by Ray Monk
249. ‘the best mathematician’: Serber (1998), 48
249. ‘On Continued Gravitational Contraction’: Oppenheimer and Snyder (1939)
249. ‘When all thermonuclear sources’: ibid., 455
250. ‘The results’: JRO to GU, 5.2.1939, S & W, 209
250. ‘The star thus’: Oppenheimer and Snyder (1939), 456
250. the discovery in 1967: see Shipman (1976), 51–7
251. Wheeler tried to talk to him: see Bernstein (2004), 50
10. Fission
252. It began: there are many, many published accounts of the discovery of fission. Among the best and most interesting are those in: Frisch (1980), Jungk (1960), Kevles (1995), Rhodes (1988) and Sime (1996).
252. 19 December 1938: see Sime (1996), 233
252. ‘the emission’: quoted Rhodes (1988), 248
253. ‘But it’s impossible’: Frisch, interviewed by Charles Weiner, American Institute of Physics, New York City, 3 May 1967, AIP
254. ‘consider it perhaps possible’: quoted Rhodes (1988), 261
255. John Archibald Wheeler: see Wheeler (2000), Chapter 1, for a first-hand account of these events
255. ‘We didn’t make long-distance calls’: Luis Alvarez, interviewed by Charles Weiner and Barry Richman, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, 15 February 1967, AIP
256. ‘I remember exactly’: ibid.
256. ‘I played it’: ibid.
257. ‘You must come to Berkeley’: Royal (1969), 76
257. ‘I do not recall’: Rabi et al. (1969), 49
257. ‘The U business’: JRO to Fowler, c. 28.1.1939, S & W, 207–8
257. ‘I remember very vaguely’: William A. Fowler, interviewed by Charles Weiner, Caltech, 8 June 1972, Session II
258. ‘I think it really not too improbable’: JRO to GU, 5.2.1939, S & W, 209
258. ‘Oppie would write’: Serber (1998), 57
259. ‘a scrappy little man’: Michelmore (1969), 51
259. ‘had originally started’: ibid.
259. ‘New York Jews’: Pharr Davis (1969), 81
259. ‘One Jew in the department’: see Serber (1998), 50
259. Peters: see the obituary in Current Science, 64 (8), 25 April 1993
259. ‘a person as crazy as you’: B & S, 167
260. ‘On the basis of the data’: ibid., 168
260. ‘there was on the blackboard’: Rhodes (1988), 274–5
260. ‘Oppie gave some lectures’: William A. Fowler, interviewed by Charles Weiner, Caltech, 8 June 1972, Session II
260. The theory: see Bohr and Wheeler (1939)
260. ‘It was an exciting time’: Wheeler (2000), 21
260. ‘Bombs and reactors’: ibid., 23
261. ‘Now listen’: Rhodes (1988), 284
261. an initial paper: Bohr (1939)
261. ‘the number of neutrons’: quoted Rhodes (1988), 291
261. ‘That night’: ibid., 292
262. ‘Couldn’t you’: Laura Fermi (1961), 164
262. ‘It can never be done’: quoted Rhodes (1988), 294
262. two papers: see Joliot et al. (1939a and 1939b)
262. ‘Fermi was adamant’: Rhodes (1998), 296
262. German government imposed a ban: ibid.
262. On 12 July 1939: Lanouette (1994), 198. Rhodes (1988), 304, gives the date as 16 July. As far as I know, there is no conclusive evidence either way. Lanouette concedes that the date ‘has long been in dispute’ (518), but claims that his account ‘represents the latest assessment of the evidence’ (517).
263. on 2 August: Lanouette (1994), 201. Rhodes (1988), 307, says that this second visit took place ‘probably on Sunday, July 30’.
263. ‘it may become possible’: Einstein to Roosevelt, 2.8.1939. The letter is reproduced in full in Lanouette (1994), 205–6, and in Stoff et al. (1991), 18–19.
263. 11 October 1939: Lanouette (1994), 209, Rhodes (1988), 313. On this date they are in perfect agreement. See also Jungk (1960), 106
263. ‘What you are after’: Jungk (1960), 107. The many retellings of this exchange seem to be based on Jungk’s.
