Making of the Atomic Bomb

  2258. “Haigerloch is . . . pile”: Pash (1969), p. 206ff.

  2259. Haigerloch pile: cf. Irving (1967), p. 244ff.

  2260. “The fact . . . Alsos”: Pash (1969), p. 157ff.

  2261. “By successively . . . reactions”: Hawkins (1947), p. 229.

  2262. “At that . . . flicker”: Frisch (1979), p. 161.

  2263. “The idea . . . so”: ibid., p. 159.

  2264. Feynman named it: cf. ibid.

  2265. “It was . . . mid-morning”: ibid., p. 159ff.

  2266. “These experiments . . . alone”: Hawkins (1947), p. 230.

  2267. “In 1940 . . . war”: LRG to GCM, April 23, 1945. MED 7 (tab E-F).

  2268. “Sunday morning . . . ours”: quoted in Smith and Weiner (1980), p. 287.

  2269. “When, three . . . death”: ibid., p. 288.

  2270. “I kept . . . struck!”: quoted in Bishop (1974), p. 598.

  Chapter 18: Trinity

  2271. “Stimson told . . . details”: Truman (1955), p. 10.

  2272. “The chief . . . distrust”: Stimson and Bundy (1948), p. 544.

  2273. “assistant President”: quoted in Byrnes (1958), p. 155.

  2274. “Jimmy Byrnes . . . world”: Truman (1955), p. 11.

  2275. “that in . . . war”: ibid., p. 87.

  2276. “A small . . . geniality”: Joseph Alsop and Robert Kitner, quoted in Mee (1975), p. 2.

  2277. “a vigorous . . . politics”: quoted in ibid.

  2278. “Had a . . . sometimes”: Ferrell (1980), p. 39.

  2279. “I freely . . . action”: Byrnes (1958), p. 230.

  2280. “We proposed . . . in”: “Memorandum of conference,” Dec. 8, 1944. Bush-Conant File, f. 20a.

  2281. “I told . . . me”: “Extract from notes made after a conference with the President, December 31, 1944.” MED 24, Memos to file by LRG covering two meetings with the President.

  2282. “it would . . . S-l”: quoted in Sherwin (1975), p. 136.

  2283. “the fear . . . messages”: Truman (1955), p. 72.

  2284. “barbarian invasion . . . affairs”: ibid., p. 71.

  2285. “I ended . . . government’ ”: ibid., p. 72.

  2286. “go ahead . . . organization”: ibid.

  2287. “He felt . . . Hell”: Charles Bohlen, quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 46. Note Truman’s nearly identical language, sans cuss word and imperative, at Truman (1955), p. 77.

  2288. “In the . . . promised”: Truman (1955), p. 77.

  2289. “He said . . . serious”: ibid., p. 79.

  2290. “I replied . . . like that”: ibid., p. 82.

  2291. “one of . . . House”: ibid., p. 85.

  2292. April 24 message from Stalin: quoted in full in ibid., p. 85ff.

  2293. Stimson memorandum: “Memo discussed with the President,” April 25, 1945. MED 60, S-1 White House.

  2294. “Mr. Truman . . . all”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 80.

  2295. “a great . . . project”: “Report of meeting with the President,” April 25, 1945. MED 24.

  2296. “I listened . . . service”: Truman (1955), p. 87.

  2297. first Target Committee meeting: Groves (1962), p. 268, dates this occasion May 2, 1945, but cf. “Notes on initial meeting of target committee” dated April 27, 1945, from which all indicated quotations following are extracted. MED 5D, Selection of targets.

  2298. “I had . . . bomb”: Groves (1962), p. 267.

  2299. May 1 Harrison memorandum: Bush-Conant File, f. 20A.

  2300. “The President . . . shut”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 54.

  2301. “and late . . . accepted”: ibid.

  2302. “were . . . death”: quoted in Sherwin (1975), p. 170.

  2303. “when secrecy . . . Commission”: HLS to VB, April 4, 1945. Bush-Conant File, f. 20b.

