JRO to Theodore Lyman, 7.5.1928, S & W, 115
148. ‘the Ramsauer fiasco’: JRO to ECK, 16.2.1928, S & W, 111
148. ‘try to learn a little physics there’: JRO to Elmer Hall, 7.3.1928, quoted Cassidy (2005), 122
148. ‘revealed to him’: Pais (2006), 15
148. on 26 April 1928: see Cassidy (2005), 123
149. ‘several doctors’: JRO to International Education Board, 2.8.1928, S & W, 117
149. Frank, asked many years later: S & W, 117
149. ‘If you are out here’: JRO to FO, March 1928, S & W, 113
149. in 1928 they sold the Riverside Drive: Cassidy (2005), 123
149. ‘Like it?’: Michelmore (1969), 27. A contemporaneous, but slightly different, version is told in Royal (1969), 44
150. Francis Fergusson visited them: see Michelmore (1969), 27
150. ‘It now seems certain’: JRO to RFB, 25.8.1928, S & W, 118
150. ‘slight sinus infection’: Cassidy (2005), 125
150. they had an accident: see B & S, 73, and Cole (2009), 39
150. ‘sipping from a bottle’: FO to Denise Royal, 25.2.1967, quoted B & S, 73
151. ‘His way of being alive’: Klein (1981), 3
151. ‘He was not merely’: Einstein (1950), 236
151. ‘to distrust’: Weisskopf (1972), 2–3, quoted Klein (1981), 11
152. ‘If you intend’: PE to JRO, 5.7.1928, quoted Klein (1981), 12
152. ‘I thought of him’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 121
152. ‘I don’t think’: ibid.
152. ‘I think that’: ibid.
153. ‘There was not a great deal of life’: ibid.
153. ‘I absolutely do not know’: see the Ehrenfest biography at: http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Biographies/Ehrenfest.html and Pais (1991)
153. ‘None of us’: JRO to GU, autumn 1933, S & W, 168
153. ‘spoiled this period’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 121
154. ‘Bohr is Allah’: see Enz (2002), 36
154. ‘a lamentable ignorance’: JRO to FO, 30.12.1928, S & W, 119–21
155. ‘at the suggestion of Ehrenfest’: JRO to IEB, 3.1.1929, S & W, 122
155. ‘a very ingenious physicist’: PE to W.E. Tisdale (secretary of the IEB), 12.1.1929, quoted S & W, 122
155. ‘passionately preoccupied’: see page 151 above
155. ‘that Bohr with his largeness and vagueness’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 121
155. ‘a wise judgement’: Pais (2006), 16
155. ‘about a physicist’: PE to WP, 26.11.1928, Pauli (1979), 477, quoted Pais (2006), 16
156. Dr W.J. Robbins: see S & W, 123
156. ‘The luggage’: JRO to W.J. Robbins, 4.2.1929, S & W, 123
156. both Oppenheimer and Pauli were in Leipzig: that Oppenheimer was in Leipzig is confirmed by Rabi, in Rabi et al. (1969), 4. He dates his meeting Oppenheimer in Leipzig to ‘late in 1928’, but, given that Oppenheimer was still in Leiden on 3 January 1929 (the date of his letter to the IEB, quoted on page 155), it must have been shortly after this. For confirmation that Pauli was in Leipzig at this time, see Cassidy (1992), 285.
156. Heisenberg had been at Leipzig since 1927: what follows is based on the account given in Cassidy (1992), Chapter 14
157. ‘Dirac equation’: see Dirac (1928)
158. ‘On the Quantum Dynamics of Wave Fields’: Heisenberg and Pauli (1929); see also Cassidy (1992), 285
158. ‘interests changed’: see Rabi et al. (1969), 12
158. ‘I first met him in Leipzig’: Rigden (1987), 218
159. ‘What we needed were the leaders’: IIR, interview with TSK, 8.12.1963, quoted Rigden (1987), 63
159. ‘I got to know him quite well’: Rigden (1987), 218
159. ‘The time with Ehrenfest’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 126
159. ‘You know, what Mr Einstein said is not so stupid!’: see Peierls (1985), 46
159. ‘I do not mind’: ibid., 47
160. ‘not even wrong’: the oldest and most authoritative source for this story seems to be Peierls (1960), 186
160. ‘His ideas’: Michelmore (1969), 28
160. ‘nim-nim-nim-man’: ibid.