264. a very thorough review: see Turner (1940)
264. ‘Although less than a year’: ibid., 1
264. ‘The more familiar’: Segrè (1993), 134
265. ‘Lawrence was a tremendous influence’: quoted Pharr Davis (1969), 84
265. ‘the disagreeable fact’: Heilbron and Seidel (1990), 472
266. ‘the cyclotron man’: quoted Pharr Davis (1969), 69
266. ‘For obvious reasons’: EOL, circulated letter to scientists, 7.2.1939, quoted Hodes et al. (1985), 24
266. his next machine: see Pharr Davis (1969), 88
267. Segrè reports: see Segrè (1993), 151
267. ‘for the invention’: see http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1939/lawrence.html
267. When the award was presented: see Pharr Davis (1969), 88–93, and Heilbron and Seidel (1990), 485–93
267. ‘unforeseen difficulties’: Heilbron and Seidel (1990), 482
267. ‘synchrocyclotron’: see Pharr Davis (1969), 251
267. ‘Talking politics’: Segrè (1993), 139
267. ‘You have been having a very anxious time’: quoted Pharr Davis (1969), 85
268. ‘I still think war is going to be avoided’: quoted VanDeMark (2003), 57
268. ‘. . . was considered a demigod’: Segrè (1993), 138
268. ‘Oppenheimer and his group’: ibid., 138–9
268. ‘Oppenheimer and most of his acolytes’: ibid., 138
268. ‘great Fascist’: ibid., 139
269. ‘a wonderful contribution’: quoted Isserman (1993), 34
269. ‘changing opinion’: ITMO, 10
269. ‘did not mean’: ibid.
269. ‘It was in the fall of 1939’: Chevalier (1965), 31–2
270. ‘I know Charlie’: S & W, 211
270. ‘took special pride in it’: for Griffiths’s memoir and Oppenheimer’s Report, see the documents collected by Gregg Herken at: http://www.brotherhoodofthebomb.com/bhbsource/documents.html
271. ‘Keep America Out’: Isserman (1993), 43
271. ‘There has never been’: quoted Herken (2002), 32
271. ‘Europe is in the throes of a war’: quoted ibid., 31–2
272. ‘The time will come’: quoted above, on page 32
272. ‘for some reason’: Chevalier (1965), 36
273. ‘This is a time’: quoted Schweber (2000), 108
273. ‘the first occasion’: ibid.
274. ‘The Communists’: Isserman (1993), 64–5
274. Isserman provides telling quotations: ibid., 65
274. ‘Will not Hitler’: ibid., 66
275. ‘subject to foreign control’: ibid., 68
275. ‘the very acceptance’: ibid., 69
276. ‘It is time now’: S & W, 213
276. ‘fell in love with Robert’: Goodchild (1980), 39
276. At the time: for Kitty’s life before she met Oppenheimer, the fullest sources are Michelmore (1969), Goodchild (1980) and, especially, B & S.
276. ‘an impossible marriage’: quoted B & S, 161
276. She had been born: the source for most of what follows is B & S, Chapter Eleven.
276. ‘prince of a small principality’: B & S, 155
277. ‘I fell in love’: ibid., 156
277. ‘These were days of poverty’: Goodchild (1980), 38
277. ‘Because of Joe’s insistence’: ibid.
277. ‘As time went on’: ibid.
278. ‘She literally collapsed’: B & S, 160
278. ‘we met a very attractive girl’: Serber (1998), 51
278. ‘Kitty might come alone’: ibid., 59
278. ‘looking very aristocratic’: ibid., 59–60
278. ‘a bitch’: B & S, 163
278. ‘Kitty was a schemer’: Goodchild (1980), 39
279. ‘the most despicable female’: Pais (1997), 242
> 279. Steve Nelson: the main source of information about Nelson’s life is Nelson et al. (1981). Additional material is contained in B & S, which draws on an interview with Nelson, conducted by MJS, 17.6.1981. Herken (2002) contains further information drawn from FBI files.
280. Oppenheimer was the featured speaker: B & S, 162
280. ‘I’m going to marry’: ibid.
280. Hoover had written to the Secretary: Isserman (1993), 89
280. this led the FBI to Chevalier’s house: see B & S, 137
281. Asked about this meeting in 1946: ITMO, 10
281. again in 1950: ibid.
281. he remembered it in some detail: ibid., 139
281. ‘to acquaint the interested gentry’: ibid., 140
281. ‘the big shot’: ‘Synopsis of Facts’, 28.3.1981, paper originating case, filed by R. E. Meyer, JRO (consulted at the Library of Congress)
281. ‘persons to be considered’: memo from San Francisco FBI office to Hoover, 28.3.1981, JRO FBI file
281. ‘I may be out of job’: S & W, 216
282. ‘It was on our way’: Chevalier (1965), 41
282. ‘we sat up’: ibid., 42
282. ‘even now’: JRO to Edwin and Ruth Uehling, 17.5.1941, S & W, 216
282. ‘I think we’ll go to war’: ibid., 217
282. ‘I expect’: ibid.