  2304. “I have . . . scene”: Eisenhower (1970), IV, p. 2673ff.

  2305. “I tried . . . accomplished”: quoted in ibid., p. 2696.

  2306. “The mission . . . 1945”: ibid.

  2307. deaths: from Elliot (1972) except for Holocaust victims; that number from Dawidowicz (1975), p. 544.

  2308. “We all . . . committee”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 56.

  2309. Stimson introducing Byrnes: cf. R. Gordon Arneson, “Memorandum for the files,” May 24, 1946. Bush-Conant File, f. 6.

  2310. “A. Height . . . Program”: J. A. Derry and N. F. Ramsey, “Summary of Target Committee meetings on 10 and 11 May 1945.” MED 5D.

  2311. “very frank . . . one”: VB to JBC, May 14, 1945. Bush-Conant File, f. 20B.

  2312. Stimson’s agenda: copy (misdated May 12, 1945) with notes in HLS’s hand in Bush-Conant File, f. 100.

  2313. “I . . . said . . . September”: VB to JBC, May 14, 1945.

  2314. “Mr. Byrnes . . . test”: JBC to VB, May 18, 1945. Bush-Conant File, f. 12.

  2315. “Mr. Byrnes . . . one”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 62.

  2316. “This question . . . argument”: JBC to VB, May 18, 1945.

  2317. “Some of . . . matter”: ibid.

  2318. Conant told Byrnes: cf. ibid.

  2319. “the feeling . . . back”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 116ff.

  2320. “the wisdom . . . bombs”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 182.

  2321. “many hours . . . nights”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 115.

  2322. “The only . . . President”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 181.

  2323. “I am . . . history”: quoted in Clark (1970), p. 685.

  2324. “Elated by . . . House”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 182.

  2325. “I see . . . City”: ibid., p. 183.

  2326. “We did . . . know”: ibid.

  2327. “I have . . . judgment”: ibid., p. 205.

  2328. Szilard memorandum: although Document 101 in ibid., p. 196ff, is usually cited as the memorandum Byrnes read, his memory of the contents—discussed below—makes it clear that he read the enclosure given as part of Document 102, p. 205ff, which Weart and Szilard describe as an “enclosure to Einstein’s letter.”

  2329. “essentially due . . . armaments”: ibid., p. 198.

  2330. “Szilard complained . . . me”: Byrnes (1958), p. 284.

  2331. “When I . . . Russia”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 183.

  2332. “He said . . . already?”: ibid., p. 184.

  2333. “Byrnes thought . . . manageable”: ibid.

  2334. May 28 Target Committee meeting: minutes at MED 5D.

  2335. “for thirty . . . hated”: Stimson and Bundy (1948), p. 632.

  2336. “I am . . . weapons”: diary, quoted in Steiner (1974), p. 473.

  2337. May 30: on the evidence of LRG to Lauris Norstad, May 30, 1945, reporting Stimson’s decision “this AM.” MED 5B.

  2338. “I was . . . Kyoto”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 40ff.

  2339. “The Joint . . . Japan”: quoted in Feis (1966), p. 7.

  2340. “with the . . . lives”: quoted in ibid., p. 8.

  2341. 31,000 casualties: cf. ibid., p. 8ff.

  2342. Groves had doubted: cf. VB to JBC, May 14, 1945.

  2343. “I told . . . well”: Weart and Szilard (1978), p. 185.

  2344. May 31 Interim Committee meeting: cf. notes at Bush-Conant File, f. 100.

  2345. “S.l . . . World Peace”: handwritten notes “To the Four,” May 31, 1945. Bush-Conant File, f. 100.

  2346. “a terrible . . . breached”: Oppenheimer (1961), p. 11.

  2347. “As I . . . weapon”: the deleted phrase is “and industrialists.” Byrnes would not meet with the industrialists until the next day and presumably merges the two meetings in memory. The context is the May 31 meeting. Byrnes (1958), p. 283.

