960. “forms . . . crystals”: Hahn (1966), p. 154ff.
961. “The attempts . . . being perceptible”: Hahn (1946), p. 58.
962. “Exciting . . . mesothorium”: quoted in Irving (1967), p. 23.
963. “Perhaps you . . . somewhat bearable”: Hahn (1975), p. 78ff.
964. “very warm . . . wishes”: ibid., p. 79.
965. Hahn had little joy: cf. ibid., p. 78: “How much I am looking forward to it—after such a long time without you—you can imagine.”
966. Naturwissenschaften: cf. ibid.: “But before the institute closes we still want to write something . . . for Natur-wiss.” (Dec. 19, 1938); p. 81: “Since yesterday we have been putting together our Ra-Ba proofs. . . . On Friday the work is supposed to be turned in to Naturwiss. . . . The whole thing is not very well suited for [them] but they will publish it quickly” (Dec. 21, 1938). Cf. also Irving (1967), p. 27. Irving has it nearly right.
967. “Your radium . . . impossible”: Hahn (1975), p. 79.
968. “if you . . . New Year”: ibid., p. 79ff.
969. “Our radium . . . it quickly”: ibid., p. 81.
970. “Further experiments . . . altogether”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 80.
971. “just about . . . point”: Szilard (1972), p. 185.
972. Hahn’s and Strassmann’s paper: all quotations from Hahn and Strassmann (1939a), trans. Hans G. Graetzer.
973. “especially . . . any more”: Hahn (1966), p. 157.
974. “that I . . . box”: Jungk (1958), p. 68. The Rosebaud pickup version is in Irving (1967), p. 27.
975. Kungälv: for much of this history cf. Claesson (1959).
976. Frisch and Meitner in Kungälv: sources for this episode, one of the most confused in the entire story, are Frisch (1967b, 1968, 1978, 1979); Frisch OHI, AIP; Rozental (1967); Clark (1980); Meitner (1962, 1964). A close reading of Hahn (1975) is extremely important for straightening out the accumulated errors of memory.
977. a quiet inn: the building, at No. 9, had become in 1982 a veterans’ hall.
978. met in the evening: Frisch OHI, AIP, p. 33.
979. a large magnet: ibid.
980. insisted Frisch read it: Rozental (1967), p. 144: “But she wouldn’t listen; I had to read that letter.”
981. “Barium . . . mistake”: Frisch OHI, AIP, p. 33.
982. “Finally . . . my problem”: Meitner (1962), p. 7.
983. “But it’s . . . that”: Frisch OHI, AIP, p. 34.
984. “But how . . . drop”: Rozental (1967), p. 144.
985. “Couldn’t . . . of thing”: Frisch OHI, AIP, p. 34.
986. “Now . . . opposite points”: ibid.
987. “Well . . . I mean”: ibid.
988. “I remember . . . instability”: ibid.
989. “Then . . . energy”: ibid.
990. “gave a . . . well”: Meitner (1964), p. 4.
991. “had . . . her head”: Frisch OHI, AIP, p. 34.
992. “One fifth . . . fitted”: Frisch (1979), p. 116.
993. “Lise . . . much lighter”: Frisch OHI, AIP, p. 37.
994. Hahn’s letter of Dec. 21: cf. LM to OH, Dec. 29, 1938: “Furthermore, how about the so-called actinium? Can they be separated from lanthanum or not?” Hahn (1975), p. 83. Hahn reported that result in his Dec. 21 letter; if Meitner had received it she would have known.
995. “barium fantasy . . . something”: Hahn (1975), p. 82.
996. “very exciting . . . it”: ibid., p. 83.
997. “Today . . . amazing”: ibid.
998. “against . . . experience”: quoted in Weart (1979), p. 59.
999. “We have . . . start”: Hahn (1975), p. 84.
1000. “If your . . . results”: ibid.
1001. “keen . . . Bohr”: Rozental (1967), p. 145.
1002. OF-NB meeting on Jan. 3: cf. OF to LM, Jan. 13, 1939: “Only today was I able to speak with Bohr about the bursting uranium.” Stuewer (1985), p. 50.
1003. “I had . . . be!”: Rozental (1967), p. 145. Frisch misplaces this conversation to a later time.
1004. “since Bohr . . . tomorrow”: quoted in Stuewer (1985), p. 51.
1005. “I am . . . findings”: Hahn (1975), p. 85ff.
1006. chronology of paper development and meeting with Bohr: Stuewer (1985), p. 51, quoting a contemporary letter from OF to LM.
1007. Frisch mentioned experiment to Bohr: cf. Bohr’s letter to his wife quoted at Moore (1966), p. 233: “I emphasized that Frisch had also spoken of an experiment in his notes.” Note that according to OF this discussion occurred before he talked to Placzek. Placzek probably did not, therefore, as OF later remembered, suggest the experiment.
