Making of the Atomic Bomb

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Making of the Atomic Bomb Page 123

by Richard Rhodes


  Kelvin, Lord, see Thomson, William

  Kennedy, Joseph W., 353, 355, 674

  Kierkegaard, Søren, 60–61, 63–64, 75, 76–77, 131

  Kimmel, Husband E., 390–92

  King Joseph Institute of Technology, 15

  Kirk, Paul, 409

  Kirkpatrick, Elmer, 679–80, 701

  Kistiakowsky, George B.:

  Alvarez and, 574–75

  background of, 376–77

  Compton and, 382, 387

  Conant and, 358, 376–77, 542, 661–62

  Groves and, 542

  high-explosive castings of, 577, 656–57

  implosion studies and, 542, 545, 547, 549, 574–77, 612

  lens formulation and, 545, 549, 655, 656–57

  Los Alamos and, 542–43, 545, 547, 565–67

  military aspects of nuclear fission and, 377, 382, 387

  Neddermeyer and, 542–43, 545, 547

  Neumann and, 542

  Oppenheimer and, 542, 547, 576, 661–62, 675

  Parsons and, 542–43, 547, 549, 576

  Trinity and, 655, 656–63, 667, 669, 675

  Kitchener, Horatio Herbert, Lord, 96

  Klaproth, Martin H., 118, 355

  Klein, Oskar, 54, 57–58, 131

  Knuth, Gus, 433

  Kobe, firebombing of, 592, 600

  Koestler, Arthur, 110–11

  Kohman, Truman, 413

  Kokura Arsenal:

  as atomic bomb target, 628, 632, 689, 691, 700, 739

  attempted atomic bomb run over, 740

  scheduling atomic bombing of, 737–38

  Konopinski, Emil, 416–17, 420

  Kopp, Father, 716

  Kowarski, Lew, 290, 296, 344–45

  Koyama, Dr., 716

  Kristallnacht, 249

  Kuhnwald, Gottfried, 192–93, 195–96

  Kumagaya, 745

  Kun, Béla, 15–16, 110

  Kungälv, 256–57

  Kurchatov, Igor, 327, 500–502

  Kuribayashi, Tadamichi, 594, 595

  Kurti, Nicholas, 340

  Kyoto, as atomic bomb target, 632, 639, 640–41, 647, 686

  Kyoto, University of, 375, 459

  Kyushu, 641, 713

  Lady Godiva, 610

  Lamb, Willis E., Jr., 267

  Landsdale, John, Jr., 508, 583–84

  Stassfurt mission of, 607–9, 612–13

  lanthanum, 235, 247

  Laplace, Pierre Simon de, 130

  Larsen, Alf, 513–17

  Lateran Councils (1179, 1215), 177

  Laue, Max von, 16, 189, 236, 250, 329, 609, 735

  Houtermans and, 370–71

  Szilard and, 17, 19–20

  on X-ray crystallography, 17, 19, 82

  Lauritsen, Charles C., 144, 368, 446

  Lavender, Robert A., 506, 507–8

  Law for the Restoration of the Career Civil Service (1933), 26, 185, 188, 192

  Lawrence, Ernest O., 21, 351–52, 776–77

  arms race and, 643–44

  background of, 143–45

  Bush’s conflicts with, 361–62, 373, 378, 387

  calutrons of, see racetracks

  Compton and, 374–76, 381–83, 388, 399–400

  cyclotrons and particle acceleration studied by, 145–48, 165, 240, 259, 349, 360, 487

  electromagnetic isotope separation and, 360, 373, 388, 405–6, 448, 487–91, 500, 600, 602