  2348. “Bush and . . . panel”: Oppenheimer (1963), III (Los Alamos version), p. 15.

  2349. question mentioned during morning: according to E. O. Lawrence; cf. Sherwin (1975), p. 207.


  2350. “[Stimson emphasized] . . . harm”: Oppenheimer (1961), p. 12.

  2351. “You ask . . . know”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 104.

  2352. “We feared . . . surrender”: Byrnes (1958), p. 261.

  2353. “The President . . . knows”: quoted in Feis (1966), p. 47.

  2354. “number of . . . raids”: quoted in Sherwin (1975), p. 207ff.

  2355. 20,000 deaths: Compton (1956), p. 237.

  2356. “a city . . . lives”: ibid. AHC locates this discussion A.M. P.M. is likelier; much else in his memory of this meeting is misplaced.

  2357. “We were . . . done”: LeMay (1965), p. 384.

  2358. “secret intelligence . . . intentionally”: unsigned memorandum dated June 1, 1945, on War Dept. stationery; Top Secret classification authorized by LRG. MED 12.

  2359. June 1 Interim Committee meeting: minutes at MED 100.

  2360. “I concluded . . . bomb”; quoted in Feis (1966), p. 44.

  2361. “sternly questioned”: Stimson and Bundy (1948), p. 632.

  2362. “I told . . . understood”: Stimson’s diary, quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 36.

  2363. “Mr. Byrnes . . . weapon”: quoted in ibid., p. 107.

  2364. Byrnes to White House: ibid., p. 109.

  2365. “I told . . . recommend”: quoted in ibid., p. 110.

  2366. “said that . . . done”: quoted in ibid.

  2367. “I was . . . happen”: Oppenheimer (1963) III (Los Alamos version), p. 15.

  2368. “Do you . . . No”: MED 19, Bohr, Dr. Niels.

  2369. Trinity: cf. esp. Badash (1980), Bainbridge (1945), Else (1980), Lamont (1965), Szasz (1984), and Wilson (1975).

  2370. “was one . . . desert”: Hawkins (1947), p. 271.

  2371. “followed unmapped . . . winds”: Wilson (1975), p. 210.

  2372. “almost to . . . 1945”: Bainbridge (1945), p. 5.

  2373. “people were . . . explosion”: Else (1980), p. 16.

  2374. Pu critical mass: cf. King (1979), p. 7.

  2375. “Most troublesome . . . lot”: Kistiakowsky (1980), p. 20.

  2376. June 27 LRG/JRO/WSP meeting: JRO/WSP to LRG, June 29, 1945. MED 50. Preparations and movement of personnel to Tinian.

  2377. “on purpose . . . time”: quoted in Sherwin (1975), p. 193.

  2378. “What are . . . propagandist?”: quoted in Szasz (1984), p. 65.

  2379. ANY . . . DAYS: quoted in Groueff (1967), p. 340.

  2380. July 9: Bainbridge (1945), p. 39.

  2381. “In some . . . spheres”: Kistiakowsky (1980), p. 20.

  2382. “You don’t . . . it”: interview with G. B. Kistiakowsky, Cambridge, Mass., Jan. 15, 1982.

  2383. “The castings . . . charge”: Bainbridge (1945), p. 39.

  2384. “That last . . . life”: Badash (1980), p. 46.

  2385. “Very shortly . . . hysteria”: JRO to ER, May 19, 1950. JRO Papers, Box 62.

  2386. nickel: Bill Jack Rodgers, LANL, personal communication.

  2387. “beautiful to . . . threatened”: Smith (1954), p. 88.

  2388. “Right in . . . this?”: quoted in Szasz (1984), p. 72.

  2389. “on the . . . insignificant”: Bainbridge (1945), p. 39.

  2390. “when you . . . rabbit”: Libby (1979), p. 171.

  2391. “We were . . . way”: quoted in Johnson (1970), p. 11.

