Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (146 page)

BOOK: Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer
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depression and suicide 153, 206–7, 211

Ehrenfest, Wassik 153

Einstein, Albert 88

quantum theory of light (1905) 87, 102, 157

as star of Solvay Congress (1911) 138

and Pauli 157, 159

supports de Broglie 103

and Schrödinger 107

and quantum mechanics debate 116, 132, 139–40

on Ehrenfest 151

visits Caltech 197, 198

and RO 197

and Flexner 197

at Institute for Advanced Study 198, 214, 261, 507, 634

angry with Birkhoff 82–3

‘completely cuckoo’ 218

alerts Belgians to importance of uranium 262–3

his letter to Roosevelt 263, 308, 432, 666

photographed with RO 508

at Pais’s seminar 509

criticised by RO 601, 637, 665–6

and RO’s security hearing 621, 662

refuses TV interview 633, 634

death 635

Eisenhower, Dwight D., President 565, 582–3, 584, 587, 590, 592, 595–6, 598, 645

electrodynamics 156–7

electromagnetic radiation 86, 102, 130, 131, 156–7

electrons 86–7, 102–5, 107–8, 113, 115–16, 131, 134–5, 137, 143–4, 157, 158, 509–10, 511, 513, 521, 528, 541, 646

Eliot, Charles 52

Eliot, George 35–6

Middlemarch
36–7, 38

Eliot, T. S. 90, 526

The Criterion
144

The Cocktail Party
526

Ellanby, Boyd
see
Boyd, William

Elliott, John 32

Eltenton, George 334–6, 357, 367, 368–9, 370–72, 375, 377, 378, 379, 381–2, 383, 486–7, 494, 611–12

Engineering and Science Monthly
516

Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands 568, 584–5

Epstein, Paul 204

Epstein, Saul 507

‘Note on the Stimulated Decay of Negative Mesons’ (with RO and Finkelstein) 509

Ethical Culture School 27–8, 29, 30, 32, 34, 37, 38, 40, 41, 44, 49, 56, 81

Inklings
(journal) 32–3

The Light
(play) 37

Ethical Culture Society 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20–21, 22–3, 26–7, 29, 31, 32, 34, 57, 70

Eugene Register-Guard
635

Evans, Ward 608, 615, 619, 620, 621

Evening Star
598

Everett, Cornelius 560, 565

‘exclusion principle’ (Pauli) 157–8

FAECT
see
Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians

Faraday, Michael 154

Farmelo, Graham:
The Strangest Man
191, 193

Farrell, Brigadier General Thomas F. 439–40, 441, 442, 444, 447–8, 462–3

‘Fat Man’ 411–15, 420, 423, 427, 444,
see
‘Trinity Project’

FBI:

and CP members 234, 280–81

starts investigating RO 281, 300–1, 302, 308, 310

and Chevalier 310

and Nelson 335, 336

ordered to close file on RO 341

and Serbers 223

informs Pash of Nelson–Weinberg conversation 343–4, 345

and relationship with G-2 345, 349

investigates scientists at Berkeley Rad Lab (‘CINRAD’) 358, 364, 366

taps Jean Tatlock’s phone 373

and Lansdale 382, 383

given Frank Oppenheimer’s name 383–4

keeps Chevalier under close surveillance 386

and Rotblat 403

and Ted Hall 424

surveillance of RO 175, 457, 482–3, 484, 485–7, 493, 499

interviews Chevalier 486–7, 493–4

RO’s dossier sent to AEC 499

and HUAC hearing 533, 535, 537, 598

and Teller 573, 575

and Pitzer and Libby 574, 575, 577

continues to keep RO under surveillance 599, 619–20

and RO’s hearing 605

see also
Hoover, J. Edgar

Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians (FAECT) 365, 366, 367, 368

Feld, Bernard 466

Ferguson, Sampson Noland 42

Fergusson, Erna 42, 43, 50, 67

Our South West
43, 48

Fergusson, Frances (
née
Keeley) 98

Fergusson, Francis:

family background 41–3

friendship with RO 40–41, 43

and Herbert Smith 43–4

at Harvard 44, 62–3

in ‘troika’ with RO and Horgan 46–8, 59, 67

and RO’s other friends at Harvard 60–61, 62

sets up club 61

receives Rhodes Scholarship for Oxford 62, 63–4

critical of RO’s literary efforts 65, 66

summers in New Mexico 70, 71

encourages Wyman to befriend RO 78–9

leaves for Oxford 77

advised by Smith to help RO 84

moves in elevated social circles 90, 91

on walking holiday with RO 89, 90

his ‘Account of the Adventures of RO in Europe’ 92–3, 94, 97, 98

nearly strangled by RO 98, 106

visits him at Cambridge 106, and at Perro Caliente 150

invited to Institute by RO 525

writes
The Idea of a Theatre
525

and Eliot 526

last meeting with RO 668

RO’s letters to 56, 60
and n
, 65–6, 70, 71–3, 77, 78, 83, 84, 88, 91, 92, 94, 98–9, 100, 106–7, 126–7, 128

