Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Page 105
460. ‘in an earnest’: JRO to Bernheim, 27.8.1945, S & W, 297–8
460. ‘You will understand’: JRO to Deutsch, 24.8.1945, S & W, 295
461. a long letter to Charles Lauritsen: JRO to Lauritsen, c. 27.8.1945, S & W, 298–300
461. ‘a real instrument’: JRO to Marcelle Bier, 31.8.1945, S & W, 303
461. ‘tickling the dragon’s tail’: see Hoddeson et al. (1993), 346–8, and Malenfant (2005)
461. suffered an accident: see Hunner (2004), 84–5
462. ‘I think it’s good propaganda’: Stoff et al. (1991), 258
462. ‘I’ll be delayed’: Serber (1998), 114
462. ‘The most striking impression’: ibid., 123
462. ‘callousness’: ibid., 125
462. ‘The ruins’: ibid., 135
462. a press conference: see Norris (2002), 439–40
463. ‘No one’: Hunner (2004), 114–5
463. origins of this organisation: I am dependent here on the information provided in Piccard (1965). It is more usual to say that ALAS was formed on 30 August 1945, but, using contemporary sources and ALAS’s own archive of documents, Piccard gives a fuller and more detailed account that traces the origins back to the spring of 1945.
463. ‘the international control’: from an anonymous note in the ALAS files, dated 24 October 1945, quoted Piccard (1965), 252
464. a document: reproduced in full ibid., Appendix A
464. ‘In the event’: ibid., 259
464. ‘The development of the atomic bomb’: ibid.
464. ‘You will probably recognize’: S & W, 304
464. ‘Mr Harrison points out’: Piccard (1965), 260
465. ‘If this bill passes’: Lanouette (1994), 286
466. ‘felt that he had’: Rhodes (1996), 241
466. ‘I must confess’: Smith (1965), 140
466. ‘frightening’: Lanouette (1994), 287
466. ‘Mention to a Senator’s secretary’: ibid., 288
467. ‘It was a declaration’: Wilson (1996), 353
467. ‘not necessarily’: ibid.
467. ‘The scientific background’: Piccard (1965), 261
467. ‘one of the best speeches’: Conant (2005), 346
467. ‘It is our hope’: S & W, 310
468. ‘The peoples of this world’: ibid., 311
Part IV: 1945–1967
15. The Insider Scientist
471. ‘He’d better be careful’: Conant (2005), 351
471. ‘The woods’: ibid.
471. ‘There were always people’: ibid., 352
471. ‘somewhat academic’: Hearings on Science Legislation (S. 1297 and related bills): Hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on military affairs, United States Senate, Seventy-Ninth Congress, first session, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office (1945), 300
471. ‘a plea’: ibid., 301
472. ‘If the so-called secret’: ibid., 322
472. ‘no technical difficulty’: ibid., 325
472. ‘The two’: ibid., 321
472. ‘The Johnson bill’: ibid., 308
472. ‘oblique attack’: quoted Smith (1965), 154
472. ‘the coolest reception’: Thorpe (2006), 176
472. ‘Oppie’s suggestions’: ibid.
472. a dinner: see Lanouette (1994), 290
473. ‘I never saw a man’: Wallace (1973), 496–7
473. May opened proceedings at 10 a.m.: see Lanouette (1994), 290–3
473. ‘patient consideration’: ibid., 291
474. a ‘masterpiece’: ibid., 292
474. ‘He talked’: ibid., 293
474. ‘The bill’: Hearings on Science Legislation, 127, quoted Thorpe (2006), 172
474. ‘To the congressmen’: Lanouette (1994), 293
474. ‘I think it is a matter’: quoted Thorpe (2006), 173
474. ‘an enormous technological development’: Hearings on Science Legislation, 300, quoted Thorpe (2006), 174
474. ‘a plea for leaving’: ibid., 301, quoted Thorpe (2006), 174
475. ‘I don’t want to see’: B & S, 332
475. ‘The first thing’: ibid., 331
475. ‘Perhaps’: ibid.
475. ‘never’: ibid.
476. ‘sacred trust’: see Piccard (1965), 257
476. ‘I saw him’: Pharr Davis (1969), 260
476. ‘Mr President’: B & S, 332
476. ‘I told him’: ibid.
476. ‘cry-baby scientist’: ibid.
476. ‘Don’t worry’: ibid.
476. ‘Years later’: S & W, 315
477. ‘But when you’: ibid., 317
477. ‘the almost unanimous resistance’: ibid.
477. ‘the views suggested’: ibid., 324
477. ‘insistent tone’: ibid.
