Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (133 page)

170
. ‘young wives falling for Robert’: Helen C. Allison, interview with AKS, 7.12.1976, quoted B & S, 92

170
. ‘I can’t think’: JRO to FO, 14.10.1929, S & W, 135

170
. ‘very rarely’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 131

171
. ‘I think from all I hear’: ibid.

171
. ‘I found myself’: ibid., quoted Pais (2006), 20

171
. ‘Almost immediately’: Birge, Raymond T.,
History of the Physics Department
, University of California, Berkeley, quoted Cassidy (2005), 154

171
. ‘I’m going so slowly’: quoted Royal (1969), 54, and (slightly differently) Michelmore (1969), 30

171
. ‘Since we couldn’t understand’: Goodchild (1980), 25

172
. ‘In Pasadena’: JRO, interview with TSK, 20.11.1963, quoted S & W, 131

172
. ‘I didn’t know’: CA, interviewed by Harriett Lyle, 9 January–8 February 1979, Caltech Archives

172
. ‘Robert, I didn’t understand’: ibid.

173
. ‘We had a delightful evening’: Julius Oppenheimer to FO, 11.3.1930, S & W, 137

173
. ‘From time to time’: JRO to FO, 14.10.1929

173
. ‘a dare-devil’: Helen Campbell Allison to AKS, quoted B & S, 91

173
. ‘It is not easy’: JRO to FO, 12.3.1930

174
. Melba Phillips: see interview with Melba Phillips by Katherine Russell Sopka, 5 December 1977, AIP, and Neuenschwander and Watkins (2008)

175
. ‘Relativistic Theory of the Photoelectric Effect’: Oppenheimer and Hall (1931)

175
. ‘very reliable individual’: see B & S, 367

175
. ‘the character of’: see Cassidy (2005), 151

176
. ‘physics was good’: Serber (1983), 206, quoted Pais (1999), 106. It is also quoted Pais (2006), 25, but there Pais gives the wrong source, mistakenly claiming that the remark is to be found in Serber’s contribution to Rabi et al. (1969).

176
. ‘carelessness’: Pais (2006), 25

176
. ‘The error was his’: ibid.

176
. ‘fundamental barrier’: Serber (1983)

176
. ‘On the Theory of Electrons and Protons’: Oppenheimer (1930b)

177
. ‘a new kind of particle’: Dirac (1931), 60

177
. ‘are not to be considered’: see Farmelo (2009), 195

177
. already been used by Rutherford: see Rutherford (1920)

178
. The problem that Pauli sought to solve: for good historical accounts of this problem, see Franklin (2004) and Pais (1986), 309–16.

178
. Bohr, among others: see Bohr, Kramers and Slater (1924) and also Bohr (1932)

178
. ‘desperate way out’: WP to Lise Meitner and Hans Geiger, 1.12.1930, quoted Franklin (2004), 70

178
. ‘To wit’: WP, letter to physicists at Tübingen, 14.12.1930, quoted Franklin (2004), 71, and Pais (1986), 315

179
. ‘that foolish child’: WP to Max Delbrück, 6.10.1958, quoted Franklin (2004), 70, and Pais (1986), 314

179
. he wrote to Frank: JRO to FO, 10.8.1931, S & W, 142–3

179
. the Old Testament character: see the first book of Samuel, Chapter 4, Verse 21: ‘And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel’

179
. ‘Waring’: see
The Poems of Browning Volume Two, 1841–1846
, edited by John Woolford and Daniel Karlin, Harlow: Longman (1991), 143–54

179
. Summer-school participants remember: see S & W, 141

179
. ‘I am afraid’: JRO to FO, 10.8.1931, S & W, 142

180
. ‘Mother critically ill’: Royal (1969), 61

180
. ‘He had a terribly desolate look’: ibid., 62

180
. a short notice: Oppenheimer and Carlson (1931). The issue of
Physical Review
in which it appeared was published on 1 November 1931. The notice is dated 9 October 1931, which was three days after Oppenheimer would have received the telegram from his father telling him that his mother was critically ill, and three days before he arrived in New York (so quite possibly on the day he left California). For an interesting and accessible discussion of Oppenheimer’s work with Carlson on cosmic rays and Pauli’s ‘magnetic neutron’, see Brown (1978).

