Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (132 page)

128
. one day, Born arrived: ibid. See also Greenspan (2005), 144–5

128
. ‘This plot worked’: Born (1978), 229

128
. ‘As far as I can learn’: K.T. Compton to Augustus Trowbridge, 6.12.1926, quoted Cassidy (2005), 115

128
. ‘I would like to point out’: MB to Augustus Trowbridge, 26.12.1926, quoted ibid.

129
. ‘Zur Quantentheorie kontinuierlicher Spektren’: Oppenheimer (1927a)

129
. ‘quite important’: Pais (2006), 10

129
. ‘unexplored territory’: ibid.

129
. ‘You ought to tackle’: Dalitz and Peierls (1986), 147

129
. ‘The Development of Quantum Mechanics’: Dirac (1978), 1–20

129
. ‘It was very easy’: ibid., 7

129
. ‘The most exciting time’: JRO interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted Pais (2006), 10

130
. ‘Oppenheimer indicates’: PAMD interview with TSK, 14.5.1963, quoted Pais (2006), 10. The entire interview is available online at:
http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4575_1.html

130
. ‘I am especially happy’: Dirac (1971), 10

130
. ‘I don’t see’: there are many versions of this story in print, starting with Royal (1969), 38. The version I have used is from Farmelo (2009), 121. He gives Bernstein (2004) as his source, but in fact his version is slightly different from Bernstein’s, and, in my opinion, slightly better.

130
. where he had been since September 1926: for an account of Dirac at Copenhagen, see Farmelo (2009), Chapter Eight

131
. ‘quite excellent’: MB to W.S. Stratton, 27.2.1927, quoted S & W, 103

131
. ‘There are three young geniuses’: Earle Kennard to R.C. Gibbs, 3.3.1927, quoted Kevles (1995), 217

131
. ‘Great ideas’: Sopka (1980), 159

131
. ‘On the Intuitive Content’: Heisenberg (1927), translated into English (under the title ‘The Physical Content of Quantum Kinetics and Mechanics’), Wheeler and Zurek (1983), 62–84

131
. ‘My own feeling’: JRO to GU, 12.3.1927, S & W, 106

132
. two papers: Oppenheimer (1927b and 1927c)

132
. ‘I am very glad’: JRO to GU, 12.3.1927, S & W, 106

132
. ‘From what I hear’: PWB to JRO, 3.4.1927, quoted S & W, 105

133
. ‘I’m glad that is over’: Michelmore (1969), 23. A slightly different version is given in B & S, 66.

133
. ‘Economic circumstances’: B & S, 66

133
. ‘My soul’: MB to PE, 7.8.1927, quoted Greenspan (2005), 146

133
. ‘presence destroyed’: MB to PE, 7.10.1928, quoted Greenspan (2005), 153

133
. ‘Through his manner’: MB to PE, 16.7.1927, quoted Greenspan (2005), 146

133
. ‘Zur Quantentheorie der Molekeln’: Oppenheimer and Born (1927)

134
. ‘why molecules were molecules’: B & S, 65

135
. ‘I thought this was about right’: ibid.

135
. ‘I didn’t like it’: ibid., 66

135
. ‘Oppenheimer is turning out’: ECK to Theodore Lyman, 9.6.1927, quoted S & W, 107

136
. ‘In the sense’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 98

136
. ‘ruined my young people’: MB to PE, 7.10.1928, quoted Greenspan (2005), 153

136
. ‘Oppenheimer, who was with me’: MB to PE, 16.7.1927, quoted Greenspan (2005), 146

137
. ‘Your information’: MB to PE, 7.8.1927, quoted Greenspan (2005), 146

137
. ‘The Quantum Postulate and the Recent Development of Atomic Theory’: Bohr (1928)

138
. ‘On or about December 1910’: the remark is from Woolf’s essay, ‘Mr Bennett and Mrs Brown’, see Woolf (1992), 70

139
. ‘conference will be devoted’: see Kumar (2009), 255

139
. The congress ran: what follows is based on the account of the Solvay Congress given in Kumar (2009), Chapter 11, 253–80.

