Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer

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Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer Page 111

by Ray Monk


  upset by Greenglass affair 421, 422, 424

  at RO’s hearing 361–2, 382, 422, 613–14

  Larmor, Sir Joseph 193

  Latimer, Wendell 605, 616, 626

  Laurence, William L. 440, 449

  Lauritsen, Charles C. 213

  with RO at Caltech 174, 213

  at Kellogg Radiation Laboratory 213

  collaborates with RO 213–14

  and Frank Oppenheimer 219

  and discovery of fission 258

  and Soviet-German Pact 270

  RO and Kitty meet at his party 276, 278

  and MAUD Committee 295, 301

  RO’s letters to 461, 478

  signs statement to government on use of H-bomb 557

  on Long Range Objectives Panel 561

  and Project Vista 565

  arranges Lincoln Laboratory summer school 580

  a member of ‘ZORC’ 581, 591

  and RO’s 60th birthday tribute 658

  Lawrence, Ernest 167–8, 203

  joins Birge and Loeb at Berkeley 168

  and Rutherford’s challenge 168

  builds cyclotron 168–9

  relations with RO 169–70, 175, 181, 182, 186

  baffled by Heisenberg’s and Dirac’s theories 171

  builds larger cyclotrons 186–7, 188

  marriage 191

  pre-empted by Cockcroft and Walton 191

  humiliated at Solvay Congress (1933) 207

  his cyclotron used to make radioactive materials 215–16, 225

  dislikes RO’s students 259

  Segré’s view of 265

  Bethe’s view of 265, 266–7

  solely interested in cyclotron 265–6, 267

  successful lecture tours 266

  awarded Nobel Prize (1939) 169, 196, 267

  naivety about war 267–8

  and Dancoff 283

  exasperated by Brigg’s uranium committee 294

  and Oliphant’s revelation of bomb project to RO 296, 301

  and MAUD Committee findings 299, 301, 304

  agrees to make fission bombs 301

  creates security nightmare 312

  takes on Frank Oppenheimer to build cyclotron 312

  wants RO included in Compton’s meeting 302, 303, 304

  as member of S-1 committee 306–7, 308–9

  and RO’s politics 307, 308

  proposes electromagnetic method for isotope separation 308–9, 311

  bets against Chicago getting a chain reaction going 309

  collaborates with RO 311

  wants him to serve as member of S-1 311–12

  and ‘Calutrons’ 312, 324, 406

  pushes for McMillan to head Los Alamos 329

  and Lomanitz 364, 368

  as member of Scientific Advisory Panel 430, 466

  views on use of bomb 434–5, 458

  will have nothing to do with Frank Oppenheimer 537

  campaigns for crash programme for H-bomb 543–5, 546, 548, 555

  bets on sucess of Greenhouse tests 568

  anti-RO 571

  and establishment of second laboratory 571–2, 574

  suspects RO’s loyalty 605

  wins Fermi Award 655

  RO’s letters to 181, 182, 216–17, 459, 478

  Lawrence, Mary (née Blumer) 191

  Lawrence Livermore Laboratory 572–4, 608

  Lazarus, Emma: poem on Statue of Liberty 16

  Lazarus, Robert 38

  LeBaron, Robert 561

  Lee, General Robert E. 42

  Lee, Tsung-Dao 632–3, 640–41, 642, 665, 666

  Lehmann, Lloyd 335, 336, 364

  Lehmans, the 9

  Leiden University 113, 131, 136, 140–41, 151, 152–3, 155–6, 157, 211

  Leipzig University 122, 136, 156, 157, 158–9, 214, 262, 399

  Lenard, Philipp 198

  Leprince-Ringuet, Louis 516

  ‘lepton’ 541

  Lewis, E. P. 166, 167

  Lewis, Gilbert N. 166, 167, 183

  Thermodynamics (with Randall) 75, 166

  Lewis, Hal 507

  ‘The Multiple Production of Mesons’ (with RO and Wouthuysen) 509

  Lewis, Roger 163, 222

  Lewis, Warren K.: committee 353, 354

  Lewis, William C. McC. 75–6

  A System of Physical Chemistry 75, 76, 79n, 87

  Libby, Leona 576

  Libby, Willard 566, 571, 575, 577

  Life magazine 508, 583, 593, 609

  article on RO 539, 540–43, 544, 558

  ‘Atomic Weapons and American Policy’ 594–5

  article on RO hearing 615—16

  profile of Teller 629–30

  Lilienthal, David 479

  admires RO 479–80

  on RO’s despair 490

  as chairman of AEC 493, 495

  and Strauss 539

  asks RO to arrange GAC meeting after Soviet bomb 544

  summarises Rabi’s views 548

  opposes Super programme 552

  presents AEC recommendations to Truman 553, 554

  retires 555, 566, 571

  and attack on RO 591

  at RO’s hearing 614

  see also Acheson, Dean

  Lilienthal, Max 6, 9, 11

  Lincoln, Abraham, President 8, 11

  Lincoln Laboratory see Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Lindemann, Frederick see Cherwell, Lord

