nuclear reactors, 182
constructing the Hanford plutonium reactor, 228–229
Fermi’s legacy, 361–363
Fermi’s plan and calculations, 196–197
Fermi’s working exponential pile, 184–186
implosion method with a plutonium bomb, 237–239
modified pile at Columbia, 190–192
X-10 plutonium reactor, 221–223
See also Columbia University; University of Chicago
nuclear testing, 361–362
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 203–204, 207, 217, 221–223, 247
Obama, Barack, 328, 361
Occhialini, Giuseppe, 87–88
Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), 320
“On the Quantization of a Perfect Monatomic Gas” (Fermi), 55
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 193, 248, 251, 254, 356
Berkeley work on uranium, 223
contribution to the Manhattan Project, 267
European-style physics, 221
Fermi’s opinion of, 225–227
Fermi’s summer work, 129
GAC chair, 290, 297–299
Groves and, 223–224
Interim Committee decision, 252–254
national security controversy and hearings, 307–313, 335–336, 343
test shot, 257
Orear, Jay, 293, 328–329
Pancini, Ettore, 264–265, 276
paraffin block experiment, 120–125, 178
Paris conference (1932), 113
Parsons, William “Deak,” 238
particle accelerators, 127–128. See also cyclotron
particle physics, 87–88, 292–293, 357–358
Pasta, John, 291
patent for the slow-neutron technique, 318–322
Pauli, Wolfgang, 44, 90(fig.), 112(fig.)
beta radiation, 103, 112
Como conference, 89–90
intellectual gifts and personal appearance, 47
neutrino theory, 104
on Dirac, 51
philosophical aspects of quantum theory, 36
the Zeeman effect, 48–49
University of Göttingen students, 34
See also exclusion principle, Pauli’s
Pearl Harbor, Japan’s attack on, 186
Pegram, George, 129, 135, 150, 164–168, 180–181, 191, 265
Peierls, Eugenia, 262
Peierls, Rudolf, 88, 235, 239–240, 288
“perfect gas,” 54–57
Persico, Enrico, 10–12, 18–19, 27–29, 38, 42, 58, 64–65, 79(fig.), 87–88, 111, 111(fig.), 121, 338
Philby, Kim, 321
photon, theory of the, 98, 187–188
physics
Amidei’s education, 13
attracting students to the Rome School, 81–83
Castelnuovo’s salons, 64
dark side, 365
Enrico and Laura Fermi’s writings, 73–74
Fermi’s curriculum and lecturers, 21–22
Fermi’s early interest and experiments, 11–12, 16
Fermi’s independent reading, 25–26
Fermi’s intellectual stimulation under Amidei, 14–15
Fermi’s international summer travels for, 74–77
Fermi’s self-education through reading, 15–16
mathematics as precursor for Fermi’s study of, 17
Pauli’s genius, 47
the Fermis’ honeymoon, 70–71
University of Göttingen, 34–35
See also experimental physics; nuclear physics; theoretical physics
Piccioni, Oreste, 131, 264–265, 276
pile, atomic
assembly in the squash court, 204
construction at the University of Chicago, 205–207
ellipsoidal design, 199–200
instrumentation, 200
move to Chicago, 193–196
safety mechanisms, 200–201
See also CP-1/CP-2/CP-3; nuclear reactors
pion-proton scattering, 294–295, 330–331, 358–359
pions, 127–128, 275–276, 284, 326
Pisa. See Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
Planck, Max, 25–26, 44, 89
Planck, Miriam, 302, 302(fn)
plutonium, 186, 197
doubts about the use in the Project, 236
reactor construction at Hanford, 228–229
uranium isotope separation work, 203–204, 207