  Groves and, 448, 491

  Interim Committee and, 630, 643, 648, 696

  military aspects of nuclear fission and, 360–62, 366–67, 373–75, 377–78, 381–83

  Oliphant and, 360, 373, 377

  Oppenheimer and, 143, 146–47, 149, 151, 381–82, 444–47

  plutonium’s fissibility and, 366–68, 388

  political implications of atomic bomb and, 643

  Trinity and, 656, 668–69, 672

  Lawrence, John, 151, 240

  Lawrence, William L., 706

  Lee, Robert E., 521

  LeMay, Curtis E., 589

  Arnold and, 597, 599, 687

  background of, 586–87

  bombing strategy of, 586, 587, 595–96, 600, 627, 639–40, 649, 679–80, 687

  Iwo Jima and, 593–94, 595

  Little Boy’s combat delivery and, 701

  Norstad and, 591–92, 597, 600

  Tibbets and, 680

  Tokyo bombings and, 595–98, 599–600

  Lenard, Philipp, 47, 170

  Lenin, V. I., 15

  Lenz, M., 239

  Leucippus, 29

  Lewis, Isaac, 101

  Lewis, Robert, 586, 700

  Enola Gay and, 703–4

  with Little Boy strike crew, 705–8, 710–11

  Lewis, W. K., 376, 465, 476, 553

  Libby, Leona Woods Marshall, 422–23, 425–26

  Herbert Anderson and, 428, 437

  Fermi and, 231–32, 363, 428, 436, 499, 568

  Hanford piles and, 499, 556–57, 604

  Los Alamos and, 568

  plutonium described by, 659–60

  Liebow, Averill A., 714–15, 719–30, 732, 734

  Liebowitz, Benjamin, 194, 289

  Life, 698–99

  Lifton, Robert J., 715, 717, 720, 723, 728, 730, 732–33

  light, characteristics of, 70–71, 128, 363–64

  Lindbergh, Charles, 307, 312, 330

  Lindemann, Frederick A. (Lord Cherwell), 339, 359, 455

  Bohr and, 484, 529–30, 538

  Churchill and, 223, 246, 320, 371–72, 469–70, 529–30, 537–38

  Los Alamos visited by, 546

  military aspects of nuclear fission and, 371–72

  on strategic vs. area bombing, 469–71, 586

  Szilard and, 222–25, 236, 246

  Little Boy (uranium gun), 541, 549, 561, 590

  assembling of, 706, 708

  blast wave from, 716, 718–19

  critical mass for, 601, 610–11, 614, 631, 651

  description of, 701–2

  explosive yield of, 631, 643, 709, 711

  firestorm caused by, 719–27

  fusing components of, 701–3

  heat generated by, 714–15, 717–19

  jettisoning of, 631

  light flash of, 713–14, 716

  Pacific shipping arrangements for, 655, 662, 678, 692, 693

  Parsons and, 477–78, 549, 576–78

  readiness of, 689, 691, 699

  Little Boy, combat delivery of:

  casualties produced by, 714–34

  crews briefed for, 700–710

  to Hiroshima, 710–11, 713–17

  Lewis’ narration of, 706–8, 710

  loading for, 701, 703

  results of, 713–37

  strike crew for, 704–11

  weather as factor in, 699–700, 701, 704–5, 708

  Livingston, M. Stanley, 148

  Lloyd George, David:

  Smuts and, 99–100

  Weizmann and, 88–90

  Locker-Lampson, Oliver S., 195

  Lodge, Sir Oliver, 84

  London, strategic bombing of, 99–100, 341–43, 470

  Loomis, Alfred, 351, 361, 367

  Los Alamos, 121, 449

  British mission to, 523–24, 527, 543–44, 546

  Chemistry and Metallurgy Division of, 569–70

  construction of, 451–52, 459–60, 476

  Critical Assemblies group of, 610

  Cyclotron Program of, 566

  Delivery Group of, 582, 585

  Experimental Physics Division of, 549

  fires at, 569–70

  Fuller Lodge of, 459, 565, 569

  Fuze Development group of, 565

  gambling at, 566

  G Division of, 573–74, 577, 580, 610

  Governing Board of, 540, 541, 543–44

  gun research at, 541–42

  history of, 450–51

  hobbies enjoyed at, 567–68

  hydrogen bomb development at, 466, 476, 539–40, 543–44, 546, 56
3

  as instant community, 453

  laboratory work planning at, 465–68, 538–40

  Ordnance Division of, 477, 549, 573, 576–77

  plutonium crisis at, 548, 553

  prostitution at, 566–67

  radiation poisoning at, 569

  review committee of, 476

  scientific staff of, 454, 460, 464–66, 476, 479–80, 538–39, 549, 561–73, 578, 580, 610–12, 652

  security arrangements for, 453–55, 460, 464, 468, 566–67, 570–71

  Serber’s orientation lectures at, 460–65

  social life at, 565–67

  T Building of, 460

  Tech Area of, 460, 479, 565, 569, 613

  Theoretical Physics Division of, 460, 538–40, 543–46, 566, 570

  Town Council of, 566–67

  X Division of, 576–77

  Los Alamos Primer, 460, 462–63, 466, 578

  Lo Sordo, Antonino, 209, 241

  Louis I, King of France and Germany, 177

  Lovett, Robert, 650

  Lübeck, 470–71

  Ludwig, Carl, 54–55

  Luftwaffe, 342

  MacArthur, Douglas, 390, 407, 554, 588, 641, 686–87

  McDaniel, Boyce, 660

  McDonald Ranch, David, 653, 659, 664

  McGill University, 42, 45, 47, 80

  machine guns, 101–2

  McKibben, Joseph, 665, 667, 669, 672

  McMillan, Edwin M., 353, 355

  gun research of, 541

  implosion experimentation and, 478–79

  Los Alamos and, 450, 460, 541, 567

  Neddermeyer and, 478–79

  nuclear fission experiments of, 348–50, 351

  Trinity and, 668, 674

  McMillan, Elsie, 567, 657

  Madach, Imre, 107–8

  “magnetic detector of electrical waves and some of its applications, A” (Rutherford), 37