  lithium 184, 188–90, 191, 252, 257, 318

  lithium-6 586, 587, 594

  ‘Little Boy’ 409–10, 441, 444, see Hiroshima, bombing of

  Livingston, Milton Stanley 186–7, 215

  Loeb, Leonard 167, 168, 171, 175, 283

  Lomanitz, Rossi:

  as CP member 312, 365

  shown paper on Calutron by RO 312

  under FBI surveillance 335, 358, 366, 383

  considers leaving Rad Lab 335n

  and RO 357, 367–8, 375, 377–8, 533, 611, 620

  all job offers withdrawn 378–9

  drafted into army 358, 364–5, 367, 456

  subpoenaed by HUAC 532–3

  and RO’s disloyalty to Peters 536

  Loomis, Francis Wheeler 283, 579, 621, 658

  RO to 283

  Lorelei (yacht) 31

  Lorentz, H. A. 151

  Los Alamos laboratory:

  establishment of 38, 325–6, 328-31, 333–4, 338–41, 403–4

  SED 420–21, 422

  post-war tests 487–90

  Los Alamos Primer, The 350, 352, 409

  Los Alamos Ranch School 50, 328, 333, 334, 338

  Lovett, Robert, Secretary of State for Defense 574, 575, 579, 584

  Lowell, Abbot Lawrence 52–5, 56, 61, 63, 64, 88

  Lowell, Robert 656

  Luce, Henry 593

  Lyman, Theodore 148

  McAllister, Ward: Social Register 15

  McCarthy, Senator Joseph/McCarthyites 220, 221–2, 556, 584, 591–2, 598, 615, 645

  McCloy, John 480, 617–19, 626

  McCone, John 645

  MacInnes, Duncan 403

  McKibbin, Dorothy 338–9, 458, 467

  Maclean, Donald 300, 390

  McMahon, Senator Brien 473, 475, 478, 538, 551–2, 553, 556, 578

  McMahon Act 492–3, 499, 555

  McMaster University 650

  McMillan, Ed 216, 264, 305, 327, 328, 329, 353, 355, 414

  Malina, Frank 236

  Malraux, André 601

  Manchester Guardian 196

  Manhattan Beach Company 12–13

  Manhattan Project 323–9, 331–2, 338, 341, 355, 403, 406, 410

  security 341, see G-2 and Groves, Colonel Leslie

  and the British 390, 391, 397

  Hungarian scientists 412

  international knowledge of 443, 451–2, 458–9

  and AEC/GAC 493, 499, 555–6

  see also Los Alamos; ‘Trinity Project’

  Manley, John 326–7, 329–30, 331, 339, 340, 351,
353, 449–50, 463, 547, 549, 550, 553

  Mann, Wilfrid: Lawrence to 267–8

  Marks, Herbert 480, 524, 602, 603, 605, 608, 609, 610, 614, 628

  Marshak, Robert 501, 504, 509, 542, 634

  Marshall, Colonel James C. 323, 326

  Marshall, General George 430, 443, 455, 474, 505–6, 547

  ‘Marshall Plan’ 505

  Martin, Ian 163

  Marx, Karl 233

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 126, 130, 133n, 353, 505, 510, 585, 591

  Lincoln Laboratory/Project Lincoln 579–80

  Lincoln summer school 579, 581, 591

  MAUD Committee 293–6, 299, 300, 301, 304, 315

  Maxwell, James Clerk 85, 154, 156–7

  A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism 73

  May, Andrew 465, 473

  May, Kenneth 240

  May–Johnson Bill 465–7, 471, 472, 473–5, 477, 492, 505

  Mayer, Maria: Teller to 551

  Mehra, Jagdish 521

  Meitner, Lise 252, 253, 254, 255, 293, 318

  Mendell, Clarence 55

  Mendelssohn, Moses 5

  Menzel, Donald 492

  Merritt, Benjamin 508

  Merton, Robert 652

  mesons x, xii, 226–7, 288, 289, 491, 502–4, 509, 516, 528, 541, 634, 638–40, 666

  ‘mesotrons’ 226–7, 288–9

  ‘Met Lab’ see Chicago University

  Meyer, Agnes 656

  Meyer, Eugene 656

  Michelmore, Peter: The Swift Years 224

  Michigan, University of 132, 141, 255

  Mickelson, Sig 643

  ‘Mike’ test 569, 570, 582, 584–7, 594

  Miller, Merle 484–5

  Millikan, Robert A.:

  heads Caltech 145, 146

  and rumours regarding RO 175–6

  and ‘cosmic rays’ 180–81, 245

  attacks RO and Carlson for discrediting his views 182–3

  and Anderson’s cosmic-ray research 191, 192, 193, 227

  and Einstein 197

  and Bohr 206

  80th birthday 516

  Milnor, John 655

  Milton, John 92

  Minnesota, University of 536–7

  Mirsky, Prince 90

  MIT see Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Mitchell, William 607