181
. ‘birth cries’: see, e.g.,
Time
, 1 July 1932

181
. ‘published very shortly’: Oppenheimer and Carlson (1931), 1788

181
. ‘I found my mother’: JRO to EOL, 12.10.1931, S & W, 144

181
. ‘sweet message’: JRO to EOL, 16.10.1931, S & W, 145

181
. ‘I am the loneliest man’: HWS, interview with CW, 1.8.1974, quoted S & W, 145

181
. ‘I feel pretty awful’: JRO to EOL, 12.10.1931, S & W, 144

181
. ‘You must let me know’: JRO to EOL, 16.10.1931, S & W, 145

182
.
Time
magazine:
Time
, 1 February 1932

182
. ‘comforting words’: JRO to EOL, 3.1.1932, S & W, 147

182
. ‘Millikan loathed Oppenheimer’: Pharr Davis (1969), 50

182
. ‘Millikan just left his name’: ibid.

183
. ‘A Hydrogen Isotope of Mass 2’: Urey et al. (1932)

183
. ‘hydrogen atom of nuclear physics’: quoted Kevles (1995), 226

183
. ‘the possible existence’: Rutherford (1920), 392

184
. ‘Possible Existence of a Neutron’: Chadwick (1932a)

184
. ‘dialogue passed into Cavendish tradition’: Snow (1982), 85

184
. His inspiration: what follows is based on the account of the discovery of the neutron given in Brown (1997), Chapter 6.

184
. ‘The difficulties disappear’: Chadwick (1932a)

184
. ‘The Existence of a Neutron’: Chadwick (1932b)

185
. ‘The Impacts of Fast Electrons and Magnetic Neutrons’: Oppenheimer and Carlson (1932)

185
. experimental evidence for the existence of neutrons: see ibid., 764

185
. ‘a hypothetical elementary neutral particle’: ibid., 763

185
. ‘not much greater’: ibid., 764

185
. ‘One may, however’: ibid.

185
. ‘there is no experimental evidence’: ibid., 792

185
. a witty pastiche: see Gamow (1985), 165–218

185
. ‘Mrs Ann Arbor’s Speakeasy’: ibid., 190

185
. ‘and says, with pride’: ibid., 213

186
. ‘In our seminars’: Pharr Davis (1969), 49

186
. ‘sat afraid’: ibid., 48

186
. ‘I wrote the figure’: ibid., 40

187
. ‘We were busy’: ibid.

187
. ‘are setting about’: ibid., 41

187
. Rutherford had known: see Rutherford (1927)

187
. appeared in print twice: see Gamow (1928a and 1928b)

187
. an article by Edward Condon and Ronald Gurney: Gurney and Condon (1928)

187
. Shortly before it was published: what follows is based on the account given in Cathcart (2004).

188
. publish an account of their work: see Cockcroft and Walton (1930)

188
. ‘What we require’: quoted Cathcart (2004), 173

188
. ‘I have just been’: Joseph Boyce to John Cockcroft, 8.1.1932, quoted Weiner (1972), 40–2, and Cathcart (2004), 216–17

188
. ‘stop messing about’: Cathcart (2004), 223

189
. write up their experiment for
Nature
: see Cockcroft and Walton (1932)

189
. ‘We know’: Ernest Walton to Winifred Wilson, 17.4.1932, quoted Cathcart (2004), 238

189
. ‘The Structure of Atomic Nuclei’: Rutherford (1932)

190
. ‘
science
’
s greatest discovery
’: this and the other newspaper reports mentioned are quoted Cathcart (2004), 246–9

190
. Bertrand Russell mentioned it: see Russell (1923), 11

190
.
Wings over Europe
: see Cathcart (2004), 249–50

190
. ‘moonshine’: Rutherford, speech to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 11 September 1933, reported in
The Times
newspaper, 12 September 1933

190
. Leo Szilard: see Lanouette (1992), Chapter 10

191
. ‘The Atom Is Giving Up Its Mighty Secrets’: quoted Cathcart (2004), 253

191
. ‘Cockcroft and Walton have disintegrated the lithium atom’: quoted Pharr Davis (1969), 43. See also Cathcart (2004), 254

191
. ‘Many of the characters’: Farmelo (2009), 211

192
. Anderson had started his research: the account that follows is based largely on Anderson (1961) and the interview of Anderson by Harriett Lyle, 9 January–8 February 1979, Caltech Archives.

192
. ‘talked to Oppenheimer quite a bit’: Anderson, interview by Harriett Lyle, 9 January–8 February 1979, Caltech Archives.

