Genius (82 page)

171 W
ELTON BECAME THE FOURTH PHYSICIST
: Along with Frederick Reines, Julius Ashkin, and Richard Ehrlich.

171
DEFINITELY UNGENTLE HUMOR
: Welton 1983, 9.

171 A
LL RIGHT, PENCILS
: F-H, 42–43.

172 B
Y DEFINITION, AT CRITICAL MASS
: Hawkins et al. 1983, 77.

172 F
OR A SPHERICAL BOMB
: Welton 1983, 11; Welton, interview.

173 B
ETHE HAD TOLD THEM
: Bethe, interview; F-H, 23.

173 W
HEN THE
L
OS
A
LAMOS METALLURGISTS
: Hawkins et al. 1983, 139.

173 I
T PUSHED THE THEORISTS PAST THE LIMITS
: Welton 1983, 13.

173 F
EYNMAN SOLVED THAT PROBLEM
: Feynman and Welton 1947, a book-length report, draws together the chief findings of Feynman and his group on critical-mass calculations and neutron scattering. Feynman’s own contribution to the version of the problem in which neutrons are assumed to have a single characteristic velocity—a practical simplification of methods developed by others— appears in Feynman 1946b.

173 T
HE EXPERIENCE OF ACTUAL COMPUTATION
: F-H, 23–24.

173 A
S HE DROVE THE MEN
: Welton 1983, 14.

173 T
HAT SEEMED AN IMPOSSIBLE LEAP
: Ashkin, Ehrlich, and Feynman 1944. Welton recalled wryly (1983, 14): “Only a short period of reflection was … required before Feynman announced that we were going to take the accumulated computational results from T-2. put them through the meat grinder, season them with some further insights (yet to be produced) and extrude this mixture as a handy interpolation-extrapolation formula.”

174
UNFORTUNATELY CANNOT BE EXPECTED
: Feynman 19466, 3.

174 U
NFORTUNATELY THE FIGURES CONTAINED
: Ashkin, Ehrlich, and Feynman 1944, 4.

174 T
HESE METHODS ARE NOT EXACT
: Feynman and Welton 1947, 6. 174
AN INTERESTING THEOREM WAS FOUND
: Feynman 1946b, 3.

174
IN ALL CASES OF INTEREST
: Feynman and Welton 1947, 6.

175 B
ETHE’S DEPUTY
, W
EISSKOPF
: Weisskopf, oral-history interview, 31, AIP.

176 H
E TOLD THEM HE COULD SPOT
: F-H, 18.

176 W
ELL, FOUR HOURS AND TWENTY MINUTES AGO
: Nicholas Metropolis, interview, Los Alamos, N.M.

176 Y
OU KNOW HOW IT IS WITH DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
: Morrison 1988, 42.

177 Y
OU WANT TO KNOW EXACTLY?
: Feynman 1975, 109.

177 T
HAT’S
1.35: F-H, 41.

178 A
LL RIGHT
. I
T’S PI TO THE FOURTH
: Ibid., 39.

178 T
HEN
P
AUL
O
LUM SPOKE UP
: Olum, interview; F-L for SYJ, 176.

178 S
IMILARLY, WORKING WITH BETHE
: Bethe, interview.

179 T
HEY WERE RARELY USED
: Metropolis and Nelson 1982, 348–49.

180 L
ET’S LEARN ABOUT THESE DAMNED THINGS
: Metropolis, interview.

180 T
HEY SPENT HOURS TAKING APART
: Bethe, interview; Metropolis 1990, 237; Metropolis and Nelson 1982, 349.

180 E
SCALATION OF THE COMPUTATION EFFORT
: Metropolis and Nelson 1982, 350.

181 S
O
MUCH MORE POWERFUL WERE THEY
: Weisskopf 1991, 134.

181 E
VEN BEFORE THE
IBM
MACHINES ARRIVED
: F-W, 362–63; Brode 1960; Feynman 1975, 125.

182 H
E LEFT
F
EYNMAN WITH TWO ENDURING MEMORIES
: Feynman 1975, 129.

182 F
EYNMAN THOUGHT AT FIRST
: F-H, 55–56: “We discovered a very annoying thing that we didn’t understand…. When we set up the differential equation, we solved it numerically and the numbers seemed to come out irregularly. Then we would check and it would be the same thing…. The points would sort of wiggle around irregularly, and [von Neumann] explained that that was correct, that was all right, that was very interesting…. And there was nothing we could do about it. We just had to live with it, and we did…. We were terribly surprised by the fact that we would do the numbers over again, and it was the same crazy irregularities.”

182 E
ACH TIME IT IS TURNED ON
. T. Reid 1984, 14; Alt 1972, 693; Metropolis and Nelson 1982, 352.

182 S
OME
I
NTERESTING
P
ROPERTIES OF
N
UMBERS
: The lecture later became an element of his course at Cornell in mathematical methods and then, refined once again, became a remarkable set piece in his
Feynman Lectures on Physics.
Feynman to Lucille Feynman, 29 February 1944;
Lectures,
I-22.

