Making of the Atomic Bomb

  2049. “Bethe was . . . organization”: quoted in Blumberg and Owens (1976), p. 129ff.

  2050. “Throughout the . . . led it”: Teller (1983), p. 190ff.

  2051. “I believe . . . Oppenheimer”: quoted in Blumberg and Owens (1976), p. 129ff.

  2052. “When Los . . . objectives”: Teller (1955), p. 269.

  2053. the laboratory history confirms: cf. Hawkins (1947), p. 96.

  2054. “At this . . . dream of”: Segrè (1970), p. 137.

  2055. “The first . . . out there”: Badash (1980), p. 17.

  2056. bullet passing through: cf. Hawkins (1947), p. 131.

  2057. “the first . . . illusions”: ibid., p. 77.

  2058. “Absolutely . . . results”: quoted in Bernstein (1980), p. 85.

  2059. “Everything in . . . everybody”: Badash (1980), p. 49.

  2060. “by 1943 . . . ordnance”: ibid.

  2061. GK won JvN to his view: interview with George Kistiakowsky, Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 15, 1982.

  2062. “I began . . . at times”: Badash (1980), p. 49ff.

  2063. “After a . . . interfering”: quoted a Goodchild (1980), p. 112ff.

  2064. “It seemed . . . effort”: Ulam (1976), p. 141.

  2065. “The sun . . . Madison”: ibid., p. 145.

  2066. “talked to . . . bomb”: ibid., p. 148ff.

  2067. “However . . . to do”: Bethe (1982), Ms. p. 2.

  2068. “[Bethe] . . . novel subjects”: quoted in Blumberg and Owens (1976), p. 131.

  2069. “Both . . . main program”: Hawkins (1947), p. 97.

  2070. “the hydrodynamical . . . magnitude”: Ulam (1976), p. 154.

  2071. “all the . . . work”: ibid., p. 154ff.

  2072. “You have . . . the charge”: Kistiakowsky interview, Jan. 15, 1982.

  2073. 5 percent variation: Hawkins (1947), p. 91.

  2074. “With the . . . bomb”: Bethe (1982), Ms. p. 3.

  2075. “These calculations . . . urgency”: JRO to LRG, May 1, 1944. MED 201, Peierls, R.

  2076. “Oppenheimer . . . was feasible”: Teller (1955), p. 269.

  2077. “But there . . . Teller”: quoted in Smith and Weiner (1980), p. 273.

  2078. Kistiakowsky memorandum: GBK to JRO, June 3, 1944. JRO Papers, Box 43.

  2079. “I am . . . accept it”: quoted in Kunetka (1979), p. 88.

  2080. 2000+ experiments: 2,500; cf. Smith and Weiner (1980), p. 282.

  2081. “It appears . . . implosion”: JRO to LRG, July 18, 1944. Bush-Conant File, f. 3.

  2082. “The implosion . . . one”: Hawkins (1947), p. 82.

  2083. “The Laboratory . . . at it’ ”: ibid.

  2084. “[Oppenheimer] . . . of me”: quoted in Goodchild (1980), p. 118.

  2085. 1,207 employees: “Personnel employed at ‘Y’ technical area, May 1, 1944.” MED 201, Personnel.

  2086. “it had . . . a barn”: interview with Philip Abelson, Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 1982.

  2087. the dollar: ibid.

  2088. thermal diffusion experiments: cf. Abelson (1943).

  2089. “The apparatus . . . device”: ibid., p. 5.

  2090. “Information . . . future plants”: ibid., p. 20.

  2091. “They were . . . steam”: Abelson interview, Sept. 17, 1982.

  2092. Abelson knew Manhattan Project: ibid.

  2093. “I wanted . . . dagger stuff”: telephone interview with Philip Abelson, Oct. 16, 1984.

  2094. BuOrd man: Hewlett and Anderson (1962), p. 168, cite a visit by Deke Parsons to the Navy Yard as the origin of this contact. Abelson remembers no such visit. The official AEC historians apparently found the Parsons version in JRO’s memorandum to LRG. Groves was concerned after the war to discredit a Szilard recounting of this story similar to Abelson’s version. Abelson remembers quite clearly that he initiated the contact; asked if he deliberately breached compartmentalization, he answers, “I sure as hell did!” Telephone interview, Oct. 16, 1984.

