isotope-separation experiments of, 317, 332–33, 360
Niigata, as atomic bomb target, 632, 639, 689, 691, 700
Nimitz, Chester, 554, 679
Ninth Army, U.S., 608
Nishina, Yoshio, 346, 457–59
gaseous thermal diffusion experiments of, 580–82, 612
Nobel, Alfred, 676
Nobel Prize winners, 45, 66, 69–71, 82, 93, 106, 114, 123, 126, 129, 141, 147, 150, 168, 170, 174, 185, 191, 201–2, 205, 222, 236, 243–44, 248–50, 252, 266, 270, 273, 279, 293, 295, 329, 331, 344, 351, 358, 363, 366, 380, 415, 636, 642, 668
Nobuuji, Major General, 580–82
Noddack, Ida, 230–32
Norden bombsight, 585, 709
Norris, Edward, 494, 495–96
Norstad, Lauris, 591–92, 597, 600
Norway, 256, 328–29, 455–57, 513–17
Notes by a Naturalist on the ‘Challenger’ (Moseley), 82
Np238, 353
Np239, 354
nuclear chain reactions, 28
Herbert Anderson and, 280–81, 288, 291, 298–301, 333–34, 394–97, 399
balloon-cloth enclosures for, 429, 433, 435
boron trifluoride counter for, 434, 436–38
control rods used for, 429, 432–33
Einstein and, 297, 305–8, 312–13
experiments for control of, 395–97, 438–40
Fermi and, 280–81, 289n, 290–91, 295–96, 298–303, 317, 331, 333–34, 338, 345, 365, 394
Frisch and, 320, 322–24
Germany’s research in, 371, 383–86, 609–10
with graphite moderation, 301–3, 315–17, 331, 333–34, 338, 344, 380n, 394–98, 400–401, 429–31, 433
with heavy-water moderation, 311–12, 326–27, 329, 331, 344, 346, 359, 371, 385, 405, 416–21, 512–17, 523–24, 609–10
military applications for, 394, 442
pile studies for, 395–401, 407, 411–12, 416, 422, 428–42, 462
Placzek and, 300
reproduction factor k for, 393, 401, 428–29, 432, 434–36, 439–40, 462
Roosevelt and, 306–9, 313, 317
secrecy of, 279–82, 290, 293–95, 345, 350
Szilard on, 28, 203–4, 214–16, 221–25, 246–47, 254, 279–82, 289, 291–92, 298–308, 315–17, 331, 334, 338, 344, 394, 397, 442
Teller and, 289–301, 315–17
Wigner and, 303–4, 305, 308, 315
nuclear fission, 274–75, 294–96
Herbert Anderson and, 269–70, 273
Bohr and, 264–71, 273, 284–88, 297, 311, 319–20, 323, 347, 384–85, 432
Fermi and, 267–69, 271, 273, 280–81, 288, 291, 293–96
Frisch-Meitner explanation of, 258–65, 269–71, 273, 286
Germany’s research in, 296, 301, 303, 311–12, 326–27, 329–31, 341, 343–46, 350, 402
Hahn-Strassmann experiments and, 234, 247–48, 251–55, 257–58, 262, 266–67, 270
Joliot-Curies and, 271, 290, 296
McMillan’s experiments on, 348–50, 351
military aspects of, 303–9, 312–17, 329–33, 336–41, 343, 345–46, 350–51, 357, 359–63, 365–70, 371–89, 398, 402–7, 411–13, 642
Oppenheimer and, 274
Roberts and, 283–84, 287, 289–90, 295, 315–16, 432
spontaneous, 501, 540–41, 548
Szilard and, 267–68, 271, 287
Turner and, 346–47, 350
uranium and, 258–67, 269, 274, 282–88
Wigner and, 265–66, 293–94
nuclear physics, 23–26, 81, 395
nuclear weapons policy, 378–79
Bohr and, 525–38
Opphenheimer on, 534–35
nucleons, 227
nucleus, 50, 66, 135, 137–40, 153, 204
Bohr’s liquid-drop model of, 227–28, 232, 258, 282, 284, 287
Gamow’s model of, 228n
neutron bombardment of, 208–13, 216–20, 226–27, 231, 349
neutron capture by, 226–27, 282–83, 286–87
Oak Ridge, 546
construction of, 486–87
Groves and, 427–28, 486, 601
mud at, 600
X-10 pile of, 547–48, 579
see also Clinton Engineer Works
Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), 365–66, 369, 377, 379, 408–9, 412, 423–24, 504, 605
S-1 program of, 397–98, 420–21, 425, 442, 510
O’Keefe, Bernard J., 738–39
Okinawa, 687
Oliphant, Mark, 321, 351, 753
Chadwick and, 155, 165, 600–601
