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