  2095. “Dr. Oppenheimer . . . a whole”: USAEC (1954), p. 164ff.

  2096. “I at . . . investigating”: Groves (1962), p. 120.

  2097. Lewis/Murphree/Tolman conclusions: cf. “Possible utilization of Navy pilot thermal diffusion plant,” dated June 3, 1944. Bush-Conant File, f. 3.

  2098. “Chinese copies”: Groves (1962), p. 120.

  2099. “We are . . . Marines”: quoted in Costello (1981), p. 476.

  2100. “Nowhere have . . . was dead”: Sherrod (1944), p. 32.

  2101. Tinian: cf. esp. Hough (1947).

  2102. “The view . . . cold”: Libby (1979), p. 177.

  2103. “Enrico and . . . reaction”: ibid., p. 178ff.

  2104. “We arrived . . . cooling tubes”: ibid., p. 179ff.

  2105. “Something was . . . and down”: ibid., p. 180ff.

  2106. Fermi open-minded: cf. ibid., p. 181.

  2107. “concerned for . . . even stable”: Wheeler (1962), p. 34.

  2108. “If this . . . was needed”: ibid., p. 34ff.

  2109. “a fundamentally . . . matter”: quoted in Hewlett and Anderson (1962), p. 307.

  2110. Groves’ report to Marshall: cf. J. B. Conant handwritten “Notes on history of S-1” dated Jan. 6, 1945. Bush-Conant File, f. 19.

  2111. “Looks like . . . September”: ibid.

  Chapter 17: The Evils of This Time

  2112. Conant to Bush: “Report on visit to Los Alamos—October 18, 1944.” Bush-Conant File, f. 3.

  2113. “what the . . . over”: Conant (1970), p. 300.

  2114. Niels Bohr: NB’s influence on VB and JBC can be traced by careful reading. The two administrators knew little or nothing of NB’s ideas on Sept. 19, 1944, when they sent their own to HLS: when VB met with Cherwell and FDR on Sept. 22, VB was disturbed that FDR was discussing postwar arrangements without benefit of briefing and gathered, apparently from FDR, that NB wanted the British and the Americans to maintain peace via bilateral postwar monopoly. Between Sept. 22 and 30, however, at least VB must have talked to NB: the memorandum he and JBC sent HLS on that later date contains and endorses all NB’s basic ideas. Since Bohr was in the doghouse with FDR at the time, VB and JBC were probably politic not to credit him as their source. Cf. VB/JBC to HLS, Sept. 19, 1944, MED 76, S-l interim committee scientific panel; VB to JBC, “Memorandum of conference,” Sept. 22, 1944, Bush-Conant File, f. 20a; VB to JBC, Sept. 23, 1944, ibid.; VB/JBC to HLS, Sept. 30, 1944, Bush-Conant File, f. 20a.

  2115. “the progress . . . be secure”: VB/JBC to HLS, Sept. 19, 1944.

  2116. “to a . . . Russia”: VB to JBC, Sept. 22, 1944.

  2117. “In order . . . attempt”: VB/JBC to HLS, Sept. 30, 1944.

  2118. “a robot . . . missile”: ibid.

  2119. “By various . . . enterprise”: JBC to VB, Oct. 20, 1944. Bush-Conant File, f. 3.

  2120. “I should . . . importance”: USAEC (1954), p. 954ff.

  2121. Los Alamos: This discussion draws especially on Badash (1980), Brode (1960), L. Fermi (1954), Jette (1977), Libby (1979), Lyon and Evans (1984) and Segrè (1970).

  2122. “I always . . . rebellion”: L. Fermi (1954), p. 231ff.

  2123. “I told . . . come again”: quoted in Brode (1960), I, 7.

  2124. “Then we . . . slope”: Badash (1980), p. 61.

  2125. “Oppie . . . get up”: quoted in L. Fermi (1954), p. 227.