1008. chronology of Placzek discussion: OF to LM, Jan. 8, 1939, quoted in Stuewer (1985), p. 53.
1009. “was like . . . cancer”: Stuewer (1979), p. 72.
1010. “One would . . . high”: Frisch (1939), p. 276.
1011. Jan. 13 until 6 A.M.: Frisch confirms date and time from his original laboratory notes in Stuewer (1979), p. 72.
1012. “pulses at . . . two”: Frisch (1939), p. 276.
1013. “At seven . . . camp”: Frisch OHI, AIP, p. 35.
1014. “a state . . . confusion”: ibid.
1015. William A. Arnold: personal communication.
1016. a dividing living cell: “Bohr had always urged that a nucleus behaved like a small droplet; a uranium nucleus . . . might divide itself into two smaller nuclei . . . much as a living cell becomes two smaller cells by fission.” Frisch (1978), p. 428.
1017. “I wrote . . . tail”: Frisch OHI, AIP, p. 36.
1018. two papers for Nature: Meitner and Frisch (1939); Frisch (1939).
1019. papers posted: Stuewer (1985), p. 53.
1020. “As we . . . seasickness”: Rosenfeld (1979), p. 342.
1021. “We . . . Fermi family”: L. Fermi (1954), p. 139.
1022. “During the . . . none”: ibid., p. 154.
1023. Rosenfeld thought paper sent: cf. Rosenfeld (1979), p. 343.
1024. “In those . . . train”: Stuewer (1979), p. 77.
1025. “The effect . . . directions”: Rosenfeld (1979), p. 343.
1026. “I was . . . off”: quoted in Moore (1966), p. 231.
1027. Bohr letter to Nature: Bohr (1939a).
1028. “Can you . . . weeks”: Eugene Wigner OHI, AIP, p. 28.
1029. “they said . . . doomed”: interview with Eugene Wigner, Princeton N.J., Jan. 21, 1983.
1030. “Wigner told . . . me”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 53.
1031. “if, as . . . proceeding”: quoted in Stuewer (1985), p. 52.
1032. Rabi from Bohr himself: as he remembers it. Telephone interview Feb. 27, 1984.
1033. “probably . . . night”: telephone interview with Willis E. Lamb, Jr., Feb. 24, 1984.
1034. Rabi told Fermi: but remembers doing so as early as Jan. 17, 1939, which is difficult to reconcile with Fermi’s proposal to Dunning of a confirming experiment on Jan. 25.
1035. “I remember . . . news”: Fermi (1962), p. 996.
1036. “spreading . . . around”: Lamb interview, Feb. 24, 1984.
1037. “The discovery . . . uranium”: quoted in Segrè (1970), p. 217.
1038. “I thought . . . Fermi”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 53.
1039. “I feel . . . time”: ibid., p. 62.
1040. Fermi/Dunning/Anderson experiment: cf. Wilson (1975), p. 69ff, and Sachs (1984), p. 18ff.
1041. “He came . . . say”: Wilson (1975), p. 69ff.
1042. “Before I . . . Bohr’s”: ibid., p. 71.
1043. “All we . . . thought”: ibid., p. 72.
1044. “in general . . . me”: quoted in Blumberg and Owens (1976), p. 70.
1045. “Bohr has . . . obvious”: Teller (1962), p. 8ff.
1046. “Fermi . . . at Princeton”: quoted in Moore (1966), p. 233.
1047. Anderson returned to Pupin: cf. Anderson’s account in Sachs (1984), p. 24ff, which includes photostats of And
erson’s entries that night in his laboratory notebook, quoted here.
1048. thought Dunning would telegraph: Evidence that Dunning had not wired Fermi as of Saturday night is Fermi’s unusual response to the Roberts experiment at the DTM. Cf. Bolton (n.d.), p. 18. Frisch’s explanation to Bohr is quoted in Stuewer (1985), p. 53.
1049. Bohr chiding Frisch: quoted in Stuewer (1985), p. 53.
1050. “that no . . . results”: quoted in ibid., p. 55.
1051. 51 participants: cf. group portrait, Carnegie Institution archives, Washington, D.C.
1052. Gamow introduced Bohr: Roberts, et al. (1939). Roberts says Tuve wrote the introductory paragraph to this contemporary paper; the conference, it says, “began . . . with a discussion by Professor Bohr and Professor Fermi.” Cf. also R. B. Roberts to E. T. Roberts, Jan. 30, 1939: “The annual theoretical physics conference started Thursday with an announcement by Bohr that Hahn in Germany had discovered a radioactive isotope of barium as a product of bombarding uranium with neutrons.” DTM archives, Carnegie Institution.
