Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (149 page)

welcomes Uhlenbecks to US 141

at Harvard 143–4

sends poem to
Hound & Horn
144–5

moves to Caltech

and Pauling (
q.v.
) 146

woos his wife 146–7

offered posts 147–8

at Ann Arbor summer school 149

illness 149

moves into Perro Caliente 149–50

health improves 150

injured in car crash 150–51

at Leiden with Ehrenfest 140, 151, 152–3, 155–6

at Utrecht with Kramers 154

hears Heisenberg’s (
q.v.
) lecture 156, 157

meets Rabi (
q.v.
) 158–9

with Pauli at Leipzig 156, 158, 160–62

continued bad health 161–2

returns to US 162–3

envious of Frank and friends at Perro Caliente 163–4

1929–41

at Berkeley 165, 167, 168, 170–71

and Lawrence (
q.v.
) 169–70

at Caltech 171, 172–3

his students at Berkeley 174–5, 211–12, 213

collaborates with Harvey Hall 175

and insinuations of homosexuality 175–6

obsession with Dirac’s theory 176–7

and mother’s death 179–80, 181

and Pauli’s discussions on ‘neutrons’ at Ann Arbor 177–8, 179

attacked by Millikan (
q.v.
) 182, 183

and discovery of isotopes 183

collaborates with Carlson on neutrons 180, 181, 185, 186

keeps up with experimental developments 186, 191

and ‘quantum tunnelling’ 187

inexplicable behaviour regarding Anderson’s research 191–3, 194

his contributions to science 196, 203, 206

his Berkeley house 196–7

talks with Einstein (
q.v.
) 197

and situation in Germany 198, 230–31

studies Hindu literature 199–200, 201, 202–3, 217

his research agenda 203–4

works with Plesset 204–5

and Ehrenfest’s death 206–7

forgets Melba Phillips in car 210

collaborates with Lauritsen 213–14, and Melba Phillips 215, 216–17, 225

supports longshoremen’s strike 222–3

and brother’s marriage 223–4

interest in cosmic rays 224–5, 226

and Yukawa’s article on particles 226, 229

picks ‘theoretical fight’ with Heisenberg (
q.v.
) 227–8, 229, 230

his political awakening 231

arranges for aunt and cousin to settle in Berkeley 231

and Spanish Civil War 232, 236–7, 242

falls in love 233–5

involvement with unions and CP 236–44

meets Chevalier (
q.v.
) 238

his work on astrophysics 245, 247–51, 264, 283, 284

and discovery of nuclear fission 252, 256–8, 260, 261, 263–4

misses Serber (
q.v.
) 258

his students 258–60, 282–3, 288

supports Roosevelt 275

meets Katherine (Kitty) (
q.v.
) 276

meets Steve Nelson (
q.v.
) 280

and son’s birth 281,
see
Oppenheimer, Peter

continues to support CP 281

and the war 282–3

and Schwinger’s (
q.v.
) arrival as research associate 284

works on mesotrons 288–90

first hears of atomic bomb project 296

1941–45

under FBI surveillance 300–1, 310

his connections with CP 301, 302–4

involvement with atomic-bomb programme 302, 304, 306, 307, 309–10, 319–22

continues left-wing political activities 307–8

collaborates with Lawrence on bomb project 311–12

shows paper on Calutron to Lomanitz (
q.v.
) 312

appointed consultant to S-1 committee 312–14, 315, 316, 322

applies for security clearance 314

wants Bethe (
q.v.
) to be involved in bomb project 316–17

as leader and facilitator 322

meets Groves (
q.v.
) 324–5

and establishment of Los Alamos 325–8

as Director 328–9, 330, 331, 333–4, 403–5

and ‘Chevalier Affair’ 334–7,
see also
Chevalier, Haakon

moves into Los Alamos 339

under G-2 surveillance 341, 342–3,
see
de Silva, Captain Peer
and
Pash, Lt-Colonel Boris