140
. ‘We consider’: ibid., 258

140
. ‘towering over everybody’: ibid., 275

140
. ‘I am satisfied’: ibid., 276

140
. ‘My brother and I’: FO, interview with AKS, 14.4.1976, quoted S & W, 108

140
. ‘He’s too much’: Michelmore (1969), 23

141
. ‘We were not highly regarded’: IIR, interview with TSK, 8.12.1963, AIP, available at:
http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4836.html

141
. ‘There are no physicists in America’: Raymond T. Birge to John Van Vleck, 10.3.1927, quoted Schweber (1986), 55–6

141
. ‘We all got’: quoted Goodchild (1980), 22

141
. Else Uhlenbeck later recalled: interview with AKS, 20.4.1976, quoted S & W, 107

141
. Charlotte stayed: see Michelmore (1969), 24–5

143
. ‘Three Notes on the Quantum Theory of Aperiodic Effects’: Oppenheimer (1928a)

143
. the polarisation of impact radiation: see Oppenheimer (1927d)

143
. the capture of electrons by alpha particles: see Oppenheimer (1928b)

143
. ‘very best felicitations’: JRO to PAMD, 28.11.1927, S & W, 108

144
. ‘Details of the theory’: Oppenheimer (1928c), 262

144
. ‘a thin high-strung postdoctoral fellow’: Morse (1977), 87, quoted S & W, 109–10

144
. ‘Crossing’:
Hound and Horn: A Harvard Miscellany
, 1 (4), 335, June 1928, quoted S & W, 110

145
. ‘own dry, sterile intellectuality’: Royal (1969), 43

146
. ‘very much the man’: JRO to ECK, 16.2.1928, S & W, 111

146
. Linus Pauling: the chief source for what follows is Hager (1995)

146
. the definitive textbook: Pauling (1939)

146
. ‘was then still stuck on crystals’: JRO, interview with TSK, 18.11.1963, quoted S & W, 112

147
. ‘tryst to Mexico’: Hager (1995), 152

147
. ‘Poems by J. Robert Oppenheimer 1928’: see Cassidy (2005), 125

147
. ‘may possibly be of use to you’: JRO to FO, March 1928, S & W, 113

147
. Helen Campbell: see Helen C. Allison, interview with AKS, 7.12.1976, S & W, 113

147
. ‘many invitations’: JRO to KDN, 4.3.1954, ITMO, 7

148
. ‘I am trying to decide’: JRO to FO, March 1928, S & W, 113

148
. ‘I thought I’d like to go to Berkeley’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 114

148
. 10 April 1928: see S & W, 114

148
. ‘like to be able to accept’: JRO to Theodore Lyman, 21.4.1928, S & W, 114

148
. Oppenheimer wrote again: JRO to Theodore Lyman, 7.5.1928, S & W, 115

148
. ‘the Ramsauer fiasco’: JRO to ECK, 16.2.1928, S & W, 111

148
. ‘try to learn a little physics there’: JRO to Elmer Hall, 7.3.1928, quoted Cassidy (2005), 122

148
. ‘revealed to him’: Pais (2006), 15

148
. on 26 April 1928: see Cassidy (2005), 123

149
. ‘several doctors’: JRO to International Education Board, 2.8.1928, S & W, 117

149
. Frank, asked many years later: S & W, 117

149
. ‘If you are out here’: JRO to FO, March 1928, S & W, 113

149
. in 1928 they sold the Riverside Drive: Cassidy (2005), 123

149
. ‘Like it?’: Michelmore (1969), 27. A contemporaneous, but slightly different, version is told in Royal (1969), 44

150
. Francis Fergusson visited them: see Michelmore (1969), 27

150
. ‘It now seems certain’: JRO to RFB, 25.8.1928, S & W, 118

150
. ‘slight sinus infection’: Cassidy (2005), 125

150
. they had an accident: see B & S, 73, and Cole (2009), 39

150
. ‘sipping from a bottle’: FO to Denise Royal, 25.2.1967, quoted B & S, 73

151
. ‘His way of being alive’: Klein (1981), 3

151
. ‘He was not merely’: Einstein (1950), 236

151
. ‘to distrust’: Weisskopf (1972), 2–3, quoted Klein (1981), 11

152
. ‘If you intend’: PE to JRO, 5.7.1928, quoted Klein (1981), 12

152
. ‘I thought of him’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 121

152
. ‘I don’t think’: ibid.

152
. ‘I think that’: ibid.

153
. ‘There was not a great deal of life’: ibid.

153
. ‘I absolutely do not know’: see the Ehrenfest biography at:
http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Biographies/Ehrenfest.html
and Pais (1991)

153
. ‘None of us’: JRO to GU, autumn 1933, S & W, 168

153
. ‘spoiled this period’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 121

154
. ‘Bohr is Allah’: see Enz (2002), 36

154
. ‘a lamentable ignorance’: JRO to FO, 30.12.1928, S & W, 119–21

155
. ‘at the suggestion of Ehrenfest’: JRO to IEB, 3.1.1929, S & W, 122

155
. ‘a very ingenious physicist’: PE to W.E. Tisdale (secretary of the IEB), 12.1.1929, quoted S & W, 122