160. ‘Pauli once remarked’: Rabi et al. (1969), 5
160. ‘I believe’: WP to PE, 15.2.1929, Pauli (1979), 486, quoted Pais (2006), 17
160. ‘rather short’: Peierls (1985), 44
161. ‘worked very hard’: Rabi et al. (1969), 5
161. ‘Using flawless methods’: WP to Sommerfeld, 16.5.1929, Pauli (1979), 500, quoted Pais (2006), 18
161. ‘a continuation’: WP to NB, 17.7.1929, Pauli (1979), 512, quoted Pais (2006), 18
161. ‘Note on the Theory of the Interaction of Field and Matter’: Oppenheimer (1930a)
161. ‘First and foremost’: Dr Robbins to JRO, 30.4.1929, quoted S & W, 127
162. ‘fairly certain’: JRO to Robbins, 14.5.1929, S & W, 128
163. ‘In the spring of 1929’: ITMO, 7
163. ‘I was particularly impressed’: see Royal (1969), 45
163. ‘the intensity’: ibid.
163. ‘house
and six acres’: JRO to FO, 6.5.1929, S & W, 126
163. ‘We’d get sort of drunk’: see B & S, 81
163. ‘It made me a little envious’: JRO to FO, 7.9.1929, S & W, 132
8. An American School of Theoretical Physics
165. ‘I didn’t start to make a school’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 131
165. ‘the greatest school’: Bethe (1997), 184
165. Condon has given vivid accounts: see EUC, interview with CW, 17.10.1967, AIP. Text available online at: http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4997_1.html. This interview is the source of most of what follows regarding the history of physics at Berkeley. See also Childs (1968) and Dahl (2006).
167. Ernest Lawrence: my information about Lawrence comes mainly from Childs (1968), Pharr Davis (1969) and Heilbron and Seidel (1990)
168. ‘Ernest is making a mistake’: Pharr Davis (1969), 12
168. lecture to the Royal Society: Rutherford (1928)
169. ‘I’m going to be famous’: Halpern (2010), 90
169. 80,000 volts: Rhodes (1988), 148
169. ‘unbelievable vitality’: Childs (1968), 143
169. ‘The more intimately’: Harold F. Cherniss, interview with MJS, 23.5.1979, quoted B & S, 93
169. ‘His mere physical appearance’: ibid.
170. ‘it tasted like sweepings’: Pharr Davis (1969), 24
170. ‘We passed a hot-dog stand’: ibid.
170. ‘I have been pretty busy’: JRO to FO, 7.9.1929, S & W, 133
170. ‘the refractory problem’: JRO to FO, 14.10.1929, S & W, 135
170. ‘young wives falling for Robert’: Helen C. Allison, interview with AKS, 7.12.1976, quoted B & S, 92
170. ‘I can’t think’: JRO to FO, 14.10.1929, S & W, 135
170. ‘very rarely’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 131
171. ‘I think from all I hear’: ibid.
171. ‘I found myself’: ibid., quoted Pais (2006), 20
171. ‘Almost immediately’: Birge, Raymond T., History of the Physics Department, University of California, Berkeley, quoted Cassidy (2005), 154
171. ‘I’m going so slowly’: quoted Royal (1969), 54, and (slightly differently) Michelmore (1969), 30
171. ‘Since we couldn’t understand’: Goodchild (1980), 25
172. ‘In Pasadena’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 131
172. ‘I didn’t know’: CA, interviewed by Harriett Lyle, 9 January–8 February 1979, Caltech Archives
172. ‘Robert, I didn’t understand’: ibid.