  Mahabharata, 662–63

  Manchester, University of, 31, 46–48, 66–69, 82, 86, 155–56

  Manchester, William, 519, 594, 595

  Manchester Guardian, 88, 89

  Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 50

  Mandl, Otto, 24–25, 26

  Manhattan Project, 449, 451, 584

  Abelson and, 551–52

  compartmentalization of, 502–3, 508

  Goldschmidt’s description of, 605

  radioactive warfare and, 510–11

  Szilard’s challenge to, 502–10

  Truman and, 614, 617–18, 624

  Manifesto della Razza (1938), 242

  Manley, John H., 449

  Los Alamos and, 451–53, 459, 465

  Neddermeyer and, 467

  Marconi, Guglielmo, 37

  Marianas campaign, 554

  Marine Corps, U.S., 554–56, 594–95

  Marsden, Ernest, 67

  alpha scattering studied by, 48–50, 51n, 135–36

  Rutherford and, 38–39, 135–36

  Marshack, Jacob, 192

  Marshall, George C., 378, 390, 428, 620

  atomic bomb’s international control and, 646

  atomic bomb’s use supported by, 687–88, 691

  Bohr and, 535

  Groves and, 560, 576, 605, 612–13, 640, 686–87, 743

  Interim Committee and, 642, 646–47

  Japanese surrender sought by, 736–37

  proposed Japanese invasion and, 641

  radioactive warfare and, 511, 512–13

  Stimson and, 618, 640–41, 642

  Truman and, 622

  Marshall, James C., 412, 424, 490

  Marshall, John:

  Fermi and, 428, 499, 557–58

  Hanford piles and, 557–58

  pile studies and, 401, 428–29, 434, 436–37

  Martinez, Maria, 569

  Marx, Karl, 446

  Masefield, John, 97, 103

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Radiation Laboratory at, 415–16, 452

  mass-spectrograph, 139–41, 215–16, 487, 494, 602 U235 and, 285, 297–98, 313

  matter, theory of, 40

  Matthias, Franklin T., 604

  MAUD Committee, 329–31, 340–41, 350, 362, 367, 371, 373–74, 501, 652

  atomic bomb report of, 368–69, 377, 382, 386, 605

  Maxim, Hiram Stevens, 101

  Maxwell, James Clerk, 30, 39, 50, 65

  “mechanism of nuclear fission, The” (Bohr and Wheeler), 311, 319, 323

  Meiji Emperor of Japan, 712

  Mein Kampf (Hitler), 23, 175–76, 183, 184

  Meitner, Lise, 54, 200, 208, 228

  background of, 233–36

  Chadwick and, 159, 233

  Einstein and, 80, 259–60

  emigration of, 235–36, 250

  Fischer and, 80

  Frisch and, 233–34, 257–65, 286, 318, 612

  Hahn and, 23, 45, 79–81, 187, 191, 220–21, 232, 234, 236, 250–51, 253–54, 256, 257, 260–62, 612

  Maud Committee and, 340–41

  on nuclear fission, 258–65, 269–71, 273, 286

  Planck and, 79, 80, 250

  Szilard and, 25, 187

  uranium research of, 232, 234–35, 248, 258–64

  meltdown, 432–33

  Melvill, Thomas, 72

  “Memorandum on the properties of a radioactive ‘super-bomb’ ” (Frisch and Peierls), 324–25