X-10 plutonium reactor, 221–223
poisoning, reactor, 231–233
Poisson, Siméon-Denis, 15–16, 19
political beliefs, Fermi’s, 364–365
polonium, 113–114
Polya, George, 155
Pontecorvo, Bruno, 87, 109, 120–121, 123, 126, 240, 318–319, 321–322, 334
positrons, 104, 113
Potsdam Conference (1945), 261
practical jokes and teasing, 23–24, 53–54, 65–67
pregnancy, Libby’s, 219
pressure wave calculation, 259
Princeton University, 156–157, 161, 184, 196, 326
probability and statistics, 37–38, 328–329, 364–365
problem-solving skills, Fermi’s, 221, 226–227, 347–348, 363–364
Prohibition, 75
projective geometry, 13–14
proton bombardment, 127–128, 276, 292–293
public policy issues, 304
Q clearances, 297–298
quantum electrodynamics (QED), 96–98, 100–101, 103–105, 287–288
quantum field, 51
quantum theory
early discoveries and theories, 44–46
integrating with statistical mechanics, 42
Maxwell’s equations, 97–98
Oppenheimer’s background in, 226
Pascual Jordan, 34–35
Paul Dirac’s contribution, 50–52
Pauli’s exclusion principle, 49–50, 54–57
philosophical aspects of, 36
Solvay conference, 88–89
Zeeman effect, 48–49
quarks, 295–296, 326, 358
Rabi, I. I., 154, 157, 162, 171, 257, 286, 300, 311, 330, 349
radiation exposure, 260–261
radium, 114–115, 164
railroad system, 4
Raman effect, 110
Rasetti, Franco, 25(fig.), 70(fig.), 115(fig.)
admission to the Scuola physics program, 27
Como conference, 90
continuing slow-neutron research, 127
crocodile spectrograph, 109(fig.)
electron theory, 16
Fermi’s courtship of Laura, 65–66, 68
Fermi’s departure from Italy, 142
Fermi’s early friendship with, 23–26
Fermi’s position in Florence, 43
Fermi’s wedding to Laura, 69
neutron bombardment research, 115–117
nuclear physics research, 109–110
patent controversy, 318, 322
Rome conference, 111
Rome School, 82, 86–87
slow-neutron process, 124
University of Florence, 53–54
war years, 264
reactors. See nuclear reactors
refractive-index formula, 220–221
relativity, theory of
electron spin, 49
Fermi’s appreciation for the potential of, 28–29
Fermi’s interest in, 11–12
Fermi’s strong grasp of, 26
Pauli’s contribution to, 47
quantum electrodynamics, 98–99
Solvay conferences, 88–89
resonance absorption, 173–174
resonance particle, 293
Reye, Theodor, 13–14
Richardson, Owen W., 16, 112(fig.)
Robinson, Martin, 315–318
Rockefeller Fellowship, 41–42
Rome conferences, 110–111, 111(fig.), 112(fig.), 131–132
Rome School of physics
as group endeavor, 87–88
core personnel, 81–83
curriculum, 83–86
dispersion of personnel, 126–127, 131–132
early work in nuclear physics, 108
Fermi’s work on QED, 99–100
Fermi’s work on statistical mechanics, 95–96
Joliot-Curies’ paper on neutron bombardment, 114–115
Lo Surdo’s directorship, 91–93, 132–133
neutron bombardment, 114–118
nuclear physics, 108–109
physics as soma, 130–131
pi-meson/muon research, 276
playfulness among teachers and students, 86–87
popularity among students, 88
slow-neutron process, 120–125
Roosevelt, Franklin, 180, 183, 202–203
Rosenberg, Ethel, 304
Rosenberg, Julius, 304
Rosenbluth, Marshall, 285
Rosenfeld, Arthur, 293, 309, 325, 328, 330
Rosenfeld, Leon, 156–157, 161
Rossi, Bruno, 87–88, 238–239, 284–285, 341
Rostagni, Antonio, 79(fig.)
Rostagni, Maria, 79(fig.)
