Strict . appearing": All quotes in this paragraph are from Sir M. Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, vol. 2, p. 163.
"The American Government . . . humanity": U.S. government statement in the New York Times, 23 September 1937.
"still relying . today": Jungk, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, p. 65.
"This damned woman . . . wrong": Quoted in Pflaum, Grand Obsession, p. 335.
"dearfriend": Chadwick's oral evidence, AIP.
"the Jewess endangers the institute": Quoted in Sime, Lise Meitner, p. 184.
"Hahn doesn't anymore"; "very miserable"; "he has . . . thrown me out": Lise Meitner's diary March i938,CCC/LM.
"I too lurch "; "I lost my nerve": Sime, Lise Meitner, p. 185.
"you .your stay": Quoted in ibid., p. 187.
"the well-known scientist... Lise Meitner": Hahn, My Life, p. 148.
"It is . . . science"; "This statement . . . Interior": Letter from W Frick to C. Bosch of 16 June 1938, quoted in Sime, Lise Meitner, pp. 19 c—96.
"We agreed brought back": Hahn, My Life, p. 149.
"left Germany . . . purse": Letter from L. Meitner to G. von Ubisch of 1 July 1947, CCC/LM.
"a beautiful diamond ring"; "I... emergency": Hahn, My Life, p. 149.
"uprooted . . . at all": Quoted in Rayner-Canham and Rayner-Canham, A Devotion to Their Science, p. 183—84.
"You have hafnium": Quoted in Sime, Lise Meitner, p. 205.
"the shot . . . missed you": Letter from M. von Laue to L. Meitner, November 1958, quoted in R. L. Sime, ibid., p. 205.
"One dare not.. forward": Quoted in Sime, Lise Meitner, p. 209.
Despite her eminence . . . embarrassment": All quotes in this paragraph come from Rayner-Canham and Rayner-Canham, A Devotion to Their Science, p. 184.
"She urgently requested undertaken": Quoted in Sime, Lise Meitner, p. 229.
"a mechanical doll": Letter from L. Meitner to O. Hahn of 5 December 1038, CCC/LM.
forces me easy": Ibid.
"perhaps explanation": Hahn, My Life, p. 151.
"physically absurd"; "you . . . out of this": Letter from O. Hahn to L. Meitner of 21 December 1938, CCC/LM.
"We poor chemists physics people": O. Hahn interview, AIP.
"very odd impossible": Quoted in Hahn, My Life, p. 151.
"short, dark, and bossy": Quoted in Sime, Lise Meitner, p. ix.
"knew . . . unexpected results": Rayner-Canham and Rayner-Canham, A Devotion to Their Science, p. 186.
"sort of... around": O. Frisch, oral history AIP.
"in the course great force": Quoted in Rayner-Canham and Rayner-Canham, A Devotion to Their Science, p. 186.
"The charge neutron)"; "After separation it all fitted!": Frisch, What Little I Remember, p. . . 6 .
"caught an elephant by the tail": Frisch, oral history, AIP.
"perhaps . . . break up": Quoted in Sime, Lise Meitner, p. 456.
"I am . . . result"; "wonderfulfindings": Letter from L. Meitner to O. Hahn of 3 January 1939, CCC/LM.
"the secret.. .years": Teller, Memoirs, p. 141.
"None of us it": Hahn, My Life, p. 164.
"smote hand": Frisch, What Little I Remember, p. 116.
"We were all fools": Quoted in Snow, Variety of Men, p. 89.
"Fission": Frisch, What Little I Remember, p. 117.
"was knocked camp": Frisch, oral history, AIP.
"Otto . . . preceding note": Quoted in F. Krafft, Im Schatten der Sensation—Leben und Wirken von Fritz Strassmann, p. 319 (author's translation).
"I have at it"; "got hold of the solution"; "It turned out simple": L. Rosenfeld interview, AIP.
"the state description": Quoted in Moore, Niels Bohr, p. 236.
"that's impossible"; "could make bombs": Quoted in Nye, Before Big Science, p. 218.
"peace in our time": Quoted in Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, vol. 2, p. 203.
"sparkling originality": B. Goldschmidt, Atomic Rivals, p. 46.
"That's impossible cannot be done"; "Well,yes I did it": S. R. Weart and G. W. Szilard, eds., Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts, pp. 9—10.
"miserably"; "potatoes water"; "discussed that"; "Wigner reaction": E. Wigner's oral history, AIP.
"sort of... reaction": Weart and Szilard, Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts, p. 17.
"All we needed beryllium"; "everything .flashes"; "very little doubt... grief": Ibid., p. 55.
That night... chillingly real": Quotes in this paragraph are from Teller, Memoirs, p. 142.