  Molotov, Vyacheslav 453

  Montgomery, Deane 654

  Morgan, Thomas 608, 619, 620

  Morgans, the 9

  Morgenthau, Henry 15, 280

  Morrell, Lady Ottoline 62, 90

  Morrill, James 537

  Morrison, Emily 425

  Morrison, Philip 259, 260, 264, 425, 428, 444, 454, 459, 462, 463, 506, 573, 658

  Morse, Philip 144

  Mott, Nevill 391, 491

  Mott-Smith, L. M. 161

  Mount Kisco conferences 655–7, 667

  Mount Wilson Observatory 245, 247

  Muir, Robert 240

  Murphree, Eger V. 307

  Murphy, Charles: ‘The Hidden Struggle for the H-bomb’ 590–91

  Murphy, G. N. 183

  Murray, Lieutenant James S. 381

  Murray, Thomas E. 571, 574, 623

  Murrow, Edward 456, 633, 634

  Muzzey, David 32

  Nabokov, Nicolas 646, 656

  Nafe, John 504, 510

  Nagasaki, bombing of 319–20, 443, 453–5, 457–8

  aftermath 462, 557

  Nation: Chevalier’s letter to RO 629

  National Academy of Sciences 505, 513, 575

  RO to 529–30

  Proceedings 143, 144

  National Defense Research Council (NDRC) 293, 294, 295

  National Research Council, US (NRC) 128, 132–3, 141, 145, 146, 148, 150, 151, 204, 211, 223, 284, 285, 286

  Nature 116, 184, 187, 189, 190, 254, 255, 504

  Nazi Party 116n, 123, 124, 198, 221, 230, 231

  atomic weapons 380–81, 393–4, 395–7

  NDRC see National Defense Research Council

  Neddermeyer, Seth:

  collaborates with Anderson on cosmic rays 205, 225, 227, 228

  develops implosion concept 352–3

  on Los Alamos board 354

  heads Implosion Experimentation Group 355, 411–12, 413, 414, 419

  sidelined by RO 415

  Nedelsky, Leo 175, 199, 204, 208, 223

  Nedelsky, Wenonah 223

  Nehru, Jawaharlal 563

  Nelson, Edward 504, 510

  Nelson, Eldred 289, 290, 312, 316, 319, 320

  Nelson, Margaret 343

  Nelson, Steve (né Stefan Mesarosh) 279–80

  with Dallet in Spain 277–8

  and Kitty Oppenheimer 278, 279, 280

  rises in CP ranks 279, 280

  meets RO 280

  and Folkoff 302

  under FBI surveillance 334–5, 336, 343–5

  last meeting with RO 336

  and Lehmann 334–5, 336, 364

  and Weinberg 343, 344, 345, 357, 358, 366, 374–5, 494, 533, 536

  neutrinos 178n, 180, 186, 228

  neutron stars 245, 246, 247, 248–9, 250, 283

  neutrons 94n, 99, 183, 184–5, 186, 189, 193, 213, 226, 228, 261, 646

  Pauli’s 177, 178, 180, 181, 183, 186

  Nevada, USS 489

  New Deal 219, 242, 243, 271

  Newman, James 473

  New Mexico 45, 46ff., 84–5

  Newton, Isaac 113, 115, 193

  New York:

  Jews 4–8, 9–16, 31

  Harmonie Club 11

  Union League Club 11, 17

  West 94th St 22, 24

  Riverside Drive 29, 479

  New York Herald 12

  New York Herald Tribune 488, 503, 663

  New York Mineralogical Club 31

  New York Times 32, 54, 182, 191, 196, 216, 422, 440, 449, 467, 495, 525, 554, 625, 634, 641, 667

  Magazine 663

  New Yorker 446

  Nichols, Lt Colonel Kenneth D. 322–3, 326, 382, 436, 561, 602, 603–4, 606, 607, 608, 609, 620, 621–3, 626