193
. ‘It beggars belief’: Farmelo (2009), 213

193
. ‘Tell us, Dirac’: quoted ibid., 206

193
. he told Heisenberg: this account was given by Heisenberg to Oskar Klein, who then repeated it to Kuhn and Heilbron in their AIP interview with him. See Oskar Klein, interview with TSK and John L. Heilbron, Session IV, 28.2.1963. See also Farmelo (2009), 206

194
. ‘It seems necessary’: Anderson (1932), 239

194
. fully worked out follow-up article: Anderson (1933)

194
. ‘It is surprising to me’: Anderson, interview by Harriett Lyle, 9 January–8 February 1979, Caltech Archives

194
. ‘Anderson’s positively charged electrons’: JRO to FO, autumn 1932, S & W, 159

195
. ‘I was quite intimate’: Nye (2004), 50

195
. ‘gone nuts’: Anderson, interview by Harriett Lyle, 9 January–8 February 1979, Caltech Archives

196
. ‘Greatest Atom Discovery’: quoted Farmelo (2009), 223

196
. ‘a little house’: JRO to FO, 10.8.1931, S & W, 143

197
. ‘is very much pleased’: JRO to FO,
c
. January 1932, S & W, 151

197
. ‘looks well’: ibid.

197
. ‘after I am gone’: ibid., 152

197
. ‘I am meeting lots of Robert’s friends’: ibid., 153

197
. ‘paradise’: see Brian (1996), 207

197
. a millionairess: ibid., 216

198
. ‘I have urged him’: JRO to FO, 12.3.1932, S & W, 154

198
. ‘Only if things’: ibid.

198
. ‘The theoretical physics’: JRO to FO, 7.10.1933, S & W, 163

199
. he responded to an appeal: JRO to Theodore von Karman,
c.
March 1934, S & W, 173

199
. ‘Tell me’: Nedelsky, interview with AKS, 7.12.1976, quoted S & W, 195

199
. a serious study of ancient Hindu literature: in considering Oppenheimer’s interest in Hinduism, I have learned much from Hijiya (2000).

199
. ‘I am learning Sanskrit’: JRO to FO, 10.8.1931, S & W, 143

199
. ‘a friend half divine’: Ryder (1939), xxxviii

199
. ‘Ryder felt and thought’:
Time
magazine, 8 November 1948, 75

199
. he alludes very briefly: S & W, 151

199
. ‘the Cakuntala’: ibid., 159

199
. a year later: JRO to FO, 7.10.1933, S & W, 165

199
. ‘the precious Meghaduta’: JRO to FO, 4.6.1934, S & W, 1880

200
. ‘The Cloud Messenger’: see Thomas Clark,
Meghaduta, the Cloud Messenger: Poem of Kalidasa
(1882), Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger (2009)

200
. ‘Garuda’: JRO to FO, 7.10.1933, S & W, 164

200
. ‘that
delectatio contemplationis
’: S & W, 151

200
. the extended disquisition on the notion of discipline: JRO to FO, 12.3.1932, S & W, 155

200
. ‘I believe’: ibid., 156

201
. ‘teachers, fathers and sons’:
The Bhagavad Gita
, translated by Juan Mascaro, London: Penguin (1962), Chapter 1, Verse 34

201
. ‘evil of destruction’: ibid., 1.39

201
. ‘Set thy heart’: ibid., 2.47

201
. ‘freedom from the chains of attachment’: ibid., 13.9–13.11

201
. ‘Any work’: ibid., 14.16

201
. ‘would have been a much better physicist’: quoted Rigden (1987), 228

202
. ‘The Jewish tradition’: ibid.

202
. ‘why men of Oppenheimer’s gifts’: Rabi et al. (1969), 7

203
. ‘The work is fine’: JRO to FO, autumn, 1932, S & W, 159

204
. ‘It won’t be any trouble’: Nedelsky, interview with AKS, 7.12.1976, quoted S & W, 149

204
. Wendell Furry: what follows draws on the information provided in Furry’s interview with Charles Weiner in Copenhagen, 9 August 1971, for the AIP:
http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/24324.html

204
. ‘The state of theoretical physics’: Milton S. Plesset, interviewed by Carol Bugé, 8 December 1981, Caltech Archives

205
. ‘On the Production of the Positive Electron’: Oppenheimer and Plesset (1933)

205
. ‘The experimental discovery’: ibid., 53

205
. ‘fundamental observation’: Pais (2006), 27

205
. ‘fast electrons and positives’: Oppenheimer and Plesset (1933), 55

205
. ‘Their final formula’: Pais (2006), 27

206
. ‘I fancy’: quoted Schweber (200), 68

206
. ‘profound thanks’: Oppenheimer and Plesset (1933), 55

206
. Oppenheimer wrote to Bohr: S & W, 161–2

206
. ‘swarming’: Milton S. Plesset, interviewed by Carol Bugé, 8 December 1981, Caltech Archives

206
. ‘a lot of discussion’: ibid.

206
. ‘pudgy-faced’: Farmelo (2009), 230