173. ‘We had a delightful evening’: Julius Oppenheimer to FO, 11.3.1930, S & W, 137
173. ‘From time to time’: JRO to FO, 14.10.1929
173. ‘a dare-devil’: Helen Campbell Allison to AKS, quoted B & S, 91
173. ‘It is not easy’: JRO to FO, 12.3.1930
174. Melba Phillips: see interview with Melba Phillips by Katherine Russell Sopka, 5 December 1977, AIP, and Neuenschwander and Watkins (2008)
175. ‘Relativistic Theory of the Photoelectric Effect’: Oppenheimer and Hall (1931)
175. ‘very reliable individual’: see B & S, 367
175. ‘the character of’: see Cassidy (2005), 151
176. ‘physics was good’: Serber (1983), 206, quoted Pais (1999), 106. It is also quoted Pais (2006), 25, but there Pais gives the wrong source, mistakenly claiming that the remark is to be found in Serber’s contribution to Rabi et al. (1969).
176. ‘carelessness’: Pais (2006), 25
176. ‘The error was his’: ibid.
176. ‘fundamental barrier’: Serber (1983)
176. ‘On the Theory of Electrons and Protons’: Oppenheimer (1930b)
177. ‘a new kind of particle’: Dirac (1931), 60
177. ‘are not to be considered’: see Farmelo (2009), 195
177. already been used by Rutherford: see Rutherford (1920)
178. The problem that Pauli sought to solve: for good historical accounts of this problem, see Franklin (2004) and Pais (1986), 309–16.
178. Bohr, among others: see Bohr, Kramers and Slater (1924) and also Bohr (1932)
178. ‘desperate way out’: WP to Lise Meitner and Hans Geiger, 1.12.1930, quoted Franklin (2004), 70
178. ‘To wit’: WP, letter to physicists at Tübingen, 14.12.1930, quoted Franklin (2004), 71, and Pais (1986), 315
179. ‘that foolish child’: WP to Max Delbrück, 6.10.1958, quoted Franklin (2004), 70, and Pais (1986), 314
179. he wrote to Frank: JRO to FO, 10.8.1931, S & W, 142–3
179. the Old Testament character: see the first book of Samuel, Chapter 4, Verse 21: ‘And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel’
179. ‘Waring’: see The Poems of Browning Volume Two, 1841–1846, edited by John Woolford and Daniel Karlin, Harlow: Longman (1991), 143–54
179. Summer-school participants remember: see S & W, 141
179. ‘I am afraid’: JRO to FO, 10.8.1931, S & W, 142
180. ‘Mother critically ill’: Royal (1969), 61
180. ‘He had a terribly desolate look’: ibid., 62
180. a short notice: Oppenheimer and Carlson (1931). The issue of Physical Review in which it appeared was published on 1 November 1931. The notice is dated 9 October 1931, which was three days after Oppenheimer would have received the telegram from his father telling him that his mother was critically ill, and three days before he arrived in New York (so quite possibly on the day he left California). For an interesting and accessible discussion of Oppenheimer’s work with Carlson on cosmic rays and Pauli’s ‘magnetic neutron’, see Brown (1978).
181. ‘birth cries’: see, e.g., Time, 1 July 1932
181. ‘published very shortly’: Oppenheimer and Carlson (1931), 1788
181. ‘I found my mother’: JRO to EOL, 12.10.1931, S & W, 144
181. ‘sweet message’: JRO to EOL, 16.10.1931, S & W, 145
181. ‘I am the loneliest man’: HWS, interview with CW, 1.8.1974, quoted S & W, 145
181. ‘I feel pretty awful’: JRO to EOL, 12.10.1931, S & W, 144
181. ‘You must let me know’: JRO to EOL, 16.10.1931, S & W, 145
182. Time magazine: Time, 1 February 1932
182. ‘comforting words’: JRO to EOL, 3.1.1932, S & W, 147
182. ‘Millikan loathed Oppenheimer’: Pharr Davis (1969), 50
182. ‘Millikan just left his name’: ibid.