Rutherford, Ernest, 89, 102–103, 108–109, 112, 114, 118, 127, 151–152
safety of the pile, 200–201, 207–209, 222–223, 228
Sarfatti, Margherita, 134
Schluter, Robert, 325
Schrödinger, Erwin, 50, 138–139, 315
Schwinger, Julian, 99, 287–288
SCRAM mechanism, 200–201
Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
analytical chemistry, 25–26
building and grounds, 20–21
effect of World War I on, 17–18
experimental physics lab work, 27
Fermi’s classmates, 23
Fermi’s curriculum and friends, 20–30
Fermi’s dissertation and graduation, 29–30, 37
Fermi’s entrance exam, 19
history of, 18
Seaborg, Glenn, 197, 207, 252, 266
secrecy in fission research, 161–162, 164–165, 168, 185–186, 212–213, 253–254, 312–313
security, military, 202–203, 229
security, national, 307–315
Segrè, Emilio, 115(fig.)
Castelnuovo salons, 64
dispersion of the Rome School, 126
Fermi’s illness and death, 342–343
fishing, 245
Italy’s annexation by Germany, 128–129
Los Alamos, 235–236
neutron bombardment research, 116, 118
Nobel Prize, 331–332
nuclear physics research, 109–110
patent controversy, 318–320
plutonium as fission material, 222, 239–240
Rome School, 82–87
Rome team’s failure in neutron experiments, 157–158
work on uranium, 223
segregation, 306–307
shell model of the nucleus, 276–278
Shepley, James, 309, 328, 343
sintering, 190–191
skiing, 244, 245(fig.)
slow-neutron technique, 72, 120–127, 144, 182–184, 193, 318–322
Solvay, Ernest, 88, 91, 187–188
Solvay conferences, 88–89, 104, 113, 144, 286
Sommerfeld, Arnold, 47, 89–91, 93, 112(fig.), 138
Soviet Union, 249–250, 261
fission test in 1949, 299
Fuchs’s espionage for, 301–302
German invasion of, 181–182
Oppenheimer hearings, 307–308
pact with Germany, 180
Pontecorvo’s defection, 321–322
Rosenberg espionage case, 304–305
spin, particle, 99
spin-orbital coupling, 276–278
splitting the atom. See fission, nuclear
square dancing, 246–247
statistical mechanics, 37, 54–57, 90–91, 95–96, 282–283
Steinberger, Jack, 284–286, 307, 324, 327–328, 331–332
Stern, Otto, 110, 139
Stimson, Henry, 250, 252–253
Strassman, Friedrich “Fritz,” 119, 151, 156–157, 356–357
Strauss, Lewis, 301
strong force, 291–294, 358
“Super” project, 238–239, 244, 263–264, 300–301, 308–310, 328. See also hydrogen bomb
Sweden: Nobel Prize award, 142–145
swimming, 194–195
Szilard, Leo, 169, 211(fig.)
chain reaction, 154–155, 161, 163–165, 208
collaboration with Fermi, 172–173
end of the war in Europe, 250
FDR letter on fission weapons research, 249
graphite moderator for the chain reaction, 179–181, 183
Interim Committee decision, 252, 254
legacy of, 362–363
move to Chicago, 193
natural uranium reaction, 172–174
patent, 319
purity of fission materials, 199
secrecy over fission research, 162, 168
success of the chain reaction, 211–212, 215
the Hungarian refugees, 242
Taft, Horace, 293
Taylor instability, 291
teaching skills, Fermi’s, 84–86, 101, 323–332
Telegdi, Valentine, 278, 310, 324, 332, 350–351
Teller, Edward, 162
Chien Ning Yang and, 326
cosmic-ray studies, 281
Fermi’s confidence in the reactor experiment, 214–215
Fermi’s illness and death, 342–343
fusion research, 192–193, 239
government interest in fission weapons research, 179
hydrogen bomb research, 299, 302
Manhattan Project work, 183
Oppenheimer hearings, 308–311, 311(fn), 335–336
Rome School, 88
“Super” project, 244, 263–264
the Hungarian refugees, 156
von Neumann and, 242
Teller, Paul, 289(fig.)
tennis, 291, 291(fn)
test shot, 256–260, 258(fig.)