477. ‘say that no bombs be made’: ibid., 322
478. ‘If some of you’: ibid., 315
478. ‘I would like’: JRO to JBC, 29.9.1945, S & W, 308
478. he wrote to William Houston: S & W, 308
478. ‘I did actually’: ITMO, 35
478. ‘I was sort of reluctant’: ibid.
479. seized and destroyed five cyclotrons: see Groves (1962), Chapter 27, 367–72
479. ‘Oppenheimer and I’: Bernstein (2004), 100
479. ‘walked back and forth’: Lilienthal (1964), 13
480. ‘an extraordinary personage’: ibid., 14
480. ‘worth living a lifetime’: B & S, 340
480. ‘All the participants’: Acheson (1969), 153, quoted B & S, 340
480. ‘knew more’: Groves (1962), 411
480. ‘had little or no knowledge’: ibid.
480. ‘Everybody genuflected’: Goodchild (1980), 178
480. ‘The way it worked’: ITMO, 37
480. On 2 February: see ibid.
481. ‘we did not feel’: Groves (1962), 412
481. ‘It would nevertheless’: for Churchill’s Fulton speech in full, see http://www.historyguide.org/europe/churchill.html
482. ‘That was the day’: Pharr Davis (1969), 259
482. ‘a workable plan’: Acheson (1969), 154
482. ‘interpreter of military policy’: Herken (2002), 166
482. ‘for the purpose’: JEH to Clark, 26.4.1946, JRO FBI file
483. ‘Are you there, dear?’: FBI San Francisco office to JEH, 14.5.1946, JRO FBI file
483. ‘At this point’: ibid.
483. first met early in April: see Meyrowitz (1990), 263
483. ‘Mark my words’: Pharr Davis (1969), 261
483. In another: ‘Atomic Explosives’, Oppenheimer (1955), 3–17
484. ‘world government’: ibid., 13
484. ‘renunciation’: ibid.
484. ‘has from day to day’: ‘Justification for continuation of technical or microphone surveillance’, FBI San Francisco Office, 12.7.1946, JRO FBI file
484. ‘the United States’ top military secret’: Bern to Patterson, 3.6.1946, JRO FBI file
484. ‘would place us’: Gregory C. Bern to Robert P. Patterson, Secretary of War, 3.6.1946, JRO FBI file
484. ‘that the United States’: Miller (1976), 244–5
485. On that advice: see Norris (2002), 483
485. ‘Mr Baruch told me’: ITMO, 40
485. At the meeting: B & S, 344–6
485. ‘Baruch Plan’: see Dupuy and Hammerman (1973), 302
485. their own proposal: ibid., 308, see also Gromyko (1947)
486. ‘the Oppenheimers’: H.B. Fletcher, FBI San Francisco Office to JEH, 11.6.1946, JRO FBI file
486. a phone conversation: H.B. Fletcher, FBI San Francisco Office to JEH, 13.6.1946, JRO FBI file
486. an unsuccessful attempt: H.B. Fletcher, FBI San Francisco Office to JEH, 18.6.1946, JRO FBI file
486. on 26 June: Chevalier (1965), 61, says ‘early June’, but Chevalier’s FBI file shows 26 June as the correct date – see Herken (2002), 161
486. ‘in monosyllables’:
Chevalier (1965), 63
486. ‘I have here’: ibid., 64
486. ‘dropped by my house’: B & S, 357
487. ‘I approached no one’: ibid.
487. ‘I cannot tell you why’: B & S, 356
487. ‘Give it back to the Indians’: Teller (2001), 219
487. ‘Operation Crossroads’: see Weisgall (1994), from where my information about these tests primarily comes.
488. ‘If an atomic bomb’: ibid., 98
488. ‘the appropriateness’: ibid., 99
489. White: ‘I also have another quotation’: H.B. Fletcher, FBI San Francisco Office to JEH, 11.6.1946, JRO FBI file
489. ‘Naval vessels’: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists of Chicago, 1 (5), 15 February 1946, 12
489. just what happened: what follows is derived mainly from Weisgall (1994)
489. ‘Dressed in all the trappings’: The Economist, Volume 151, 1946, 9
489. ‘not so much’: Rhodes (1996), 262
490. ‘common blackmail’: ibid.
490. ‘is in deep despair’: Lilienthal (1964), 69
490. ‘will be construed by us’: ibid., 70
490. ‘paced up and down’: ibid.