  Nichols, L. B. 591–2

  Nixon, Richard 534, 601, 649

  NKVD 308, 345, 391, 423

  Nobel Prize winners 56, 78, 85, 94, 95, 100, 102, 103, 105, 116, 126, 128, 139, 145, 147, 158, 167, 169, 196, 209, 212, 248, 267, 317, 403, 501, 526, 530, 566, 640, 641, 651, 659

  Nordau, Max 10–11

  Nordheim, Gertrude 229

  Nordheim, Lothar 229

  Norstad, General Lauris 548, 565

  Norton, Garrison 577

  NRC see National Research Council, US

  Oak Ridge, Tennessee 323, 326, 328n, 331–2, 341, 343, 349, 353, 358, 372, 387, 406, 408, 410, 414, 423, 537

  Observer 599

  Occhialini, Giuseppe (Beppo) 194–5, 220

  Ofstie, Admiral Ralph 563

  O’Keefe, Bernard 452, 453

  Oldstone conference (1949) 529–30

  Oliphant, Mark 293, 295–6, 299, 300, 301, 308

  Olson, Loren K. 645

  Oppenheimer, Babette (née Rothfeld) 9

  Oppenheimer, Benjamin (grandfather) 9, 26, 31

  Oppenheimer, Ella (née Friedman; mother) 18–19

  has deformed hand 19

  wedding 19–20

  builds art collection 22

  and RO 24, 25–6, 39, 44, 51, 142

  and death of second son 25

  attends Ethical Culture Society meetings 26–7

  and move to Riverside Drive 29

  as a Jew 72, 73

  in Europe en famille 44

  in New Mexico 84–5

  visits RO in Cambridge 93, 94

  takes him to France 98

  insists he see psychiatrist 98

  in New Mexico 163

  visits RO at Pasadena 173

  illness and death 179–80, 191

  Oppenheimer, Emil (uncle) 9, 18

  Oppenheimer, Francis (Frank; brother):

  birth 25, 29


  and RO 25, 29, 39, 151

  on family trips 44, 84–5

  sails with RO 140

  at Riverside Drive 141

  crashes car 150–51

  at Perro Caliente 163, 179, 222

  advised about women by RO 170

  RO buys him a car 179

  at Johns Hopkins 179, 220, 221

  at American Physical Society meeting 182

  at Cambridge 198, 209

  at Caltech 219, 223

  political interests 219–21

  and Melba Phillips 222

  marriage 223–4

  joins CP 235–6

  organises communist group at Caltech 236

  at Perro Caliente with RO and family 276, 278

  works with Bloch 281

  CP membership ruins career 281

  taken on by Lawrence to build cyclotron 312

  his name given to Groves by RO 378, 382, 383–4

  under surveillance 388–9

  at Los Alamos 425

  and first atomic explosion 440

  FBI dossier on 499

  at Caltech conference on cosmic rays (1948) 516

  and Weinberg 533

  RO refuses to answer questions about 533

  appalled by RO’s disloyalty to Peters 535

  summoned before HUAC 536

  dismissed by Minnesota University 536–7

  rejected by Lawrence 537

  becomes a rancher 537

  RO’s letters to 29–30, 147, 149, 154, 163–4, 170, 173–4, 179–80, 194, 196–7, 198, 199, 200–1, 203–4, 207, 209, 210–11, 218, 219, 519, 524, 532

  Oppenheimer, Hedwig (aunt) 9

  Oppenheimer, Jackie (née Quann; sister-in-law) 223–4, 234, 235, 236, 276, 278–9, 281, 425, 426, 536, 537

  Oppenheimer, Judith (niece) 276

  Oppenheimer, Julius (father) 8, 67

  early life 9, 16–17, 18

  marriage 18, 19–20

  career 20

  and Ethical Society 20, 21, 22, 26–7, 33, 34

  builds up art collection 22

  relations with RO 24, 25, 26, 34–5, 37, 70

  buys yacht 31

  buys sloop for RO 31, 39

  arranges special tuition for him 38

  in Germany and New Mexico en famille 44, 84–5

  as a Jew 72, 73

  visits RO at Cambridge 93, 94

  arranges psychiatric treatment for him 97

  takes him to France 98

  persuaded to lease Perro Caliente 149–50

  visits RO at Pasadena 173

  buys him a car 173

  and wife’s death 180, 182

  lives with RO 197, 198

  death 231

  Oppenheimer, Katherine (‘Kitty’; wife) (née Puening, formerly Harrison) 276–8

  meets RO 276, 278

  disliked by Jackie Oppenheimer 278–9, 425

  becomes pregnant 279

  divorce and marriage to RO 279

  and CP 279, 280

  and Peter’s birth 281

  and the Chevaliers 281–2

  influences RO 336

  Lansdale’s opinion of 361–2

 

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