182
ALL THE MIGHTY MINDS
: Feynman to Lucille Feynman, 29 February 1944.

184 H
E IS BY ALL ODDS THE MOST BRILLIANT
: Oppenheimer to Birge, 4 November 1943, in Smith and Weiner 1980, 269.

184 H
E IS A SECOND
D
IRAC
: Oppenheimer to Birge, November 4 1943, in Smith and Weiner 1980, 269.

184 S
HE LAUGHED, ASKING
: Arline Feynman to Lucille and Melville Feynman, 28 June 1943; F-L for SYJ, 46.

185 O
NCE, IN A FANCIFUL CONVERSATION
: Moss 1987, 68. 185
A PIONEER PEOPLE STARTING A NEW TOWN
: Brode 1960, 7.

185
THE MOST EXCLUSIVE CLUB IN THE WORLD
: James Tuck, quoted in Davis 1968, 184.

185 W
HAT EXACTLY IS SQUARE
: Tuck, quoted in Brode 1960, 7.

185 O
NE PARTY FEATURED AN ORIGINAL BALLET
: Brode 1960, 6.

186 C
ODES, CIPHERS OR ANY FORM OF SECRET WRITING
: Reprinted in Jette 1977, 130.

186 I
T’S VERY DIFFICULT WRITING
: Feynman 1975, 112.

187 R
ICHARD AND ARLINE TALKED ABOUT
: Ibid.

187 T
HERE ARE
C
APTAINS
: Feynman to Lucille Feynman, 10 December 1943.

187 I
EXPLAINED IT TO HIM
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 8 March 1945.

187 T
HE SECURITY STAFF TOLERATED THEM
: Hirschfelder, in Badash et al. 1980, 79.

187 T
HE NEW DISPENSER STRUCK FEYNMAN
: Olum, interview.

187 H
E HAD GOT SO DRUNK
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 9 May 1945, PERS.

188
MORALLER AND MORALLER
: Ibid.

188 T
WO MEN ARRIVED
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 4 April 1945, PERS.

188
BECAUSE I LIKE PUZZLES SO MUCH
: Ibid.

188 T
HAT ONE INSIGHT
: SYJ, 124.

189 T
HE
L
OS
A
LAMOS PHYSICISTS
: E.g., Frisch 1979, 154.

189 I
OPENED THE SAFES
: F-L for SYJ, 121–22.

189 T
HIS LAST INSIGHT ALONE
: SYJ, 133.

189 B
Y FIDDLING WITH HIS OWN SAFE
: Ibid., 124–25.

190 F
EYNMAN REVELED IN THE CLOUDS
: Feynman to Lucille Feynman, 10 December 1943, PERS.

190 S
EE
, I’
M GETTING AN AESTHETIC SENSE
: Ibid.

191
NOT CERTAIN WHETHER THIS TIME
: Ian McEwan,
The Innocent
(New York: Dou-bleday, 1990), 85.

191 H
E WOULD SIT IN A CROUP
: F-W, 317.

191 H
E FOUND A WAY
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 3 April 1945, PERS.

191 Y
OU ARE A STRONG AND BEAUTIFUL WOMAN
: Ibid.

192 D
ON’T GET SCARED THO
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 24 April 1945.

192 Y
OU’RE NEVER THAT
: Arline Feynman to Feynman, February 1945.

192
THE SCIENTISTS WERE IN AN UPROAR
: R. Wilson 1974, 160.

193 I
DO NOT KNOW—ALTHOUGH THERE ARE THOSE
: Cohn 1943, 56–57; Arline Feynman, handwritten notes, PERS.

193 D
ARLING
I’
M BEGINNING
: Arline Feynman to Feynman, 16 January 1945.

193 S
HE REMINDED HIM OF THE FUTURE
: Arline Feynman to Feynman, 17 January 1945.

194 W
E HAVE TO FIGHT HARD
: Ibid.

194 D
RINK SOME MILK
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 2 May 1945, PERS.

194 H
ER WEIGHT HAD FALLEN
: Arline Feynman, notebook of medical records and expenses, PERS.

194 Y
OU ARE A NICE GIRL
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 2 May 1945.

194 T
IME PASSES FAST
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 19 April 1945, PERS.

194 H
E HAD HEARD ABOUT A NEW DRUG
: Feynman to Richard Gubner, draft, n.d:, and Gubner to Feynman, 29 August 1944 and 14 November 1944, PERS.