282. ‘You are going’: S & W, 216
283. ‘theories of mesotron field’: ibid., 217
283. the historian of science, Silvan Schweber: see Schweber (2008), 31, 152–3
283. ‘but we are all agreed’: JRO to F. Wheeler Loomis, 13.5.1940, S & W, 211
283. ‘a good physicist’: ibid., 212
284. ‘asked Schiff searching questions’: Kelly (2006), 132
284. ‘On more than a few occasions’: ibid., 133
284. Julian Schwinger: for Schwinger’s life, see Mehra and Milton (2000) and the series of articles by Mehra, Milton and Rembiesa (Mehra et al. [1999a–e]). For an outline of his contributions to science, see Milton (2008), and for a detailed account of his work on QED, see Schweber (1994).
284. ‘were wondering’: ibid.
285. ‘thought Oppenheimer was a more interesting physicist’: Schweber (1994), 288
285. ‘Oppenheimer was the name’: Mehra et al. (1999c), 932
286. ‘was overwhelming’: ibid., 934
286. ‘I spoke to Oppenheimer’: ibid., 934–5
286. ‘At the early stage’: ibid., 934
287. ‘After all’: ibid., 935
287. a joint letter to the editor: Oppenheimer and Schwinger (1939)
287. ‘Schiff was then’: Mehra et al. (1999c), 935–6
287. ‘He wrote that letter’: ibid., 936
287. ‘means no more’: ibid., 937
288. ‘history might have developed differently’: ibid., 938
288. ‘I feel Oppie’: Kelly (2006), 136
288. ‘The Production of Soft Secondaries by Mesotrons’: Oppenheimer, Serber and Snyder (1939)
289. ‘the problem’: ibid., 75
289. ‘everybody at Berkeley’: Mehra et al. (1999c), 941
289. ‘On the Spin of the Mesotron’: Oppenheimer (1941)
289. ‘On the Interaction of Mesotrons and Nuclei’: Oppenheimer and Schwinger (1941)
289. ‘adequate technically’: Mehra et al. (1999c), 957
290. ‘I still did not quite know’: ibid., 962
290. ‘very much insisted’: ibid., 963
290. ‘became more and more superficial’: ibid.
290. ‘could pull it off’: ibid., 964
291. he published a formula: Peierls (1939)
291. ‘One day in February or March’: Peierls (1985), 153–4
292. ‘Even if’: ibid., 154
292. a two-part report: the report in full is printed as Appendix I in Serber (1992)
292. ‘What is impressive’: Bernstein (2004), 69
292. ‘Once assembled’: Serber (1992), 86
293. ‘I am convinced’: quoted Rhodes (1988), 325
293. ‘electrified by the possibility’: ibid., 330
293. ‘source of power in submarines’: quoted Schweber (2008), 331, note 29
293. ‘met niels’: see Rhodes (1988), 340
294. £5 million: ibid., 343
294. ‘the most extraordinary experience’: quoted Rhodes (1988), 357. For a detailed account of Conant’s visit to Britain, see Hershberg (1993), Chapter 8.
294. ‘introduced the subject’: Rhodes (1988), 359
294. ‘this was entirely’: quoted Hershberg (1993), 146
294. ‘light a fire’: Rhodes (1988), 360
294. ‘a very good idea’: ibid., 362
295. ‘an energetic but dispassionate review’: ibid.
295. 17 May 1941: ibid., 365
295. invited Charles Lauritsen: ibid., 368
295. ‘that the destructive effect’: ibid., 369
295. ‘a major push’: ibid.
295. ‘If Congress knew’: ibid., 372
295. ‘amazed and distressed’: ibid.
296. ‘I thought’: ibid., 373
296. joined by Oppenheimer: see Herken (2002), 40
296. ‘But that’s terrible’: Michelmore (1969), 66
Part III: 1941–1945
11. In on the Secret
299. ‘gossip among nuclear physicists’: Rhodes (1988), 373
299. ‘Oliphant’s behaviour’: Herken (2002), 40
300. Through Cairncross, for example: see West (2004), 10–18
300. ‘Venona’ project: see Haynes and Klehr (2000) and Romerstein and Breindel (2001)
301. ‘involuntary conference’: Rhodes (1988), 376
301. ‘Ernest’: ibid.
301. policy group: ibid., 378
302. ‘Oppenheimer has important new ideas’: quoted Herken (2002), 42
302. ‘a great deal of confidence’: ibid.