Frisch and, 318–19, 324–25, 329–30
isotope separation and, 339
Lawrence and, 360, 373, 377
military aspects of nuclear fission and, 372–74, 377, 382
Rutherford and, 38, 134–35, 229
Olympia, Operation, 641
“On element 93” (Noddack), 230–32
Onsager, L., 297
“On the alkaline-earth metals produced by the neutron bombardment of uranium and their behavior” (Hahn and Strassmann), 254–56, 260–62
“On the constitution of atoms and molecules” (Bohr), 60–70, 75–76, 83
“On the construction of a ‘super-bomb,’ based on a nuclear chain reaction in uranium” (Frisch and Peierls), 324–25
“On the decrease of entropy in a thermodynamic system by the intervention of intelligent beings” (Szilard), 19
“On the extension of phenomenological thermodynamics to fluctuation phenomena” (Szilard), 20
“On the quantum theory of continuous spectra” (Oppenheimer), 127
“On the quantum theory of the problem of the two bodies” (Oppenheimer), 127
“On the quantum theory of vibration-rotation bands” (Oppenheimer), 127
“On the question of unleashing chain reactions” (Houtermans), 371
“On the stability of Saturn’s rings” (Maxwell), 50
Open Conspiracy, The (Wells), 14, 24, 26, 637
Oppenheimer, Ella, 119–20, 125, 445
Oppenheimer, Frank, 119, 125–26, 127–28, 146, 150, 445, 572–73
Trinity and, 654, 663, 674–75, 677
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 59, 142–43
Abelson and, 552
administration of atomic bomb project and, 447–50, 523, 539–40, 565, 570–71
Alvarez and, 453–54, 467
anti-Semitism and, 445
appearance of, 121, 443–44, 661, 676
atomic bomb design and, 415–20, 447–49, 480
on atomic bomb vs. conventional bombs, 648
Bacher and, 549
background of, 119–127, 662
Bethe and, 415–16, 418, 420, 443–44, 447–48, 449, 453, 479, 511–12, 539–40, 546, 570, 572, 676
Bohr and, 114, 125, 127, 226, 229–30, 385, 484–85, 524–25, 532, 534, 537, 572–73, 644–45, 651, 752, 759–60
Born and, 126, 127
Bush and, 663
Chevalier and, 443–44
Communism and, 446, 448, 570–71, 606
Compton and, 383, 418–20
Conant and, 454, 548
Condon and, 468
Creutz test and, 662–63
critical-mass calculations of, 382, 487–88
fast-neutron studies and, 410–11, 420
Fermi and, 206–7, 444, 468, 510–11, 565
Frisch and, 614
government surveillance of, 570–71, 606
Groves and, 447–50, 454, 546, 548, 552–53, 571–72, 612, 655, 664, 676, 734–35
as humanist, 445–46
Hiroshima atomic bombing and, 734–35
hydrogen bomb and, 546, 563–64, 643
implosion experiments and, 542, 546, 548–49, 576–77, 612
Interim Committee and, 630, 641–47, 696
international control of atomic bomb and, 644–46
Kistiakowsky and, 542, 547, 576, 661–62, 675
Lawrence and, 143, 146–47, 149, 151, 381–82, 444–47, 7
50–52
limitations of, 149–50, 152
liquid thermal diffusion and, 552–53
Los Alamos and, 449, 450–54, 459–60, 464–65, 538–39, 549, 561, 565–67, 569–73
military aspects of nuclear fission and, 381–83, 642
Neddermeyer and, 467, 547
nuclear fission and, 274
on nuclear weapons policy, 534–35
ordnance and, 467, 476
Parsons and, 477, 552
Peierls and, 546
personality of, 444–45
political commitments of, 446
political implications of atomic bomb and, 641–42
quantum theory studied by, 124, 127
Rabi and, 149, 449, 452–53, 676
radioactive warfare and, 510–11
Roosevelt’s death and, 613–14
Rutherford and, 123, 125
Seaborg and, 410–11, 420
Segrè and, 444, 449
self-destructiveness of, 444
Serber and, 449
Site Y and, 450
Stimson and, 643, 645
surprise atomic attack and, 647