textbook publication, 315–318
theoretical physics
Corbino’s political and academic plan for Italy, 59
Fermi bridging the gap between experimentalism and, 27–28
Fermi’s graduate students, 327
first Italian academic chair, 58
Marie Curie’s skepticism towards, 36–37
Oppenheimer’s background in, 226
Pauli’s contribution to, 47
Rome School, 80
University of Michigan symposium, 74–75
See also quantum electrodynamics
Thomson, J. J., 45, 226
thorium, 191
“tickling the dragon,” 247
Tomonaga, Sin-Itiro, 99, 287
Trabacchi, Giulio Cesare, 114–116, 124, 126, 318–319, 321
transuranic elements, creation of, 118–119, 144, 151–152
trinitite, 259
Trinity site, 256–260, 258(fig.), 260–261
Truman, Harry, 261, 299, 301–302, 307–308
Tube Alloys project, 239–240
Tuve, Merle, 156, 170
“two lire” game, 86
Uhlenbeck, George, 41–42, 49, 74–76, 99
Ulam, Stan, 224, 290–291, 291(fn), 299, 302, 302(fn), 335, 344–345
United States
Fermi’s meeting with the US Navy, 165–171
Fermi’s summers at Columbia, 129
interest in uranium chain reaction research, 179–180
Laura Fermi’s initial dislike, 74–76, 149–150
National Academy of Sciences conferences, 286–287
settling in New York, 154
See also Columbia University; Los Alamos, New Mexico; Manhattan Project; University of Chicago
universal force, nuclear, 285
University of Chicago
achieving criticality, 207
–212
bringing the pile to criticality, 207–212
Chandrasekhar’s work, 282–283
construction of the pile, 196–198, 205–207
cyclotron experiments on strong force principles, 291–294
Fermi’s lecture skills, 324–325
Met Lab’s move to Argonne, 217
moving the pile project to, 193–196
redesigning the pile, 198–201
Yang and Lee, 326
See also Chicago, Illinois; Institute for Nuclear Studies
University of Florence, 53–54
University of Göttingen, 34–36, 46, 226
University of Leiden, 41–43, 46
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 74–76, 99–102, 129, 174, 181, 190
University of Pisa. See Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
University of Rome, 18–19, 38, 58, 65, 360. See also Rome School of physics
uranium
coordinating Manhattan Project research, 187–188
critical mass problem, 239–241
Fermi’s working exponential pile, 184–186
isotope separation work at Oak Ridge, 203–204
isotopes, 169–170, 172–174
plutonium resulting from bombardment, 197
production of uranium metal, 183–184
See also chain reaction; fission, nuclear; Manhattan Project
Urey, Frieda, 344–345, 352
Urey, Harold, 112, 171, 186, 351
Varenna, Italy, 336–338, 337(fig.)
Volta, Alessandro, 89
Volterra, Vito, 57, 64
von Karman, Theodore, 155
von Neumann, John, 155, 224, 242–243, 290, 345
von Ossietzky, Carl, 137
Washington Conference on Theoretical Physics, 156, 159–161, 170
Wataghin, Gleb, 79(fig.), 114
water boiler project, 238–239, 263
Wattenberg, Albert, 181, 193, 205, 208–209, 211(fig.), 280
wave mechanics, 49–50
weak force and weak interaction, 104–106, 285–286, 357–359
weaponization of fission, 176–177, 186
bringing the pile to criticality, 211–212
concerns over Hitler’s access, 161–163
Fermi’s concerns about the consequences of, 249
Fermi’s meeting with the US Navy, 168–169
Fermi’s presumption of success, 193
Interim Committee and dissent about continuing the project, 252–255
people’s responses to the test shot, 259–260
postwar work, 300
Rasetti’s antipathy to, 264
scientists’ attitude towards, 224–225
University of Chicago research, 197–198
See also Manhattan Project
weaponization of fusion, 299–300
Weil, George, 181, 208–209
Weinberg, Steven, 357–358
Weisskopf, Victor, 258
Wheeler, John, 156, 184, 196, 231, 266, 282
white dwarf star, 282(fn), 326
Wigner, Eugene, 179, 183–184, 196
bringing the pile to criticality, 208, 211
The Last Man Who Knew Everything Page 54