1053. “The Theo . . . implications”: Roberts (1979), p. 29.
1054. “Fermi . . . atomic power”: RBR to ETR, Jan. 30, 1939.
1055. KINDLY . . . WRITING: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 60.
1056. “in a . . . anybody”: quoted in Weart (1979), p. 63.
1057. Joliot’s response: cf. ibid., p. 63ff.
1058. APO: Dr. Louis Brown, DTM, personal communication.
1059. “Sat 4:30 . . . Kr?)”: R. B. Roberts laboratory notes (n.p.), DTM archives.
1060. “tremendous . . . energy release”: RBR to ETR, Jan. 30, 1939.
1061. “We promptly . . . thorium”: Roberts (1979), p. 29.
1062. “I told . . . night”: RBR to ETR, Jan. 30, 1939.
1063. all except Teller: RBR’s laboratory notes.
1064. Fermi amazed: Bolton (n.d.), p. 18. Bolton talked to both Roberts and Meyer; both agreed on Fermi’s response.
1065. “I had . . . Nature”: quoted in Moore (1966), p. 236.
1066. “There . . . phone calls”: Roberts (1979), p. 30.
1067. “Fermi . . . 1939”: Wilson (1975), p. 73.
1068. “I would . . . physics”: ibid., p. 72.
1069. “So . . . almost pitiful”: Luis Alvarez OHI, AIP.
1070. “About 9:30 . . . proceed”: Wilson (1975), p. 28ff.
1071. “I remember . . . conclusions”: Alvarez OHI, AIP.
1072. “The U . . . way”: Smith and Weiner (1980), p. 270ff, conjecture this letter to have been written on Jan. 28, 1939. The “papers” JRO refers to must be Henry’s AP story, which reached Berkeley via the Chronicle on Sunday, Jan. 29 (on the evidence of Abelson’s “About 9:30 a.m.”). JRO dated the letter “Saturday”; probably therefore Feb. 4, 1939.
1073. “might . . . to hell”: Smith and Weiner (1980), p. 209.
1074. “when fission . . . bomb”: quoted in Weiner (1972), p. 90.
1075. “A little . . . disappear”: quoted in Kevles (1977), p. 324.
Chapter 10: Neutrons
1076. I. I. Rabi: cf. Bernstein (1975).
1077. “infinite”: ibid., p. 64.
1078. “the mystery . . . nature is”: ibid., p. 50.
1079. Szilard learned: cf. Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 54.
1080. “and say . . . about it”: ibid.
1081. “Nothing known . . . quantitatively”: Wilson (1975), p. 76.
1082. “From the . . . precautions”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 54.
1083. at Strauss’ request: Strauss (1962), p. 172.
1084. “the performance . . . been completed”: ibid., p. 171.
1085. “No! . . . on it”: Teller (1962), p. 9ff.
1086. “It is . . . than ever”: Rosenfeld (1979), p. 343.
1087. “For example . . . square foot”: quoted in Clark (1980), p. 86.
1088. “From these . . . slow neutrons”: Roberts et al. (1939a), p. 417.
1089. “Taking a . . . blackboard”: Rosenfeld (1979), p. 343.
1090. “He wrote . . . the process”: ibid., p. 344.
1091. “It was . . . also present”: Dempster (1935), p. 765.
1092. Nier measured the ratio: Nier (1939).
1093. “changing from . . . two MeV”: Fermi (1949), p. 166.
1094. “Resonance in . . . nuclear fission”: Bohr (1939b).
1095. “were . . . inseparable”: Fermi (1962), p. 999.
1096. “slow neutrons . . . in uranium”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 64.
1097. “Bohr . . . to U238”: Roberts et al. (1940), second page of introduction (unnumbered).
1098. “For fast . . . abundant isotope”: Bohr (1939b), p. 419.
1099. a tank of water: cf. Fermi (1962), p. 5ff.
1100. “Szilard watched . . . get them’ ”: Booth (1969), p. 11.
1101. “All we . . . no radium”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 55.
1102. “to see . . . uranium”: ibid., p. 64.
1103. “just . . . from England”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 55.
1104. “a strange . . . object”: Booth (1969), p. 11.
1105. “Fermi and . . . was U-238”: Booth (1969), p. 20.
1106. “outraged”: quoted in Moore (1966), p. 248.
1107. “It was . . . Bohr’s argument”: Rosenfeld (1979), p. 345.
1108. Roberts’ and Meyer’s Phys. Rev. letter: Roberts et al. (1939b).
1109. “As soon . . . their thoughts”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 66.
1110. Szilard-Zinn experiment: cf. Szilard (1972), p. 158ff.
1111. “Everything was . . . went home”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 55.
1112. “We find . . . about two”: Szilard (1972), p. 158.