Szilard and, 641–42
Target Committee and, 630–32
Tatlock and, 446, 571
as teacher, 447
Teller and, 415, 417, 444, 449, 453–54, 511–12, 538–40, 546, 552, 570
thermonuclear reactions and, 418–19, 564
Tolman and, 563–64
Trinity and, 571–72, 652, 656–57, 659, 661–69, 674–77
Truman and, 690
on virtues and discipline, 150–51, 572–73
Oppenheimer, Julius, 119–20, 125, 445
Oppenheimer, Katherine (Toni), 567
Oppenheimer, Katherine Puening (Kitty), 381, 446, 567, 571
Osaka, 600
Õta, Yõko, 715, 717, 728, 732
Overlord, Operation, 500
Oxford University, 31, 41, 215, 222–24, 236, 339–40
Pacific Aviation Company, 589
Pacific theater:
air attacks approved for, 588–91
casualties in, 392, 520, 556, 595, 599–600, 687–88, 694–96
European theater vs., 517–20, 602
island war of, 554–56
Pact of Steel (1939), 309
Pais, Abraham, 54, 113, 152, 173
Pajarito Canyon field station, 540–41
Pale of Settlement, 179, 180–81
Pan American Scientific Congress (1940), 335, 374
Parsons, Martha Cluverius, 477, 571
Parsons, William S. (Deke):
B-29 crews briefed by, 700–701
background of, 477
blockbuster program and, 589–90, 591
Groves and, 477, 590, 591, 655
Kistiakowsky and, 542–43, 547, 549, 576
Kokura atomic bombing and, 737
Little Boy development and, 477–78, 549, 576–78
with Little Boy strike crew, 705–6, 708
Los Alamos and, 565
Neddermeyer and, 478, 479, 542–43
Oppenheimer and, 477, 552
Ramsey and, 481
Target Committee and, 630, 638
Trinity and, 700–701
particle acceleration, 138, 141, 145–48
Pash, Boris T., 605–7, 609–10
Pauli, Wolfgang, 126, 127, 149, 165, 185, 189, 200, 206, 208
Bohr and, 57, 116–17, 152
emigration of, 187–88
neutrino and, 233
Pauling, Linus, 189
Pearl Harbor, Japanese attack on, 389–93
Pegram, George B., 264, 302, 316, 352
background of, 292–93
Compton and, 399
Fermi and, 293, 344, 396–97
Peierls, Genia, 322, 565, 568
Los Alamos and, 546, 565, 759
Peierls, Rudolf, 189, 282, 522
atomic bomb and, 321, 323–24, 367–68
critical-mass calculations of, 321–23, 335, 355
Frisch and, 321–25, 329–30, 339, 612
on gaseous-diffusion barriers, 495–96
Heisenberg and, 386
isotope separation and, 339
Oppenheimer and, 546
Pendergast, Tom, 636
Penney, William G., 522
Target Committee and, 626, 628, 677–78
Trinity and, 652–53, 677–78
People’s Will, The, 180
periodic table, 67–68, 83, 114–15
Perkin, William H., Jr., 87–88
Perrin, Francis, 321, 335, 344
Philosophical Magazine, 50–51
phosgene gas, 93–94
photoelectric effect, 70–71, 128, 363–64
photons, 363–64
“Physical evidence for the division of heavy nuclei under neutron bombardment” (Meitner and Frisch), 264
Physical Review, 141–42, 148, 287, 289–90, 293, 295, 300, 311, 327, 332–33, 346–47, 350, 501
physics:
chemistry linked to, 114–15, 123
definitions of, 33, 35, 77, 141
in U.S., 141–43, 151
Pioneer Regiment, Japanese, 734
Pisa, University of, 205–6
Placzek, George, 243, 262, 522
Bohr and, 282–84, 287
nuclear chain reaction and, 300
Planck, Max, 292–93, 345
atomic theory and, 30–31
Einstein and, 168, 172–73, 174
Meitner and, 79, 80, 250
radiation formula of, 70–71, 74, 129
Szilard and, 16–17, 70
Planck’s constant, 70, 74, 75, 130
Plato, 116
plutonium, 360, 365, 403
in atomic bomb, 366–68, 387, 388–89
Compton on, 388–89, 398
critical mass of, 461, 464, 655
cross-section measurements of, 366–68
description of, 659–60
isolation and concentration of, 407–11, 413–15, 420, 431, 448, 476, 547–48, 603–4
Los Alamos’ crisis with, 548, 553