employs Joseph Weinberg (
q.v.
) 346

devises plans to spread false rumours about Los Alamos 346–7

and security 347, 351

and Condon’s (
q.v.
) resignation 349–50

summarises present state of knowledge 353

as member of Lewis committee 353–4

meets ‘Deak’ Parsons (
q.v.
) 354–5

insists on exchange of information between scientists 356–7

and surveillance of his associates 358–9

spends night with Jean Tatlock 359–60

Lansdale’s (
q.v.
) opinion of 361

granted clearance 363

reassured by Roosevelt 363

not entirely trusted 364

tells Groves and Johnson about Eltenton (
q
.
v
.) 367, 368–9

interviewed by Pash 369–73

interviewed by Lansdale 375–7

shows lack of loyalty to associates 377–8

names Chevalier and Frank Oppenheimer 382–5

and Jean Tatlock’s death 386–7

betrays Bohm and Peters 387–9

and Bohr’s visit to Los Alamos 398

and design and building of atomic bomb 405, 407, 408, 409, 410–11, 412, 413–4, 415–17, 419

replaces Teller with Peierls (
qq.v.
) 418

and completion of implosion bomb 423, 424

and daughter’s birth 426,
see
Oppenheimer, Katherine

chooses name for ‘Trinity Project’ 426–7

his memorial address for Roosevelt 428

hosts Target Committee 430

on Scientific Advisory Panel for post-war atomic policy 430–31, 434–5

opposes Szilard’s (
q
.
v
.) petition 436

and Trinity test 438, 439, 440, 444

after bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 450, 452, 453, 457

his hopes for international cooperation dashed 459

at Perro Caliente 460

as emissary for Los Alamos scientists 464–5

farewell speech 467–8

1945–49

supports May–Johnson Bill 466, 471–3

gives evidence to Congress 471, 475, 505, and House Committee on Military Affairs 471, 473–5

disheartening interview with Truman 475–6

his speech to ALAS 476–8

stays in Pasadena 478

tries to influence US policy 478–9

plans with Rabi 479

on Acheson committee 479–80

proposes an international Atomic Development Authority 480–81, 483–4

under FBI surveillance 482–3, 484, 485–7

and Baruch Plan 483, 485, 490

opposes Los Alamos Bikini Atoll tests 488–9, 490

returns to lecturing at Berkeley and Caltech 490–91

publishes articles 491–2

invited to discuss astrophysics with Menzel 492

and creation of AEC 493

and Strauss (
q.v.
) 493

interviewed by FBI 493–4

as member of GAC 495

offered job of director of Institute for Advanced Study 495, 498

his interest in postdoctoral students 495–8,
see
Feynman, Richard, Schwinger, Julian and Pais, Abraham