1113. “more than . . . absorbed”: Joliot et al. (1939a), p. 471.
1114. “a yield . . . captured”: Fermi (1962), p. 6.
1115. “I was . . . the neutrons”: Teller (1962), p. 10.
1116. PERFORMED . . . 50%: Strauss (1962), p. 174.
1117. “That night . . . for grief”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 55.
1118. “strongly appealed . . . discoveries”: LS to A. H. Compton, Nov. 12, 1942, p. 3. MED 201.
1119. “such a . . . handling it”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 56.
1120. G. B. Pegram: cf. Embrey (1970).
1121. “probably the . . . world’s work”: quoted in ibid., p. 378.
1122. “Experiments in . . . be disregarded”: quoted in L. Fermi (1954), p. 162.
1123. “Szilard . . . certainly possible?”: Stuewer (1979), p. 282.
1124. “We tried . . . into physics”: Teller (1979), p. 143.
1125. “the enormous . . . of U235”: Stuewer (1979), p. 282.
1126. “it was . . . taken seriously”: Fermi (1962), p. 999.
1127. “it can . . . huge factory”: Blumberg and Owens (1976), p. 89.
1128. “two months . . . one idea”: L. Fermi (1954), p. 155.
1129. “There’s a wop”: Hans Bethe interview, Sept. 12, 1982.
1130. “a . . . board room”: Strauss (1962), p. 236.
1131. officer taking notes: these details in ibid., p. 238.
1132. “Enrico . . . predictions”: L. Fermi (1954), p. 165.
1133. “to discuss . . . the majority”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 56.
1134. Joliot et al. paper: Joliot et al. (1939a).
1135. “From that . . . no sense”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 57.
1136. a second Joliot paper: Joliot et al. (1939b).
1137. “The interest . . . satisfied”: ibid.
1138. “I began . . . absurd”: quoted in Clark (1981), p. 58ff.
1139. German initiatives: cf. especially Irving (1967), the basic reference to this subject.
1140. “We take . . . others”: quoted in ibid., p. 34.
1141. “Tempers and . . . atoms”: New York Times, April 30, 1939, p. 35.
1142. “There is . . . whole matter”: quoted in Groueff(1967), p. 191
.
1143. “By separating . . . very great”: Wilson (1975), p. 75.
1144. “went back . . . to do”: Booth (1969), p. 27.
1145. “He was . . . Fermi”: Wilson (1975), p. 76.
1146. “The [radio] . . . neutrons present”: Fermi (1962), p. 12.
1147. “He liked . . . time thinking”: Wilson (1975), p. 78.
1148. “Szilard made . . . assistant”: Emilio Segrè interview, June 29, 1983.
1149. “very competent”: Wilson (1975), p. 78.
1150. “about ten . . . by uranium”: Fermi (1962), p. 12.
1151. “an average . . . perhaps 1.5”: ibid., p. 13.
1152. “We were . . . Placzek’s helium”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 81.
1153. the resulting paper: Fermi (1962), p. 11ff.
1154. “by an . . . rays”: ibid., p. 15.
1155. “I was . . . to think”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 81.
1156. “is an . . . possibility”: ibid., p. 88.
1157. “It seems . . . reasonable price”: Szilard (1972), p. 195.
1158. “Thank you . . . of uranium”: ibid., p. 197. Fermi’s emphasis.
1159. “the carbon . . . canned form”: ibid., p. 196.
1160. “even more . . . considered”: ibid., p. 213.
1161. “perhaps 50 . . . uranium”: ibid., p. 196.
1162. about $35,000: LS to “Bill Richards,” July 9, 1939. Szilard Papers.
1163. “He took . . . fall”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 82.
1164. “I knew . . . really seriously”: ibid.
1165. “it seems . . . no escape”: ibid., p. 90.
1166. “Dr. Wigner . . . and me”: ibid., p. 98.
1167. “He was . . . concerned”: ibid., p. 82.
1168. “shared the . . . be advised”: Szilard (1972), p. 214.
1169. “worry about . . . to Germany?”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 82.
1170. Gustav Stolper: LS implies in ibid., p. 84, that he first contacted Stolper after his first visit to Long Island. His letter to Einstein of July 19, 1939 (p. 90), however, makes it clear that he talked to Stolper before his first visit but that Stolper did not connect him to Alexander Sachs until after that visit. In 1945 (Hellman [1945], p. 70) Sachs implied that he had, been in touch with Einstein, Wigner and Szilard before this introduction. The contemporary record cited here indicates otherwise.
1171. Sunday, July 16: the letter that resulted from the first meeting was transcribed by Wigner’s secretary on Monday morning; July 16, 1939, is the only Sunday between LS’s July 9 letter to Fermi and his post-meeting July 19 letter to AE.
Making of the Atomic Bomb Page 109