production piles for, 431–32, 436, 496–500, 508, 547–48, 557–60, 603
Seaborg’s research on, 353–55, 366, 381, 389, 407–10, 413–15, 476–77, 547–48, 603, 604
Segrè’s research on, 353–55, 366
spontaneous fission of, 540–41, 548
plutonium nitrate, 604
Poland, 309–10, 622–24, 645–46
Polanyi, Michael:
background of, 106
on chemical chain reactions, 28
science assessed by, 31–32, 33–35
Szilard and, 25, 31, 70, 221–22, 224, 237
polonium, 118, 158, 160–161, 578–79
Pond, Ashley, 450–51, 459
Pontecorvo, Bruno, 217–19, 241
Porsche, Ferdinand, 404
positrons, 200–201
“Possible existence of a neutron” (Chadwick), 164
“Possible production of elements of atomic number higher than 92” (Fermi), 230
Potsdam Conference (1945), 656, 658, 666, 682–83, 689–90, 692–93
Potsdam Declaration (1945), 688–89, 692, 697, 742, 745
precision bombing, 341, 587
area bombing vs., 469–71, 476, 586, 591, 650
central premise of, 587–88
Pregel, Boris and Alexander, 298, 649
primary thermal burns, 714–15
Princeton, 109, 186, 196, 282
Princeton University, 112, 187, 196, 265–66, 282, 284
Principia (Newton), 39
Principia Mathematica (Russell and Whitehead), 123
Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 127, 321
“Proposed Program for Japan” (Stimson), 683–84
protactinium, 220, 233–34
Protocols of the Elders of Zion, The (Vinberg), 17–18, 181–84
protons, 199–201
proximity fuse, 477
Prussian A
cademy of Sciences, 169, 173
Pumpkins (Fat Man dummies), 586, 589–90, 639, 687
Pu239, 461, 464, 476, 548, 563
Pu240, 548
quantum mechanics, 71, 75, 78, 83–85, 113–17, 124, 127–29, 131–33
Quebec Conferences (1943, 1944), 500, 523, 527, 530, 536, 634, 655
Queen Marys, 603–4
Que Viva Mexico!, 186
Rabi, Isidor I., 189, 209, 267, 293
atomic bomb development opposed by, 452–53
on atomic bomb’s use, 698
background of, 279–80
Los Alamos and, 452–53, 465, 479
Oppenheimer and, 149, 449, 452–53, 676
Trinity and, 656, 665–66, 668, 672, 675–77
Rabinowitch, Eugene, 635
racetracks, 489
construction of, 490–91
design problems of, 491–92
productivity of, 600–601
Rachkovsky, P. I., 183
radiation:
as atomic bomb by-product, 324–25, 369, 386, 420–21, 432, 632, 648
from beryllium, 159–64, 215–16, 238
Cerenkov, 604
commercial and medical uses of, 239–40
radiation sickness, 569, 731–32
radiation transport, 670–71
radiative capture, 216–18, 226–27
“Radioactive change” (Soddy), 43–44
radioactive displacement law, 67–68
“Radioactive element 93” (McMillan and Abelson), 350
radioactive warfare, 510–11, 512–13
radioactivity:
artificial, 201–4, 209, 212, 230
Becquerel’s discovery of, 41–42
Bohr’s studies in, 67–69
Curies’ research on, 42, 44–45, 47–48, 118, 158
energy and, 43–45
Hahn’s studies on, 45, 80–81, 85
Joliot-Curies’ research on, 201–4, 209, 211, 213, 230
Rutherford’s studies on, 42–46, 135–38, 170
slow-neutron, 220, 226
Soddy’s studies on, 42–44, 67, 170
Szilard and, 44, 203–4, 238
as weapon, 510–11, 512–13
radiochemistry, 67–68, 80–81
Radio Saipan, 737
radio waves, Rutherford’s research on, 36–38
radium, 42–45, 80, 118, 172, 578
isotopes of, 252–55
radon, 45, 160, 210–11
Raeder, Erich, 402–3
Rafferty, James, 650
RaLa (radiolanthanum implosion experiment), 574, 577
Ramsey, Norman F.:
Kokura atomic bombing and, 737–38
Little Boy’s combat delivery and, 701, 704
on Little Boy’s readiness, 699
ordnance work of, 478, 480–81, 582–84
Parsons and, 481
Target Committee and, 630
Tinian and, 682
Randall, James, 319
Rasetti, Franco, 208, 210–11, 219, 241