voted chairman of GAC 498, 508

disillusioned by Soviet Union 498, 500

and renewed FBI surveillance 499

his FBI file sent to AEC 499–500

a moving force at Shelter Island Conference 501–3, 504, 505

receives honorary degree at Harvard 505

admires General Marshall 505–6

moves into Olden Manor, Princeton 506

attracts physicists and students to Institute 507–8

in
Life
magazine 508

publishes jointly with students 508–9

excited by Schwinger’s calculations 509–10, 511

lectures at MIT 510–11

impressed by Dyson (
q.v.
) 512

at Schwinger’s lecture 512

organises Pocono conference 513

scathing about Feynman’s (
q.v.
) methods

and Tomonaga 514–15

his pivotal role 516

at Caltech conference on cosmic rays 516

at Birmingham conference 519

reports on progress of QED at Solvay Congress (1948) 519–20, 521

attitude to QED changes 520–21

Time
magazine profile 523–5, 539–40

worried about Hiss case 524

New York Times
interview 525

invites Yukawa 525

disappointed in T. S. Eliot 526

as president of American Physical Society 527

refutes Slotnick’s work 527–8

organises Oldstone conference 529–30

his HUAC testimony (1949) 532–6

makes enemy of Strauss 537–9

Life
magazine profile 539–42, 543, 544

his last publication in physics 542

1949–67

and Soviet atomic bomb 542–3

and debate over H-bomb programme 544–9, 552, 553, 558

writes GAC report 549–50

tempted to resign from GAC 555

sceptical that H-bombs can be made 559, 560, 561

opposes strategic bombing 561–2

meets Nehru 563

and Project Vista 563–5, 573

and ‘Greenhouse’ tests 566

backs Ulam–Teller design 568–9

opposes Teller’s second laboratory 571, 572

campaign against 572, 573, 574–7, 578–9

resigns from GAC 577–8

and ‘Lincoln Project’ 579–81

chairs Disarmament Panel 581–2

favours negotiated test ban 582, 584

and ‘Mike’ test 585, 586–7

and ‘Operation Candor’ 587–90, 592–3, 594, 595

further assaults on his reputation 590–91, 594–6

and McCarthy 591–2

battle with Strauss 592–4

investigated by Borden 597–8, 606

AEC clearance suspended 598–9, 601–2, 603–4

gives BBC Reith Lectures 599–601, 604

Observer
profile of 599

under FBI surveillance 601, 602

given Nichols’ list of charges 602, 603, 606

chooses defence lawyers 602, 603, 605–6, 608

at Rochester conference 604

case against 606–7

offers to resign 609

writes autobiographical letter to Nichols 609–10

security hearing 610–19

awaits results 619–20

clearance not reinstated 620–24

and Chevalier (
q.v.
) 625–9

books and articles 629–31

and work on particle physics 631–2

TV interview 633–4

a celebrity 634–5, 645

gives public lectures 635–40

writes Bohr’s 70th birthday tribute 637

addresses Rochester conference (1956) 638–40

and Yang and Lee’s breakthrough 640–41

gives William James lectures at Harvard 641–2

hosts Institute lunches 642

interview on
Sputnik I
not broadcast 642–3

at Solvay Congress (1958) 643

relationship with son and daughter deteriorates 643–4

reviews Bruner’s
A Study of Thinking
644

at Congress for Cultural Freedom conferences 646, 647–8

on need for particle accelerators 646–7

appears on
Panorama
647

in Japan 648–9

in Virgin Islands 650

lectures in Canada 650

lists ten influential books 651

at Kennedy reception 651

gives further talks 652–4

and disputes at the Institute 654–5

organises Mount Kisco conference 655–7

awarded Fermi Prize 655, 657

60th birthday tribute 657–8

further lectures 658–60

and Kipphardt’s play 660–62

and Chevalier’s
Oppenheimer: The Story of a Friendship
662–3

retires from Institute 663

and 20th anniversary of Hiroshima 663

final talks and lectures 664–6

illness and death 666–8

memorial service 668, 669

will 231

appearance, character, views etc.
:

on America 28–9, 140–41, 211, 220, 231

appearance 18, 169, 424–5, 523, 539, 599

on atomic bombs 430–31, 432, 433, 434–5, 439, 446, 457, 458, 459, 461, 467–8, 498, 549–50, 554–5, 558, 562–3, 648, 663—4

cars and reckless driving 173, 211, 212

character and personality 3, 25, 37, 44, 48–9, 51, 67, 71, 78, 79, 108, 109, 110–11, 121, 122, 123–4, 125, 126, 127–8, 136–7, 160, 161, 200–1, 203, 268, 500, 604, 668–70

see also
Jewishness (
below
)

on discipline 200–1

on England 649

interest in Hindu literature and religion 199–200, 201–3, 439, 579, 647–8

Jewishness 3–4, 8, 47, 201–2, 231

literary interests 35–6, 67, 69, 108, 110, 161, 199, 234, 427, 647–8, 651

mathematical carelessness 144, 148, 176, 205–6, 208, 217

politics 199, 222–3, 231–2, 233, 234, 235–7, 240–43, 268–70, 273–4, 275–6, 281, 301, 302–4, 307

on Soviet Union 244–5, 268–71, 433, 475, 490, 498, 500

articles and papers:

‘Comments on the Military Value of the Atom’ 562–3

‘Cosmic Rays: Report on Recent Progress, 1936–1941’ 491

‘The Disintegration of High-Energy Protons’ (with Serber and Nordheims) 229

‘The Impacts of Fast Electrons and Magnetic Neutrons’ (with Carlson) 180, 181, 185, 186, 203

‘The Multiple Production of Mesons’ (with H. Lewis and Wouthuysen) 509

‘The Mystery of Matter’ 644

‘Note on the Nature of Cosmic-Ray Particles’ (with Serber) 229

‘Note on the Stimulated Decay of Negative Mesons’ (with Epstein and Finkelstein) 509

‘Note on the Theory of the Interaction of Field and Matter’ 161

‘Note on the Transmutation Function for Deuterons’ (with Phillips) 216

‘On the Interaction of Mesotrons and Nuclei’ (with Schwinger) 289

‘On Continued Gravitational Contraction’ (with Snyder) 249–50, 251, 263, 284, 655

‘On Massive Neutron Cores’ (with Volkoff) 248–9, 251

‘On Multiplicative Showers’ (with Carlson) 228

‘On the Production of the Positive Electron’ (with Carlson) 204–5