  Mendelssohn, Kurt, 197

  Menuhin, Yehudi, 17

  Meyer, R.C., 272–73, 289–90

  Michigan, University of, 266

  Miës van der Rohe, Ludwig, 17

  Military Policy Committee, U.S., 424, 449, 477, 491, 500, 553, 626

  Millikan, Helen, 428

  Millikan, Robert A., 97, 366, 428

  Minnesota, University of, 332

  Mishima, Yukio, 743–44, 746

  Mitchell, Billy, 591

  Miyuki Bridge, 724

  Møller, Poul Martin, 58–61, 131

  Molotov, Vyacheslav, 199, 622–23, 736

  Monod, Jacques, 13

  Monsanto Chemical Company, 579

  Moon, P. B., 195, 329–30, 339, 522

  Mõri, Terumoto, 712

  Morrison, Philip, 165, 274–75, 445

  on Tinian, 681

  Trinity and, 659, 668–69, 673, 678, 710

  Moseley, Henry, Jr. (Harry), 123, 153, 156

  Bohr and, 82–85

  military service of, 86, 96–97

  X-ray spectra studied by, 81–84

  Moseley, Henry, Sr. (father), 82

  Most Secret Operation Order No. 173, 471–72

  Mount Wilson Observatory, 186

  Munich, University of, 30, 129

  Munich crisis (1938), 244–46

  Muroc Army Air Force Base, Calif., 582

  Murphree, Eger V., 388, 553

  Musashi aircraft engine factory, 588–89

  Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, 41

  Musil, Robert, 110

  Mussolini, Benito, 128, 208, 240–42, 245–46, 482

  mustard gas, 94, 100

  Mutsuhito, Meiji Emperor of Japan, 712

  Nabokov, Vladimir, 17

  Nagaoka, Hantaro, 50–51, 458

  Nagasaki:

  atomic bombing of, 740

  atomic bomb leaflets dropped on, 737

  as atomic bomb target, 628, 689, 691, 700, 739–40

  casualties in, 740–42

  devastation of, 742

  map of, 741

  Tibbet’s role in atomic bombing of, 737–39

  torpedo factory in, 393, 739

  Nagasaki bomb, see Fat Man

  Nagoya, fire raids on, 591, 600

  Napoleon I, Emperor of France, 313, 401–2

  National Academy of Sciences (NAS), 362–64, 368–69, 373

  atomic bomb reports of, 365, 376, 382, 386–87, 405

  National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, 365

  National Bureau of Standards, U.S., 314, 338, 466

  National Defense Research Council (NDRC), 336–38,
351, 357, 359–61, 365–69, 372, 374, 376–78, 394, 396, 505, 542

  Nature, 23, 164, 202, 208–9, 213, 216, 221, 227, 230–31, 262, 264–66, 269, 273, 296, 405

  Naturwissenschaften, 236, 248, 253–54, 260, 266, 270

  Naval Boiler and Turbine Laboratory, U.S., 551

  Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), U.S., 380, 507, 549–51

  Naval Technological Research Institute, Japanese, 457–58

  Navy, U.S., 594–95, 597–98, 737

  Navy Bureau of Ordnance, U.S., 552

  Navy Department, U.S., 294–95, 300–301, 303, 390

  Nazi Party, 175, 482–83

  Neddermeyer, Seth:

  Alvarez and, 547

  implosion experiments of, 478–80, 540, 541–45, 547, 573

  Kistiakowsky and, 542–43, 545, 547

  lens formulation and, 545

  Los Alamos and, 478–80, 540, 542–45, 547

  McMillan and, 478–79

  Manley and, 467

  Neumann and, 479–80, 540

  Oppenheimer and, 467, 547

  ordnance and, 466–67, 478–80

  Parsons and, 478, 479, 542–43

  Nelson, Donald, 427

  Nelson, Richard R., 704

  Nelson College, 36

  neptunium, 350, 351, 353–54

  Nernst, Walther, 222

  Netherlands, 341

  Neumann, John von:

  background of, 105, 106–9, 111–13, 126

  Bethe and, 575

  emigration of, 187, 196

  implosion theory and, 479–80, 540, 541–42, 544–45

  Kistiakowsky and, 542

  lens formulations by, 545, 575–76

  Los Alamos and, 479–80, 540, 541, 544–45, 566

  Neddermeyer and, 479–80, 540

  Target Committee and, 626, 628

  Teller and, 480

  Ulam and, 107, 112–13, 543–44

  Wigner and, 108–9, 196

  Neumann, Max von, 105, 111–12

  neutrinos, 233

  “Neutron capture and nuclear constitution” (Bohr), 227–28

  neutron multiplication experiments, 343–44

  “Neutron production and absorption in uranium” (Anderson, Fermi, and Szilard), 300

  neutrons, 24, 27

  Chadwick’s research on, 23, 153–58, 160–67, 578, 668

  nuclear bombardment with, 208–13, 216–20, 226–27, 231, 349

  nuclear capture of, 226–27, 282–83, 286–87

  Rutherford’s research on, 153–58, 162, 164

  Szilard on, 28, 300

  uranium’s release of, 280–81, 288–93, 298, 300, 343–44

  New Deal, 525, 619

  Newton, Isaac, 29–30, 39, 65, 168, 230

  New York Times, 273, 297, 706

  New Zealand, University of, 36

  Next of Kin, 429

  Nicholas I, Czar of Russia, 179

  Nichols, Kenneth D., 429, 490, 548, 610

  Groves and, 426–27

  Nicholson, J. W., 72

  Nielsen, J. Rud, 64

  Nier, Alfred O. C., 285, 297–98, 347

  gaseous-diffusion plants and, 494, 602

 

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