194 J
OAN WAS DAZZLED
: Joan Feynman to Arline Feynman, 29 April 1945, PERS.

195 H
E THOUGHT HE SAW SYMPTOMS
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 18 May 1945.

195
HAVE IT DONE BY A SPECIALIST
: Henry Barenblatt to Arline Feynman, 19 April 1945 and 23 April 1945, PERS.

195 A
DOCTOR AT LOS ALAMOS TOLD RICHARD
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 3 May 1945.

195 T
HE SAME DOCTOR
: Ibid.

195 PS. 59-
TO-BE
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 15 May 1945.

195 H
E DRIFTED THROUGH THE PAGES
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 17 May 1945.

195 K
EEP HANGING ON
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 9 May 1945.

195 E
NTIRE
N
ATION
C
ELEBRATES
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 10 May 1945.

195 A
T THE
M
AYO
C
LINIC
: Waksman 1964, 127–28.

196 T
HE DOCTOR WHO FIRST ISOLATED
: Ibid., 115–18.

196 W
ORKERS HANDLING
P
LUTONIUM
: Hawkins et al. 1983, 163–64.

196 O
NE MAN
, H
ARRY
D
AGHLIAN
: L. Fermi 1980, 99; de Hoffman 1974, 166–67; Frisch 1979, 159–60.

197 F
EYNMAN HIMSELF PROPOSED A SAFER EXPERIMENT
: Hawkins et al. 1983, 89.

197 A
T
T
ELLER’S REQUEST
: E. Teller to R. F. Bacher, 27 March 1944, LANL.

198 H
E BECAME RESPONSIBLE FOR CALCULATING
: E.g., K. T. Bainbridge to Members of Committee on Fabrication and Assembly of Active Materials, 20 July 1944 and 5 September 1944, LANL.

198 I
T IS EXPECTED THAT A CONSIDERABLE FRACTION
: Bethe to Oppenheimer, 8 November 1944, and Bethe to Bacher, 3 January 1945, LANL; Robert F. Bacher, interview, Santa Barbara, Calif.

198
COMPLETE AUTHORITY
: Bethe to Oppenheimer, 26 January 1945, LANL.

198 D
EAR
S
IR
, A
T THE PRESENT TIME
: J. L. Patterson to Major W. E. Kelley, 19 September 1944, and W. E. Kelley to Feynman, 21 September 1944, LANL.

198 A
S
S
ECRE HAD DISCOVERED
: Feynman 1975, 119–21.

198 F
EYNMAN BEGAN BY RETRACING
: F-H, 33.

199 H
E REALIZED THAT THE PLANT WAS HEADED
: F-W, 353–54.

199 I
N ANSWER TO THE
E
ASTMAN SUPERINTENDENT’S QUESTION
: Feynman to Major W. E. Kelley, 27 September 1944, LANL.

199 D
URING CENTRIFUGING SOME PECULIAR MOTION
: Feynman to Colonel Arthur E. Peterson, 18 September 1945.

199 I
S
CT-1
EMPTY WHEN WE DROP
: Notes, LANL.

199 H
E ALSO INVENTED A PRACTICAL METHOD
: Feynman 1945.

199 A
FEW PEOPLE, LONG AFTERWARD
: E.g.: “Unknowingly, he saved my life and the lives of everyone at Oak Ridge in those challenging years …” Irwin H. Goodwin to Ralph Leighton, 8 December 1988.

199 F
EYNMAN’S FIRST VISIT TO
O
AK
R
IDGE
: F-L for SYJ, 104.

199 Y
OU SHOULD SAY
: Los Alamos cannot accept: Feynman 1975, 122.

200
HE HAD TO GROW UP FAST
: Ibid.

200 S
OMETIME THAT SPRING IT STRUCK HIM
: F-H, 14.

200 H
ITCHHIKING BACK ONE
S
UNDAY NIGHT
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 24 May 1945, PERS.

200 B
UT THEY WERE KIND OF UGLY
: Ibid.

200 M
Y
W
IFE
: I
AM ALWAYS
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 6 June 1945, PERS.

201 O
NE NIGHT HE AWOKE
: Feynman to Arline Feynman, 14 June 1945, PERS.

201 T
HE CROUP’S PRODUCTIVITY HAD RISEN
: Bethe, interview.

201 H
E HAD INVENTED A SYSTEM
: F-W, 371–74.

201 W
HEN HE REACHED HER ROOM
: Ibid., 343–46; F-L for WDY, 50–53.

202 T
HE NURSE RECORDED
: Certificate of Death, PERS.

202 H
E CAME IN AND SAT DOWN
: Robert and Dorothy Walker, interview, Tesuque, N.M.

202 W
HEN HE COMES IN
: Joan Feynman, interview.

202 A
N ARMY CAR MET HIM
: Feynman to Lucille Feynman, 9 August 1945, PERS.

203 I
F A MAN HAD MERELY CALCULATED
: De Hoffman 1974, 171–72. 203
CREATED NOT BY THE DEVILISH INSPIRATION
: Smyth 1945, 223.

204 N
O MONOPOLY
: Notes, n.d., PERS.

204 M
OST WAS KNOWN
: Ibid.