183. ‘A Hydrogen Isotope of Mass 2’: Urey et al. (1932)
183. ‘hydrogen atom of nuclear physics’: quoted Kevles (1995), 226
183. ‘the possible existence’: Rutherford (1920), 392
184. ‘Possible Existence of a Neutron’: Chadwick (1932a)
184. ‘dialogue passed into Cavendish tradition’: Snow (1982), 85
184. His inspiration: what follows is based on the account of the discovery of the neutron given in Brown (1997), Chapter 6.
184. ‘The difficulties disappear’: Chadwick (1932a)
184. ‘The Existence of a Neutron’: Chadwick (1932b)
185. ‘The Impacts of Fast Electrons and Magnetic Neutrons’: Oppenheimer and Carlson (1932)
185. experimental evidence for the existence of neutrons: see ibid., 764
185. ‘a hypothetical elementary neutral particle’: ibid., 763
185. ‘not much greater’: ibid., 764
185. ‘One may, however’: ibid.
185. ‘there is no experimental evidence’: ibid., 792
185. a witty pastiche: see Gamow (1985), 165–218
185. ‘Mrs Ann Arbor’s Speakeasy’: ibid., 190
185. ‘and says, with pride’: ibid., 213
186. ‘In our seminars’: Pharr Davis (1969), 49
186. ‘sat afraid’: ibid., 48
186. ‘I wrote the figure’: ibid., 40
187. ‘We were busy’: ibid.
187. ‘are setting about’: ibid., 41
187. Rutherford had known: s
ee Rutherford (1927)
187. appeared in print twice: see Gamow (1928a and 1928b)
187. an article by Edward Condon and Ronald Gurney: Gurney and Condon (1928)
187. Shortly before it was published: what follows is based on the account given in Cathcart (2004).
188. publish an account of their work: see Cockcroft and Walton (1930)
188. ‘What we require’: quoted Cathcart (2004), 173
188. ‘I have just been’: Joseph Boyce to John Cockcroft, 8.1.1932, quoted Weiner (1972), 40–2, and Cathcart (2004), 216–17
188. ‘stop messing about’: Cathcart (2004), 223
189. write up their experiment for Nature: see Cockcroft and Walton (1932)
189. ‘We know’: Ernest Walton to Winifred Wilson, 17.4.1932, quoted Cathcart (2004), 238
189. ‘The Structure of Atomic Nuclei’: Rutherford (1932)
190. ‘science’s greatest discovery’: this and the other newspaper reports mentioned are quoted Cathcart (2004), 246–9
190. Bertrand Russell mentioned it: see Russell (1923), 11
190. Wings over Europe: see Cathcart (2004), 249–50
190. ‘moonshine’: Rutherford, speech to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 11 September 1933, reported in The Times newspaper, 12 September 1933
190. Leo Szilard: see Lanouette (1992), Chapter 10
191. ‘The Atom Is Giving Up Its Mighty Secrets’: quoted Cathcart (2004), 253
191. ‘Cockcroft and Walton have disintegrated the lithium atom’: quoted Pharr Davis (1969), 43. See also Cathcart (2004), 254
191. ‘Many of the characters’: Farmelo (2009), 211
192. Anderson had started his research: the account that follows is based largely on Anderson (1961) and the interview of Anderson by Harriett Lyle, 9 January–8 February 1979, Caltech Archives.
192. ‘talked to Oppenheimer quite a bit’: Anderson, interview by Harriett Lyle, 9 January–8 February 1979, Caltech Archives.
193. ‘It beggars belief’: Farmelo (2009), 213
193. ‘Tell us, Dirac’: quoted ibid., 206
193. he told Heisenberg: this account was given by Heisenberg to Oskar Klein, who then repeated it to Kuhn and Heilbron in their AIP interview with him. See Oskar Klein, interview with TSK and John L. Heilbron, Session IV, 28.2.1963. See also Farmelo (2009), 206
194. ‘It seems necessary’: Anderson (1932), 239
194. fully worked out follow-up article: Anderson (1933)
194. ‘It is surprising to me’: Anderson, interview by Harriett Lyle, 9 January–8 February 1979, Caltech Archives