490. ‘He is really’: ibid., 69
491. ‘for the last four years’: S & W, 289
491. ‘Cosmic Rays: Report of Recent Progress, 1936–1941’: Oppenheimer (1944)
491. ‘The situation’: Oppenheimer (1944), 31
491. ‘Reaction of Radiation’: Oppenheimer and Bethe (1946)
492. ‘I think’: Donald Menzel to JRO, 15.7.1946, JRO papers, LOC
492. ‘I would like’: JRO to Donald Menzel, 8.8.1946, JRO papers, LOC
492. ‘There are certainly’: Menzel to JRO, August 1946, JRO papers, LOC
493. ‘He is not greatly cultivated’: B & S, 362
493. ‘a kind of house-rewarming’: Chevalier (1965), 69
493. ‘had been asked’: ibid.
493. ‘was obviously’: ibid.
494. ‘I had to report’: ibid.
494. ‘gave no answer’: ibid., 70
494. ‘Opje let loose’: ibid.
494. Oppenheimer himself was interviewed: see Herken (2002), 161–2
495. ‘Dr Oppenheimer has requested’: Pais (2006), 80
496. about whom Oppenheimer had written to Birge: S & W, 268–9
496. ‘in every way’: ibid., 268
496. Six months later: JRO to Birge, 26.5.1944, S & W, 275–6
496. ‘I shall of course’: S & W, 284–5
496. ‘Would you like to come to Berkeley?’: Mehra et al. (1999e), 1137
496. ‘I still said no’: ibid.
497. ‘Turn around’: Pais (1997), 186
497. ‘Oppenheimer spoke’: ibid., 221
497. ‘As I stood waiting’: ibid., 221–2
497. ‘Let’s walk’: ibid., 222
498. ‘I have just’: ibid., 224
498. ‘quite long conversations’: ITMO, 327
499. ‘You will note’: JEH to General Harry H. Vaughan, 28.2.1947, JRO FBI file
499. ‘Well, if anyone were to print this stuff’: Stern (1971), 103
499. ‘visibly shaken’: ibid.
499. Oppenheimer had told him: see ITMO, 27
499. On 11 March: Herken (2002), 179
500. ‘He wanted me to be quite clear’: ITMO, 41
500. to hear Oppenheimer say: ibid., 344
500. On 11 August: Herken (2002), 180
501. Shelter Island Conference: my main sources of information about this conference are Pais (1986), Chapter 18, Schweber (1986b), Schweber (1994) and Schwinger (1986). A good, accessible account of the conference can be found in Baggott (2011).
501. ‘would be remembered’: Schweber (1994), 156
501. ‘There have been many conferences’: ibid.
502. Weisskopf’s outline: ibid., 179–81
502. Oppenheimer’s outline: ibid., 181–3
502. a non-technical lecture: ‘Atomic Energy as a Contemporary Problem’, Oppenheimer (1955), 21–41
502. ‘of the two or three’: ibid., 30
502. ‘would not dare’: Brown and Hoddeson (1983), 222
503. ‘Twenty-three’: quoted Schweber (1994), 172–3
503. ‘it was immediately evident’: ibid., 173
503. ‘As the conference went on’: ibid.
503. ‘I had heard Oppenheimer speak’: Pais (2006), 112
505. ‘unexpectedly fruitful’: Schweber (1994), 174
505. ‘the most successful conference’: ibid., 175
505. ‘Don’t worry’: ibid., 174
506. ‘I hardly see him any more’: Chevalier (1965), 79
506. ‘George thinks this’: ibid., 80
506. ‘Oppenheimer became a symbol’: Kevles (1995), 377
16. The Booming Years
507. ‘This is an unreal place’: Pais (1997), 248–9
508. Life magazine ran an article: Life, 29 December 1947, 53–9
508. ‘devastating projection’: ibid., 53
509. ‘The Multiple Production’: Oppenheimer, Lewis and Wouthuysen (1948)
509. ‘Note on the Stimulated Decay’: Oppenheimer, Epstein and Finkelstein (1948)
509. small conference in Copenhagen: see Pais (1997), 233–4
509. ‘It was’: ibid., 234
509. ‘did not have time’: Mehra and Rechenberg (2001), 1044. See also Schweber (1994), 317
510. ‘The importance of Schwinger’s calculation’: Schweber (1994), 318
510. ‘Physics in the Contemporary World’: Oppenheimer (1955), 81–102
510. ‘temporarily disastrous effect’: ibid., 83
510. ‘demands of’: ibid.
510. ‘It has’: ibid., 83–4
510. ‘Almost every month’: ibid., 84–5
510. ‘A newly vigorous’: ibid., 85–6
510. ‘the increasing understanding’: ibid., 86
511. ‘It is the prevailing view’: ibid.
511. ‘In some sort of crude sense’: ibid., 88
512. ‘God is great!’: Schweber (1994), 318
512. ‘I have heard’: ibid.