  2126. “That young . . . long way”: quoted in ibid., p. 219.

  2127. “Parties . . . we worked”: Brode (1960), X, 5.

  2128. “Everybody . . . army camp”: Else (1980), p. 9.

  2129. “He offered . . . feet”: Brode (1960), VIII, 5.

  2130. “The main . . . mesa”: ibid., X, 7.

  2131. “I played . . . of view”: Badash (1980), p. 61.

  2132. “Of the . . . cloth”: Wilson (1975), p. 160.

  2133. “I don’t . . . friendship”: Badash (1980), p. 43.

  2134. “The streams . . . shouting”: quoted in Brode (1960), IX, 7.

  2135. “but
he . . . science”: Segrè (1970), p. 140.

  2136. “Oh, I . . . wits”: quoted in Ulam (1976), p. 165.

  2137. “sit there . . . made”: Badash (1980), p. 81.

  2138. “nothing . . . breath”: Libby (1979), p. 204ff.

  2139. “Best for . . . Fuchs”: Brode (1960), IX, 7.

  2140. “Remember . . . Park”: quoted in Lyon and Evans (1984), p. 31.

  2141. “from . . . cover”: Hans Bethe OHI, AIP, p. 159.

  2142. “Jesus . . . fantastic”: Jette (1977), p. 84.

  2143. “Oppenheimer . . . exception”: interview with Edward Teller, Stanford, Calif., June 19, 1982.

  2144. “He knew . . . us”: Else (1980), p. 10.

  2145. “He understood . . . anybody”: interview with Hans Bethe, Ithaca, N.Y., Sept. 12, 1982.

  2146. “a very . . . them”: “Seven Springs meeting, 5/63,” p. 5. JRO Papers, Box 66.

  2147. volunteered names to protect his own: cf. Stern and Green (1969), p. 48ff.

  2148. “On June . . . together”: D. M. Ladd to Director FBI, Dec. 17, 1953, p. 9. JRO FBI file, doc. 65.

  2149. “I wanted . . . somehow”: quoted in Goodchild (1980), p. 128.

  2150. between March and October: between the beginning of planning and the first mention of Trinity I find in the record, JBC to VB, Oct. 18, 1944.

  2151. “I did . . . Resurrection”: JRO to LRG, Oct. 20, 1962. JRO Papers, Box 36.

  2152. “Bohr was . . . control”: Hans Bethe OHI, AIP, p. 62.

  2153. “That still . . . whatever”: JRO to LRG, Oct. 20, 1962.

  2154. Oppenheimer did not doubt: cf. his famous remark to Truman that he had blood on his hands.

  2155. healed the split: cf. Dyson (1979), p. 81ff, esp. Kitty Oppenheimer’s choice of George Herbert’s “The Collar” as “a poem . . . that she found particularly appropriate to describe how Robert had appeared to himself.” “The Collar” works complementarities similar to Donne’s.

  2156. “Therefore I . . . peace”: Smith and Weiner (1980), p. 156.

  2157. “I was . . . surrounded”: interview with Luis Alvarez, Berkeley, Calif., June 22, 1982.

  2158. “very quickly . . . failed”: Bethe interview, Sept. 12, 1982.

  2159. “too frequently . . . shortcuts”: Kistiakowsky (1949a), I-1.

  2160. “Prior to . . . low”: ibid., I-2.

  2161. “So much . . . implosion”: Badash (1980), p. 54.

  2162. “the greatest . . . molds”: interview with George Kistiakowsky, Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 15, 1982.

  2163. Composition B/Baratol: cf. Kistiakowsky (1949b).

  2164. “We learned . . . mold”: Kistiakowsky interview, Jan. 15, 1982.

  2165. “We were . . . charges”: Kistiakowsky (1980), p. 19.

  2166. initiator: Dr. Louis Brown, DTM, Carnegie Institution of Washington, contributed valuably to this discussion.

  2167. “some other . . . satisfactory”: Condon (1943), p. 19.

  2168. “I think . . . initiator”: Bethe interview, Sept. 12, 1982.

  2169. “This isotope . . . accord”: quoted in Trenn (1980), p. 98.