Eight. "We May Sleep Fairly Comfortably in Our Beds"
"One may imagine . . . nature"; "I am . . . new discoveries": Quoted in E. Curie, Madame Curie, pp. 238-39.
By this . . . Dante: All quotes in this paragraph are from L. Fermi, Atoms in the Family, pp. 139, 143, and 151-2.
"Fermi precautions": Quoted in Lanouette, Genius in the Shadows, p. 181.
"had high regard . . . other"; "extremely different... everything else"; "could scarcely experiment"; "Szilard's way assistant": Segre, Enrico Fermi, pp. 107—8.
"I went to see . . . excited about it": Weart and Szilard, Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts, p. 54.
"a gruff... elephant": Author's interview with Goldschmidt, 3 April 2002.
"Obviously governments": Quoted in Goldschmidt, Atomic Rivals, p. 47.
"sufficient discretion ideas": M. Goldsmith, Frederic Joliot-Curie, p. 73.
"We were realized": Quoted in Nye, Before Big Science, p. 219.
"slave"; "the Szilard proposal. France": Author's interview with Goldschmidt, 3 April 2002.
"Hitler? the neutron": Jungk, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, pp. 50—51.
"unsurpassable advantage": M. Walker, German National Socialism and the Quest for Nuclear Power, 1939-45, p. 18.
"started the Germans off": Author's interview with Goldschmidt, 3 April 2002.
"Why not... butter": Quoted in Pflaum, Grand Obsession, p. 341.
"A little . . . disappear": Interview with G. Uhlenbeck (then sharing an office with Fermi), Kevles, The Physicists, p. 324.
Fermi disregarded": The quotations in this paragraph are from G. B. Pegram's letter to Admiral S. C. Hooper of 16 March 1939, given in Segre, Enrico Fermi, p. 111.
"There's a wop outside": Quoted in J. Bernstein, ed., Hitler's Uranium Club—The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall, p. 4. The Farm Hall transcripts are also reproduced in Operation Epsilon, The Farm Hall Transcripts with an introduction by Sir C. Frank. Their reference at the PRO is WO208/C019 and at NARA is record group 77, MED, entry 22, box 163. The latter is more legible and fuller and is the basis of the transcript reproduced in both books.
"Although the sum .goodwill": Segre, Enrico Fermi, p. 111.
"openness tampered with": Teller, Memoirs, p. 143.
"Europe occupation"; "the doom idea": L. Fermi, Atoms in the Family, pp. 144—45.
"You factory": Teller, Memoirs, p. 143.
"philosopher's stone"; %low a hole Patchogue": New York Times, 5 May 1939.
"Physicists Landscape": Washington Post, 29 April 1939.
"I have decided practices": Quoted in Jungk, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, p. 75.
Heisenberg . . . traitor": Quotes in this paragraph are from W Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 169—70.
"could influence . . . channels"; "no principles . . . grant you"; "Germany needed him": Letter from Max Dresden to Physics Today, May 1991.
"Every one of us . . . environment"; "people . . . them": W Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 171.
"there is now weapons"; "the war built": Ibid., p. 170.
"lively and busy"; "a calm . . . stores": Filmed survivor interviews in "The Restoration of the Hypocenter Salugakucho."
"our present knowledge device": Quoted in Hahn, My Life, p. 184.
"This was . . . this occasion": Weart and Szilard, Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts, p. 83.
"great ability anonymity": Jungk, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, p. 85.
"I served as a pillar box": Quoted in Snow, Variety of Men, p. 89.
"We really . . . limited to that": Quoted in Jungk, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, p. 86.
"the element future"; "lead air"; "watchfulness Administration": Einstein's letter to Roosevelt of 2 August 1939, quoted in Segre, Enrico Fermi, p. 113.
Roosevelt was not . . . different course": Quotes in these two paragraphs are from Jungk, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, pp. 110—11.
The cautionary . action!": Quotes in this paragraph are from Lanouette, Genius in the Shadows, p. 210.
"the fear . . . by them": W Churchill's letter to the secretary of state for war of 5 August 1939 appears in his book The Gathering Storm, p. 301.
"Igather . . . our beds": Letter from Lord Hankey to E. Appleton, 12 December 1939, CAB/104/221, PRO.
Nine. A Cold Room in Birmingham
"I am ready . . . help you": J. Chadwick's letter to L. Meitner of 11 September 1939, CCC/LM.
"porridge": Quoted in Powers, Heisenberg's War, p. 51.
"stinking steamer": Quoted in P. Rowlands, 120 Years of Excellence, p. 18.