Fergusson, Harvey 42, 43, 65, 67

Fergusson, Harvey Butler 41, 42, 49–50

Fergusson Act (1898) 41

Fermi, Enrico:

works with Bloch 214, and Segré 264, 268

creates radioactive materials 215

theory of beta decay 228, 229, 230

proposes name ‘neutrino’ for Pauli’s neutron 186

entertains Bohr in New York 255

tries to warn government of dangers of chain reactions 261–2

awarded Nobel Prize (1938) 267

and work on nuclear reactor 266, 293, 304, 309

relocates to Chicago ‘Met Lab’ 309

opposed to secrecy 314

builds reactor 317
and n
, 396

speaks to Teller of fusion bomb 318, 319

and Groves’ visit 324

creates first chain reaction 331

visits Los Alamos 403

as member of Scientific Advisory Panel 430

attitude to use of bomb 434–5

and ‘Trinity’ 440

in favour of May–Johnson Bill 466, 472

at Shelter Island Conference 501

and Italian scientists 502

opposes crash programme for H-bomb 545, 547, 548, 549

recommends US negotiates with USSR 551, 554, 581–2

arrives at Los Alamos 566

at RO hearing 614

and posthumous award of Fermi Prize 655

Fermi, Laura 440

Feynman, Richard 348, 496

contemptuous of security at Los Alamos 347–8

as member of board 354

on work at Los Alamos 355–6, 461

presents ‘Feynman diagram’ 501
and n
, 527, 528

and Schwinger 509, 510, 513, 514

reformulates QED theory 208, 283, 501, 514, 518, 519, 527–30

and Dyson 514, 517, 518, 519, 523

and RO 520, 521

and Dirac 521

theory praised by Bethe 522

awarded Nobel prize (1965) 530

at 12th Solvay Congress 643

Finkelstein, Robert 507

‘Note on the Stimulated Decay of Negative Mesons’ (with RO and Epstein) 509

Finletter, Thomas 565, 572, 574, 575, 577, 578, 591

Fischer, Louis 667–8

fission, nuclear/fission bomb 251
ff
., 319, 355, 356, 395–6, 405
ff
.

Flanigan, Al 374–5, 378

Flexner, Abraham 197–9

Foldy, Leslie 507

Folkoff, Isaac 237, 281, 301, 302, 310

Foreign Affairs
593

Fortune
magazine 592, 593

‘The Hidden Struggle for the H-bomb’ (Murphy) 590–91

Forum
magazine: ‘Race Prejudice at Summer Resorts’ 15–16

Fowler, Ralph 102, 103, 105, 106, 132, 139, 148, 151

report on RO 205–6

Fowler, Willie 257–8, 260, 287, 564, 658

RO’s letters to 257, 270, 281, 303

France-observateur
629

Franck, James 95, 103, 126, 133, 214, 324, 325, 433, 433, 436

Franck Report 433–4

Franco, General Francisco 232, 273

Franfurter, Felix 399, 400, 401

Frankel, Stanley 312, 316, 319, 320

Friedman, Cecilia (
née
Eger) 18, 19, 22, 26, 29

Friedman, Louis 18, 19

Friedman, Max (Ken Manfred) 312, 358, 366, 378, 379, 383, 532

Friendly, Fred 633, 634

Frisch, Otto 253

works with Meitner on fission 253–5, 318, 391, 457, 461

collaborates with Peierls on memorandum on Super-bomb 291–3, 316, 352, 395, 409

Frost, Robert 651

Fry, Roger 90

Transformations
154

Fuchs, Klaus 342, 390–92, 406, 421–2, 423–4, 443, 556–7, 597

Furry, Wendell 204, 211, 214–15, 221, 222, 422

‘On the Theory of the Electron and the Positive’ (with RO) 208–9

fusion/fusion bombs 246, 317, 318–19, 320, 322, 543, 544, 545–6, 559, 560–61, 566–8, 585, 594

G-2 341, 342, 345, 362

see also
Pash, Lt-Colonel Boris

GAC
see
General Advisory Committee

Gad-Fly
,
The
(Harvard journal) 58

gamma radiation 180, 184, 205, 352, 420

Gamow, George 187, 188, 253, 255

Garrison, Lloyd 603, 605–6, 608, 609, 610, 613, 614, 619, 621, 623, 628, 634, 663

Gavin, General James M. 563

Gell-Mann, Murray 632

General Advisory Committee (to AEC) (GAC) 495, 498, 508, 542–5

1949 meeting 546–9

reports and recommendations 549–51, 552–3, 554, 555–6, 570

and Strauss 552–4

visits Los Alamos 566

backs Ulam–Teller design 568–9

and idea of second laboratory 571, 572, 574

and campaign to oust RO from 574, 575, 577–8,
see
security hearing
under
Oppenheimer, Robert