  2170. screwballs: cf. Groueff (1967), p. 327.

  2171. Nishina’s private belief: cf. Pacific War Research Society (1972) (hereafter PWRS), p. 23.

  2172. first Nishina/Nobuuji meeting: “Uranium project research meeting,” July 2, 1943. Copies of original documents and translations in the private collection of P. Wayne Reagan, Kansas City, Mo.

  2173. second Nishina/Nobuuji meeting: “Uranium project research meeting,” Feb. 2, 1944. P. Wayne Reagan collection.

  2174. 170 grams: PWRS (1972), p. 48.

  2175. “Well, don’t . . . gas”: quoted in ibid., p. 49.

  2176. third Nishina/Nobuuji meeting: “Uranium project research meeting,” Nov. 17, 1944. P Wayne Reagan collection.

  2177. Nishina’s staff had understood: cf. PWRS (1972), p. 41.

  2178. “The doors . . . doors”: Ramsey (1946), p. 126.

  2179. “When I . . . right”: quoted in Marx (1967), p. 98.

  2180. “I’m satisfied”: quoted in Tibbets (1973), p. 51.

  2181. “You have . . . war”: ibid.

  2182. Air Force chose Wendover: Tibbets has remembered making the choice, but it was determined before his appointment; no doubt he confirmed it. Cf. Capt. Derry to LRG, Aug. 29, 1944. MED 5c, Preparation and movement of personnel and equipment to Tinian.

  2183. B-29: cf. Birdsall (1980).

  2184. Sept. 1939 proposal: ibid., p. 2.

  2185. one Delivery group physicist: David L. Anderson interview, Oberlin, Ohio, 1981.

  2186. “safe . . . of two”: Groves (1962), p. 286.

  2187. Tibbets: besides previous references cf. also Thomas and Witts (1977).

  2188. “It didn’t . . . homeland”: LeMay (1965), p. 322.

  2189. “I’ll tell . . . fighting”: quoted in Powers (1984), p. 60.

  2190. “I wanted . . . creature”: LeMay (1965), p. 14.

  2191. “truancy . . . mania”: ibid., p. 16.

  2192. “I had . . . activities”: ibid., p. 17.

  2193. “When the . . . penetrate”: ibid., p. 30.

  2194. “General Arnold . . . system”: ibid., p. 338.

  2195. “The city . . . of it”: Guillain (1981), p. 174.

  2196. Hansell target directive: cf. Birdsall (1980), p. 107.

  2197. “I did . . . surprise”: quoted in ibid., p. 144.

  2198. blockbluster meeting: on Dec. 19, 1944. Cf. Capt. Derry to LRG, Jan. 9, 1945. MED 4, Trinity test.

  2199. Parsons memorandum: WSP to LRG, Dec. 26, 1944. MED 51, Memos from Parsons (misc).

  2200. “Suddenly there . . . blossom”: Guillain (1981), p. 176.

  2201. “urgent . . . future planning”: quoted in Birdsall (1980), p. 131, whose argument I follow here.

  2202. “LeMay is . . . it”: quoted in ibid., p. 143.

  2203. “General Arnold . . . lives”: LeMay (1965), p. 347.

  2204. “another month . . . this”: ibid., p. 345.

  2205. Churchill instigated: cf. Irving (1963), p. 90ff.

  2206. “I did . . . done”: quoted in ibid., p. 92.

  2207. “The first . . . underground”: I was the interviewer. Rhodes et al. (1977), p. 213ff.

  2208. Iwo Jima: cf. esp. Wheeler (1980).

  2209. “We would . . . can”: quoted in ibid., p. 28.

  2210. “I am . . . can”: quoted in ibid., p. 29.

  2211. “They meant . . . homeland”: Manchester (1980), p. 339.

  2212. poison gas: cf. Wheeler (1980), p. 13.

  2213. “The invaders . . . flesh”: Manchester (1980), p. 340.

  2214. “We shall . . . dying!”: quoted in Costello (1981), p. 546.

  2215. “The Japanese . . . fast”: LeMay (1965), p. 346; his italics.