302. ‘reliable confidential informant’: Romerstein and Breindel (2001), 264
302. ‘him’: ibid., 265
302. Oppenheimer had contacted Folkoff: ibid.
303. ‘I think surely’: S & W, 215
303. ‘All of a sudden’: Martin Kamen, interview with MJS, 18.1.1979, quoted B & S, 178
303. ‘not without envy’: ITMO, 11
303. ‘guarantees not the right to a belief’: S & W, 219
304. The meeting opened: for the details of the meeting, see Rhodes (1988), 382–3
304. 100 pounds: ibid., 382
304. Urey told Compton: see Compton (1956), 54
305. Their paper: ‘Radioactive Element 93’, Physical Review, 57, 1185–6 (1940)
305. to the disgust of James Chadwick: see Brown (1997), 206
305. made a conclusive identification of element 94: on the ‘secret discovery’ of plutonium, see Seaborg (2001), Chapter Seven.
306. which he put at about 220 pounds: Rhodes (1988), 382
306. ‘some hundreds of millions of dollars’: Compton (1956), 57
306. ‘lest the government’: ibid.
306. ‘always been rather proud’: ibid.
306. ‘a fission bomb’: ibid., 59. See also Rhodes (1988), 386
307. ‘I don’t want you to join it’: Childs (1968), 319
307. ‘I had hoped’: JRO to EOL, 12.11.1941, S & W, 220
308. the two had lunch the next day: Schecter and Schecter (2002), 47–8. See also Sudoplatov (1994), 174–5
308. ‘one of the leaders’: ibid., 50
309. ‘learn the chemistry’: Compton (1956), 77
309. ‘The period’: ibid., 79
309. ‘You’ll never get a chain reaction going here’: ibid., 81
310. ‘represent, in the opinion of this office’: Agent Pieper to J. Edgar Hoover, 26.1.1942, JRO FBI file
310. ‘follow proper procedure’: Hoover to Pieper, 15.4.1942, JRO FBI file
311. ‘Whoever gets this first’: quoted Hershberg (1993), 158
311. ‘Oh! . . . Oh!
. . .’: ibid.
311. 9 March 1942: see Rhodes (1988), 405
311. ‘New and compelling reasons’: S & W, 223
311. ‘the desirability’: EOL to JBC, 26.3.1942, quoted Herken (2002), 51
312. ‘nervously chain-smoking’: Herken (2002), 54
312. ‘Uranium was never mentioned’: Lomanitz, interview with Gregg Herken, 1996, quoted Herken (2002), 348, note 141
312. The 184-inch Calutron was switched on: see Herken (2002), 60
313. ‘a few weeks after Pearl Harbor’: Serber (1998), 65
313. ‘There, alone in that rural setting’: ibid.
313. he did not do until May: see Rhodes (1988), 410
313. ‘Breit was always frightened’: Goodchild (1980), 48
314. ‘Breit was a terrible choice’: Pharr Davis (1969), 124
314. ‘Compton, who had’: ibid., 125
314. ‘I do not believe’: Rhodes (1988), 410
314. On 28 April 1942: see Herken (2002), 347, note 116
315. ‘I went down’: Serber (1998), 67–8
315. 23 May 1942: Rhodes (1988), 406
315. On 17 June: ibid.
316. ‘I didn’t take up’: Serber (1998), 68
316. ‘provided, of course’: ibid.
316. ‘luminaries’: S & W, 227
317. ‘Separating isotopes’: Bernstein (1981), 70
317. ‘tremendous stacks of graphite’: ibid., 71
317. ‘I then’: ibid.
318. by Fermi: see Teller (2001), 157
319. ‘heavy hydrogen’: quoted Rhodes (1988), 416
319. ‘We had a compartment’: Bernstein (1981), 72
319. According to one account: see Goodchild (1980), 51
320. ‘Everybody agreed’: Serber (1998), 71
320. ‘The theory of the fission bomb’: Rhodes (1988), 417
320. ‘a detonation wave’: Serber (1998), 71
320. ‘everybody forgot’: ibid.
320. ‘At one point’: ibid.
320. ‘found something’: Compton (1956), 127
321. ‘could not be passed’: ibid., 128
321. ‘Oppenheimer’s team’: ibid.
321. ‘some unjustified assumptions’: Rhodes (1988), 419
321. ‘but then’: ibid., 418
321. ‘The conference’: Serber (1998), 72
321. ‘As Chairman’: Goodchild (1980), 52–3
321. ‘A spirit of spontaneity’: Rhodes (1988), 419
322. ‘The intellectual experience’: Bethe (1997), 187–8
322. ‘would require’: Rhodes (1988), 420
322. ‘We have become convinced’: ibid., 421