  2392. “The [high- . . . mistake”: Wilson (1975), p. 185ff.

  2393. “So of . . . me”: Badash (1980), p. 59.

  2394. “Everybody at . . . work”: Kistiakowsky (1980), p. 21.

  2395. “a. 1 box . . . bomb”: J. A. Derry to Adm. W. S. DeLany, July 17, 1945. MED 50.3, Shipment of special materials (bomb).

  2396. “We drove . . . dud”: Badash (1980), p. 75ff.

  2397. “His was . . . him”: Bush (1970), p. 148.

  2398. “Sunday morning . . . society”: Badash (1980), p. 59.

  2399. “What about . . . whimsical”: quoted in Lamont (1965), p. 184.

  2400. “Gadget complete . . . there?”: Bainbridge (1945), p. 43.

  2401. “in less . . . sacrifices”: quoted in Szasz (1984), p. 75.

  2402. JRO climbed tower: Lamont puts this visit at 1600, when JRO was in conference with Hubbard. Lamont (1965), p. 190.

  2403. “Funny how . . . work”: quoted in ibid., p. 193.

  2404. “I had . . . possible”: Groves (1962), p. 296ff.

  2405. “thoughtless bravado”: Wilson (1975), p. 225.

  2406. “Trying to . . . whiskey”: Teller (1979), p. 147.

  2407. “On the . . . Zero”: Wilson (1975), p. 227.

  2408. “Soon after . . . tower”: ibid.

  2409. “the night . . . seen”: Lawrence (1946), p. 5.

  2410. “It was . . . Oppenheimer”: Else (1980).

  2411. 0200 weather conference: details from Szasz (1984), p. 76ff., who finds them in Hubbard’s contemporary journal.

  2412. “What the . . . weather”: quoted in ibid., p. 76.

  2413. “or . . . you”: quoted in ibid., p. 77.

  2414. “Sporadic rain . . . tower”: Wilson (1975), p. 228.

  2415. “But my . . . water”: Segrè (1970), p. 146.

  2416. “Hubbard gave . . . = 0”: Wilson (1975), p. 228.

  2417. “I drove . . . S 10,000”: ibid., p. 228ff.

  2418. “I unlocked . . . 5:09:45 a.m.”: ibid., p. 229.

  2419. “With the . . . unendurable”: Lawrence (1946), p. 6.

  2420. “We were . . . eye”: Teller (1962), p. 17.

  2421. “I wouldn’t . . . lotion”: Teller (1979), p. 148.

  2422. “It was . . . flash”: Lawrence (1946), p. 7.

  2423. “personally nervous . . . fault”: MED 319.1, Trinity test reports (misc.).

  2424. “only of . . . happened”: Groves (1962), p. 296.

  2425. “groups of . . . point”: MED 319.1.

  2426. “Lord, these . . . heart”: quoted in Lamont (1965), p. 226.

  2427. “The control . . . safe)”: GBK to Richard Hewlett (n.d.), JRO Papers, Box 43.

  2428. “I put . . . point”: Teller (1979), p. 148.

  2429. “Dr. Oppenheimer . . . ahead”: quoted in Groves (1962), p. 436.

  2430. “I watched . . . rise”: MED 319.1.

  2431. “but at . . . excited!)”: ibid.

  2432. “Now the . . . zero”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 196.

  2433. “the very . . . distance”: Bethe (1964), p. 13.

  2434. “The shock . . . center”: ibid.

  2435. “because higher . . . maximum”: ibid., p. 14ff.

  2436. “any further . . . seconds”: ibid., p. 92ff.

  2437. “The expansion . . . screw”: Bainbridge (1945), p. 60.

  2438. “We were . . . nature”: Rabi (1970), p. 138.

  2439. “was like . . . sunlight”: Teller (1962), p. 17.

  2440. “We had . . . back”: quoted in Los Alamos: beginning of an era 1943-1945 (n.d.) (hereafter LABE), p. 52.