General Strike (1926) 112

Gercke, Achim 123

Gerjuoy, Edward x, 284, 288, 290

Giauque, William 167

Gibbs, Josiah Willard: ‘On the Equilibrium of Heterogeneous Substances’ 75, 76

Gibney, Bob 650

Gibney, Nancy 650

Gide, André 90

Goethe, Johann von: ‘Den Vereinigten Staaten’ 5–6

Gogh, Vincent van 22

Gold, Harry 391–2, 421–2, 424, 556

Goldblatt, Lou 239, 240

Goldman Sachs 40

Goldmans, the 9, 15, 41

Göppert, Maria 128

Gottheil, Gustav 15

Göttingen University 117, 121, 122–5, 151–2, 167, 198

Goudsmit, Samuel 113, 141, 149, 158, 381, 388, 402, 497

Graham, Captain Frank 449

Graham, Loren R.:
Moscow Stories
221

Grant, General Ulysses 10–11, 12, 531

Gray, Gordon 608, 610, 617, 618–19, 620, 626

Green, Harold 606–8

Greene, Priscilla 471

Greenglass, David 421–2, 424, 556

Greenglass, Ruth 421, 422

‘Greenhouse’ tests 566–8

Griffiths, Gordon 240, 241, 242, 270

Griffiths, Mary 240

Griggs, David 572, 573–4, 575–6, 577, 578, 579, 580–81, 588, 590, 591, 606, 616, 626

Groves, Colonel Leslie 322–3

appointed to run Manhattan Project 322, 323, 341

visits major sites 323–4

unimpressed by Lawrence 324

won over by RO 324–6

and choice of Los Alamos 326, 327, 328, 332

appoints RO as director 328–9, 333–4

chooses Lansdale to run security force 341

and RO’s security clearance 342–3, 344–5

derided by the scientists 349

orders ‘compartmentalisation’ security policy 349, 350, 357

and Condon’s resignation 349–50

and Parsons’ appointment 354

and Pash and Lansdale’s views on RO 360, 362

orders RO’s clearance 363, 364

advises Truman that Rad Lab should be closed 366

and RO’s refusal to name contact 376, 377, 378

believes in RO’s loyalty 379

gets Pash off RO’s case 380, 381

RO names Chevalier to 382–3, 384

promises not to reveal Frank Oppenheimer’s name to FBI 383–4

and Bohr 397, 398, 406

shocks Rotblat 403

appalled by Segré’s results 410

and implosion programme 412, 413–14, 415, 416, 418, 560

and Special Engineering Detachment 421

and ‘Trinity’ 426–7, 438–9, 440, 441–2

and bombing of Japan 429–30, 431–2, 440, 443, 444, 448, 449–50, 452, 453–4, 455

and reports of radiation sickness 462

and May–Johnson Bill 465

presents RO with Army-Navy Award 467

on Acheson’s committee 479–80

and ‘Acheson–Lilienthal Plan’ 481, 482, 484–5

vouches for RO’s loyalty 500, 533

sceptical about Russian bomb 589

testifies at RO’s hearing 608, 613

Guggenheim, Benjamin 29

Guggenheim, William 29

Guggenheims, the 9, 15, 29

Gurney, Ronald 187

Hahn, Otto 252–4, 450, 451–2

Hale, George Ellery 145–6

Hales, Peter Bacon:
Atomic Spaces
332

Hall, Elmer 166, 168

RO to 148

Hall, Harvey 175, 176, 179, 204

Hall, Mary 175

Hall, Theodore (‘Ted’) 422–3, 424

Hampshire, Stuart 656

Hanford, Washington 328
n
, 331–2, 341, 349, 353, 408, 495, 537

Harmon, Colonel J. M. 333

Harper’s Magazine
630, 643

Harrison, George 441, 458, 459–50, 464

Harrison, Richard 276, 278, 279

Harrison, Wallace K. 656

Harvard University 40, 44, 52, 61–3, 77, 132–3, 137, 143–4, 148, 205, 215, 221, 229, 505

Fogg Art Museum 40

Jews 52–6

Hound & Horn
144

Standish Hall 57

Liberal Club 57, 58

Harvard Crimson
642

Harvey, William 384

Hawking, Stephen 193

Hawkins, David 56, 359, 360, 405, 418, 419, 535, 658

Hearst, William Randolph 243, 244

heavy water 396

Heilbron, J. L. and Seidel, R. W.:
Lawrence and His Laboratory
265–6

Heisenberg, Werner 103, 104

and formulation of quantum mechanics 104–6, 115, 116, 171

and Schrödinger’s theory 107, 108

describes ‘uncertainty principle’ 131

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