"witnessed great suffering"; "as a way people": Author's interview with J. Rotblat, 9 January 2002.
first reflex . . . practice"; "I had no doubt . . . domination": J. Rotblat, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, August 1985.
"great hopes one": Author's interview with Rotblat, 9 January 2002.
135". "the worst slums you can imagine"; "not very encouraging generally"; "even . . . English": Ibid.
"they were building": Rowlands, 120 Years of Excellence, p. 17.
"and discovered . . . a.c"; "couldyou teach electriciity"; "almost as though . . . horse": Transcript of J. Rotblat's interview of 7 January 1994 with C. D. King and A. Brown, LIV.
"very much liked himself": Ibid.
"Oh good wife": Ibid.
"worked bomb"; "the only wall... retaliate"; "never envisaged Germans": Rotblat, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, August 1985.
"the only way . . . ourselves"; "he couldn't advise . . . conscience": Author's interview with Rotblat, 9 January 2002.
"the last minute": Ibid.
"there was . them": Transcript of J. Rotblat's interview of 28 October 1992 with Dr. Edwards and C. D. King, LIV.
"very very shaky"; "to go back . . . time"; "that we . . . bomb": Transcript of Rotblat's interview of 7 January 1994 with C. D. King and A. Brown, LIV.
Chadwick's reaction again": All quotes in these two paragraphs are from Chadwick's oral history, AIP.
"He just grunted": Transcript of Rotblat's interview of 7 January 1994 with C. D. King and A. Brown, LIV.
"It was apart": J. Chadwick, Liverpool Daily Post, 4 March 1946.
Chadwick came back each other": All quotes in this paragraph are from the transcript of Rotblat's interview of 7 January 1994 with C. D. King and A. Brown, LIV.
"it seems likely"; "could be developed conditions": J. Chadwick's letter to E. Appleton of 5 December 1939, CAB/21/1262, PRO.
Rudolf Peierls . . . house: Quotes in these two paragraphs are from Peierls, Bird of Passage, pp. 91 and 99.
In 1935) . . . combine: All quotes in this paragraph come from O. Frisch's oral history, AIP, except "to ponder . . . real physicist," which comes from Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society (R. Peierls's biographical memoir of O. Frisch).
By then . . fission: Quotes in this paragraph are from Frisch, What Little I Remember, p. 123.
"the water bedside": Ibid., p. 125.
"There are . . . at first": Quoted in M. Gowing, UKAEA official historian's reprinted lecture, "How Nuclear Power Began," p. 12.
"Suppose . . . happen?"; "The work . . . size"; "had tended . . . tons"; "about a pound": Peierls, Bird of Passage, p. 1 54.
"such a lot": Frisch's oral history, AIP.
"thousands . explosive"; "We were having": Peierls, Bird of Passage, p. 1 54.
"Look know about that?" Frisch's oral history, AIP.
The Frisch-Peierls memorandum was in two parts—one technical and one nontechnical. The technical part was reproduced first as appendix 1 to M. Gowing, Britain and Atomic Energy, 1939—45. The nontechnical part was for a time lost but then found among Sir Henry Tizard's papers and first published in R. Clark, Tizard. Both parts are reproduced as appendix 2 of F. M. Szasz, British Scientists and the Manhattan Project. All quotes in the last three paragraphs of this chapter come from the Frisch-Peierls memorandum, with the exception of "the order of magnitude was right," which comes from Peierls, Bird of Passages, p. 1 54.
Ten. Maud Ray Kent
On the morning France: Quotes in this paragraph come from author's interview with Goldschmidt, 3 April 1992.
"At any price Freiss": Goldsmith, Frederic Joliot-Curie, p. 86.
"My mother . . . laboratory": Quoted in Pflaum, Grand Obsession, p. 362.
The collier . . . Castle: All quotes in this paragraph are from L. Kowarski's interview with the Radio Times, 20 September 1973.
"Met... Kent": Quoted in Sime, Lise Meitner, p. 284.
The Maud Committee . . . himself: All quotes in this paragraph come from Frisch, What Little I Remember, pp. 128 and 130.
"the answers to important questions": Peierls, Bird of Passage, p. 155.
"to decipher . . . were": Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society (biographical memoir of F. Lindemann [Lord Cherwell]).
"if things . . . New World": Letter from M. Oliphant to J. Chadwick, 22 June 1940, CCC/JC.
Nuclear research . . . cities: All quotes in this paragraph are from Frisch, What Little I Remember, p. 133.
Koventrieren; "principle"; "so many fires . time": Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, vol. 2, p. 352.
"burned . . .flames": Times (London), quoted in Lindqvist, A History of Bombing, item 165.