155
. ‘passionately preoccupied’: see page 151 above

155
. ‘that Bohr with his largeness and vagueness’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 121

155
. ‘a wise judgement’: Pais (2006), 16

155
. ‘about a physicist’: PE to WP, 26.11.1928, Pauli (1979), 477, quoted Pais (2006), 16

156
. Dr W.J. Robbins: see S & W, 123

156
. ‘The luggage’: JRO to W.J. Robbins, 4.2.1929, S & W, 123

156
. both Oppenheimer and Pauli were in Leipzig: that Oppenheimer was in Leipzig is confirmed by Rabi, in Rabi et al. (1969), 4. He dates his meeting Oppenheimer in Leipzig to ‘late in 1928’, but, given that Oppenheimer was still in Leiden on 3 January 1929 (the date of his letter to the IEB, quoted on page 155), it must have been shortly after this. For confirmation that Pauli was in Leipzig at this time, see Cassidy (1992), 285.

156
. Heisenberg had been at Leipzig since 1927: what follows is based on the account given in Cassidy (1992), Chapter 14

157
. ‘Dirac equation’: see Dirac (1928)

158
. ‘On the Quantum Dynamics of Wave Fields’: Heisenberg and Pauli (1929); see also Cassidy (1992), 285

158
. ‘interests changed’: see Rabi et al. (1969), 12

158
. ‘I first met him in Leipzig’: Rigden (1987), 218

159
. ‘What we needed were the leaders’: IIR, interview with TSK, 8.12.1963, quoted Rigden (1987), 63

159
. ‘I got to know him quite well’: Rigden (1987), 218

159
. ‘The time with Ehrenfest’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 126

159
. ‘You know, what Mr Einstein said is not so stupid!’: see Peierls (1985), 46

159
. ‘I do not mind’: ibid., 47

160
. ‘not even wrong’: the oldest and most authoritative source for this story seems to be Peierls (1960), 186

160
. ‘His ideas’: Michelmore (1969), 28

160
. ‘nim-nim-nim-man’: ibid.

160
. ‘Pauli once remarked’: Rabi et al. (1969), 5

160
. ‘I believe’: WP to PE, 15.2.1929, Pauli (1979), 486, quoted Pais (2006), 17

160
. ‘rather short’: Peierls (1985), 44

161
. ‘worked very hard’: Rabi et al. (1969), 5

161
. ‘Using flawless methods’: WP to Sommerfeld, 16.5.1929, Pauli (1979), 500, quoted Pais (2006), 18

161
. ‘a continuation’: WP to NB, 17.7.1929, Pauli (1979), 512, quoted Pais (2006), 18

161
. ‘Note on the Theory of the Interaction of Field and Matter’: Oppenheimer (1930a)

161
. ‘First and foremost’: Dr Robbins to JRO, 30.4.1929, quoted S & W, 127

162
. ‘fairly certain’: JRO to Robbins, 14.5.1929, S & W, 128

163
. ‘In the spring of 1929’: ITMO, 7

163
. ‘I was particularly impressed’: see Royal (1969), 45

163
. ‘the intensity’: ibid.

163
. ‘house and six acres’: JRO to FO, 6.5.1929, S & W, 126

163
. ‘We’d get sort of drunk’: see B & S, 81

163
. ‘It made me a little envious’: JRO to FO, 7.9.1929, S & W, 132

165
. ‘I didn’t start to make a school’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 131

165
. ‘the greatest school’: Bethe (1997), 184

165
. Condon has given vivid accounts: see EUC, interview with CW, 17.10.1967, AIP. Text available online at:
http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/4997_1.html
. This interview is the source of most of what follows regarding the history of physics at Berkeley. See also Childs (1968) and Dahl (2006).

167
. Ernest Lawrence: my information about Lawrence comes mainly
from Childs (1968), Pharr Davis (1969) and Heilbron and Seidel (1990)

168
. ‘Ernest is making a mistake’: Pharr Davis (1969), 12

168
. lecture to the Royal Society: Rutherford (1928)

169
. ‘I’m going to be famous’: Halpern (2010), 90

169
. 80,000 volts: Rhodes (1988), 148

169
. ‘unbelievable vitality’: Childs (1968), 143

169
. ‘The more intimately’: Harold F. Cherniss, interview with MJS, 23.5.1979, quoted B & S, 93

169
. ‘His mere physical appearance’: ibid.

170
. ‘it tasted like sweepings’: Pharr Davis (1969), 24

170
. ‘We passed a hot-dog stand’: ibid.

170
. ‘I have been pretty busy’: JRO to FO, 7.9.1929, S & W, 133

170
. ‘the refractory problem’: JRO to FO, 14.10.1929, S & W, 135