512. ‘As he proceeded’: Pais (1997), 251
512. ‘The great event’: Schweber (1994), 320
513. ‘I was not showing off: Mehra and Rechenberg (2001), 1048
513. ‘I heard later’: ibid.
513. 10 December 1947: Schweber (1994), 176
513. ‘Now it does not matter’: Pais (2006), 115
513. ‘a major tour de force’: ibid.
513. ‘I was not invited’: Dyson (1979), 55
514. ‘had a new theory’: ibid.
514. ‘Dick tried to tell’: ibid.
514. ‘the speed’: Pais (2006), 115
514. ‘The Pocono conference’: Schwinger (1986), 414
514. ‘got together in the hallway’: Mehra and Rechenberg (2001), 1059
514. ‘Grateful for your letter’: see Schwinger (2008), 40
515. ‘Just because’: Schweber (1994), 198
515. ‘remarkable work’: Physical Review, 74, 225 (1948)
515. ‘The reason’: Schweber (1994), 201
515. ‘whole idea’: Barton (1968), 66. On the history of Physics Today, see also Weiner (1973).
516. ‘to present’: Barton (1968)
516. ‘Out of it all’: Engineering and Science Monthly, July 1948, 7
516. ‘hard to disbelieve’: Oppenheimer (1949b), 181
516. ‘the developments’: ibid.
517. ‘To me that was very important’: Schweber (1994), 502
517. ‘where love had drawn him’: ibid., 452
517. ‘I knew’: Dyson (1979), 64
517. ‘Yesterday’: Schweber (1994), 335
518. ‘a marvel’: Dyson (1979), 66
518. ‘was a cut diamond’: ibid.
518. ‘understood Schwinger’s theory’: ibid.
518. ‘As we were droning across Nebraska’: ibid., 67
518. ‘to teach’: ibid., 68
519. ‘five days’: Kaiser (2005), 74
519. ‘announcing the triumph’: ibid.
519. ‘in the middle of the conference’: Rudolf Peierls, interviewed by Charles Weiner in Seattle, Washington, 13 August 1969, AIP
519. ‘there is the phrase’: JRO to FO, 28.9.1948, quoted B & S, 391, and (slightly more fully) Michelmore (1969), 145–6
520. ‘more powerful methods’: Schwinger (1958), 148
520. ‘closed’: ibid., 154
520. ‘The atmosphere’: quoted Gleick (1994), 266
520. ‘unreceptive to new ideas’: Dyson (1979), 73
520. ‘but it came as a shock’: ibid.
521. ‘The old guard’: Mehra and Rechenberg (2001), 1071
521. ‘I might have thought’: Kragh (1990), 184
521. ‘Recent work by Lamb’: Dirac (1951), 291
521. is on record: see Kragh (1990), 183
521. ‘I disagree’: Schweber (1994), 522
521. ‘As a result’: ibid.
522. ‘I have been observing’: Dyson (1979), 73
522. ‘we had our fiercest public battle’: ibid.
522. ‘about some calculations’: ibid., 74
523. ‘Nolo Contendere’: ibid.
523. ‘It’s a grim prospect’: Schweber (1994), 527
523. ‘Certainly’: ibid.
523. ‘Well’: ibid., 551
523. ‘I am really’: Schweber (1994), 550
523. ‘What we don’t understand’: Time magazine, 8 November 1948, 70
524. ‘I woke up’: ibid., 76
524. ‘to follow in detail’: JRO to FO, 28.9.1948, quoted B & S, 391
525. ‘where I saw an opportunity’: B & S, 393
525. ‘intellectual hotel’: Time magazine, 8 November 1948, 76
525. ‘despairing the life’: ibid.
525. ‘Suppose you could’: New York Times, 18 April 1948, quoted Pais (2006), 89
526. ‘prim and shy’: Dyson (1979), 71
526. ‘was dying to have conversations’: Pais (2006), 87. See also Pais (1997), 236, where he is merely ‘eager’ to have conversations with Eliot.
526. ‘This is a nice elevator’: Pais (2006), 87
526. ‘felt lonely and homesick’: Ackroyd (1985), 288
526. ‘Newspapermen’: Dyson (1979), 72
526. ‘I invited Eliot here’: ibid.
526. ‘One piece of news’: Lee (2009), 158
527. ‘beautiful theory’: Schweber (1994), 550
527. ‘Oppenheimer gave a presidential address’: Dyson (1979), 74–5
527. ‘When I really knew’: Schweber (1994), 456
528. ‘What about Case’s Theorem?’: Mehra and Rechenberg (2001), 1092. See also ibid., 455