"ridiculous": Transcript of Rotblat's interview of 7 January 1994 with C. D. King and A. Brown, LIV 1 53. "putting know": Frisch, What Little I Remember, p. 142.
"turning . . . bird"; "How much . . . want?"; "Frisch and Chips": Ibid., pp. 132 and 137.
"The effect... zero": Peierls, Bird of Passage, p. 157.
Chadwick was . . . life: All quotes in this paragraph are from Chadwick's oral history, AIP.
In July 1941 . . . plutonium: All quotes in this paragraph are from the Maud Report, CAB/104/227, PRO, and also AB/16/266, PRO.
"Although . . . improvement": W Churchill's note to General Ismay, 30 August 1941, PREM/3/139/8A,PRO.
Eleven. "Hitler's Success Could Depend On It"
"unsurpassable advantage": Walker, German National Socialism, p. 18.
"in those days . . . poor"; "the War Office . . . nothing": Quoted in J. J. Ermenc, ed., Atomic Bomb Scientists—Memoirs, 1939—45, p. 97.
"a theoretical physicist . . . name"; "should be Heisenberg": Quoted in Powers, Heisenberg's War, p. 14.
"decent physicist"; "not absolutely first rate Party": Quoted in Ermenc, Atomic Bomb Scientists, p. 67.
"the slightest chance"; "it must be done"; "Gentlemen . . . be done": Bernstein, Hitler's Uranium Club, p. 132.
Otto Hahn commit suicide": All quotes in this paragraph are from ibid., p. 31.
"all be over time": W Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 172.
"strangely enough me": Quoted in Powers, Heisenberg's War, p. 13.
"to work energy": W Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 172.
"Well.. for that": Bernstein, Hitler's Uranium Club, p. 32.
Heisenberg's own subsequent recollections . clear conscience": All quotes in this paragraph are from W Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 174.
"the most dangerous power": Quoted in Powers, Heisenberg's War, p. vii.
Heisenberg also suggested . . . explosives": All quotes in this paragraph are from Bernstein, Hitler's Uranium Club, pp. xxiii—xxiv, except for "the explosive power . . . magnitude," which is the author's translation of Heisenberg's secret report, Geheimdokumnte zum deutschen Atomprogram, 1938—45, Deutsches Museum
.
"I had suspected heavy water": W Heisenberg, Physics and Beyond, p. 180.
"abandoned the whole idea"; "prematurely": Ibid.
Strassmann had remained true . . . Valerie: Information and quotes in this paragraph are from A. Wolffenstein's memoirs in the Jiidisches Museum, Berlin, her testimony to Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, and her letters reprinted in Krafft, Im Schatten der Sensation, p. 46 (author's translation).
"impressive eagle of a man": Frisch, What Little I Remember, p. 71.
"not quite adult"; "an over-developed . discipline": Letter from O. Frisch to K. Fuchs of 21 March 1942, AB/1/C 74 , PRO.
165. former human being"; "Fizzl is in Berlin": Powers, Heisenberg's War, pp. 92—3.
"We are trying . the thing": F. Reiche's oral history, AIP.
"They listened . . . grateful": Ibid.
"Hitler's success could depend on it": Quoted in Powers, Heisenberg's War, p. 58.
Most Soviet scientists . . . reactions": All quotes in this paragraph are from Holloway, Stalin and the Bomb, pp. 53—54.
On 13 April 1941 . . . West: All quotes in these two paragraphs are from H. Bix, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, p. 397.
Twelve. "He said 'Bomb' in No Uncertain Terms"
"He Said 'Bomb'... Terms": Quoted in Pharr Davis, Lawrence and Oppenheimer, p. 112.
"amazed and distressed": M. Oliphant, "The Beginning: Chadwick and the Neutron," in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, December 1982.
"He said . up to us": Quoted in Pharr Davis, Lawrence and Oppenheimer, p. 112.
"distinguished services"; "meddling foreigners": Weart and Szilard, Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts, p. 146.
"put in wraps": Gowing, Britain and Atomic Energy, p. 116.
"extreme secrecy": Letter from Dr. C. Darwin of 2 August 1941 to Lord Hankey, CAB/104/227, PRO.
"Are . single blow?" Ibid.
"may make it... this country": Frisch-Peierls memorandum (see chapter 9).
"bombardment cities": Times (London), 2 September 1939.
"complete interchange matters": Memo from V. Bush to 5. Conant of 9 October 1941, Bush—Conant files, OSRD, S1 record group 227, M 1392, NARA.
"It appears . . . conducted": Letter from Roosevelt to Churchill of 11 October 1941, PREM/3/139/8A, PRO.
"It was bomb": Quoted in D. Irving, The Virus House, p. 93.
Before the Fallout Page 44