  2216. Tokyo raid: cf. United States Strategic Bombing Survey (1976) (hereafter USSBS); Birdsall (1980); Guillain (1981); Kennett (1982); Overy (1980).

  2217. “All the . . . kids”: LeMay (1965), p. 349.

  2218. 87.4 percent: USSBS #96, p. 105.

  2219. “No matter . . . killed”: LeMay (1965), p. 352; his ellipses.

  2220. “the entire . . . target”: quoted in Kennett (1982), p. 176.

  2221. “outstanding strike”: quoted in Birdsall (1980), p. 180.

  2222. Arnold informed: LeMay remembers otherwise, but cf. ibid.

  2223. “You’re going . . . seen”: quoted in Costello (1981), p. 548.

  2224. “grim . . . grubby”: Brines (1944), p. 292.

  2225. “We will . . . possible”: ibid., p. 9.

  2226. “American fighting . . . way”: ibid., p. 11.

  2227. “The inhabitants . . . everywhere”: Guillain (1981), p. 184.

  2228. “The fire . . . spectacle”: ibid., p. 182.

  2229. “The chief . . . wind”: USSBS #96, p. 96ff.

  2230. “the most . . . known”: quoted in Birdsall (1980), p. 195.

  2231. “probably more
. . . man”: USSBS #96, p. 95.

  2232. CONGRATULATIONS . . . ANYTHING: quoted in Birdsall (1980), p. 196.

  2233. “Then . . . Literally”: LeMay (1965), p. 354.

  2234. 32 sq. mi.: USSBS #96, p. 39.

  2235. “I consider . . . command”: quoted in Overy (1980), p. 100.

  2236. “In order . . . mud”: quoted in Johnson and Jackson (1981), p. 19.

  2237. 100 gms., etc.: these numbers and dates from M. L. Oliphant to J. Chadwick, Nov. 2, 1944. MED 201, Chadwick, J.

  2238. “This loss . . . management”: ibid.

  2239. “the output . . . expected”: MLO to LRG, Nov. 13, 1944. MED 201, Oliphant, M. L.

  2240. Jan. 1945, data: Brobeck and Reynolds (1945).

  2241. Conant notes on Jan. 6: “Notes on history of S-1.” Bush-Conant File, f. 19.

  2242. U235 critical mass: Conant cites 13 ± 2 kg in JBC to VB, Oct. 18, 1944; King (1979) cites 15 kg for U235 surrounded by a thick U tamper.

  2243. “on the . . . received”: quoted in Hewlett and Anderson (1962), p. 301.

  2244. Groves’ U235 farm: toured on a visit to Oak Ridge in 1975, when the bluffside bunker had been converted to an air-pollution sampling station.

  2245. 250 ppm: Seaborg (1958), p. 16.

  2246. “Originally eight . . . concrete”: Groves (1962), p. 85.

  2247. “When the . . . aloft”: Libby (1979), p. 174.

  2248. “The yields . . . 1945”: Seaborg (1958), p. 50ff.

  2249. “the astonishing . . . date”: Goldschmidt (1964), p. 35.

  2250. “the unfortunate . . . [them]”: Groves (1962), p. 186.

  2251. “but I . . . it”: ibid., p. 191.

  2252. “his thorough . . . me”: ibid., p. 193.

  2253. “The ALSOS . . . Paris”: Lt. Col. G. R. Eckman to Chief, Military Intelligence Service, Sept. 1, 1944. MED 371.2, Goudsmit mission.

  2254. “It is . . . form”: Goudsmit (1947), p. 70ff.

  2255. “Washington wanted . . . Union”: Pash (1969), p. 191.

  2256. “We outlined . . . oxide”: JL, “Capture of material,” draft report, July 10, 1946. MED 7, War Dept. special operations (tab E-F).

  2257. “Many of . . . started”: ibid. Note that Groves (1962), p. 237, remembers these paper bags as fruit barrels and invents a two-week plant run in the midst of contending armies to manufacture them. Such is memory; JL’s is the eyewitness account, confirmed by his contemporary report JL to LRG, May 5, 1945. MED 7 (tab A-C).