  2441. “Just as . . . surprise”: MED 319.1.

  2442. “it looked . . . seconds”: quoted in LABE, p. 53.

  2443. “At the . . . breath-taking”: MED 319.1.

  2444. “The most . . . possible”: Segrè (1970), p. 147.

  2445. “From ten . . . sunrise”: quoted in Terkel (1984), p. 512ff.

  2446. “The flash . . . yards”: D. R. Inglis, MED 319.1.

  2447. “Most experiences . . . anybody”: quoted in LABE, p. 53.

  2448. “the overcast . . . sunrise”: MED 319.1.

  2449. “the path . . . clouds”: ibid.

  2450. “When the . . . ball”: ibid.

  2451. “About 40 . . . T.N.T.”: ibid.

  2452. “From the . . . measurement”: Segrè (1970), p. 147ff.

  2453. “He was . . . noise”: L. Fermi (1954), p. 239.

  2454. “And so . . . worked”: Else (1980).

  2455. “No one . . . display”: Wilson (1975), p. 230.

  2456. ??
?personally thought . . . it”: Groves (1962), p. 439.

  2457. “I slapped . . . dollars”: Badash (1980), p. 60.

  2458. “It’s empty . . . wait”: quoted in Lamont (1965), p. 237.

  2459. “I finished . . . test”: Wilson (1975), p. 230.

  2460. “Our first . . . worried”: quoted in Szasz (1984), p. 91.

  2461. “Naturally, we . . . was”: Rabi (1970), p. 138.

  2462. “We waited . . . another”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 197.

  2463. “When it . . . it”: Oppenheimer (1946), p. 265.

  2464. “He was . . . it”: Else (1980).

  2465. “When Farrell . . . you”: Groves (1962), p. 298.

  2466. “the best . . . philosophy”: quoted in Davis (1968), p. 184.

  2467. “My faith . . . restored”: quoted in Szasz (1984), p. 89.

  2468. 21 KT, 18 KT: cf. telephone notes of 7:55 A.M. LRG to Jean O’Leary, July 16, 1945. MED 319.1.

  2469. 18.6 KT: Bainbridge (1945), p. 67.

  2470. “For the . . . driven”: L. Fermi (1954), p. 238.

  2471. “You could . . . future”: quoted in Szasz (1984), p. 91.

  2472. “Partially eviscerated . . . permanently”: SW to LRG, July 21, 1945. MED 4, Trinity test.

  2473. Frank Oppenheimer experiment: Bainbridge (1945), p. 48.

  2474. “He applied . . . reality”: quoted in Terkel (1984), p. 513.

  2475. 0836 PWT: Ethridge (1982), p. 81.

  Chapter 19: Tongues of Fire

  2476. Kirkpatrick reported to Groves: cf. handwritten reports dated March 31, April 11, and May 10, 1945, at MED 5C, Preparation and movement of personnel and equipment to Tinian.

  2477. “Tests showed . . . carburetors”: Tibbets (1946), p. 133.

  2478. “The performance . . . theater”: Ramsey (1946), p. 146.

  2479. eleven B-29’s: Peer DeSilva to John Lansdale, Jr., June 28, 1945. MED 371.2.

  2480. “looked . . . Paradise”: quoted in Craven and Cate (1958), V, p. 707.

  2481. “Tinian is . . . landed”: Morrison (1946), p. 177.

  2482. “The first . . . Tinian”: Ramsey (1946), p. 147.

  2483. “Jimmy . . . Bible”: quoted in Messer (1982), p. 6.

  2484. “a warning . . . capitulate”: Stimson and Bundy (1948), p. 621.

  2485. “from the . . . Department”: quoted in Giovannitti and Freed (1965), p. 180.

  2486. “Secretary Byrnes . . . there?”: quoted in ibid.

  2487. “We reviewed . . . knows?”: Ferrell (1980), p. 41.

  2488. “Proposed Program for Japan”: cf. Stimson and Bundy (1948), p. 620ff.