Pandora's Keepers (65 page)

56
. The physicist was John Wheeler, then at Hanford, Washington. His brother Joe, an army private with a Ph.D. in history, was killed on October 25, 1944. Wheeler with Ford,
Geons, Black Holes, and Quantum Foam
, pp. 18–19.

57
. Darol Froman interview with Arthur Lawrence Norberg, HSTP, BL, UCB.

58
. Blue Corn, quoted in Mason,
Children of Los Alamos
, p. 147.

59
. Quoted in Peggy Pond Church,
The House at Otowi Bridge
(University of New Mexico Press, 1960), pp. 65–66.

60
. Bohr handwritten notes, Document 10, Niels Bohr Archives Document Release, February 6, 2002,
www.nba.nbi.dk/NBA/papers/docs/d10tra.htm
.

61
. Quoted in James Glanz, “New Light on Physicist’s Role in Nazi Bomb,”
NYT
, February 7, 2002, pp. A1 and A8.

62
. Quoted in Rudolf Peierls to Mr. Masters, February 20, 1988, Addendum D.9, RPP, BL, UO.

63
. Moore,
Niels Bohr
, p. 324.

64
. Quoted in Teller with Shoolery,
Memoirs
, p. 186.

65
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, p. 195; and Niels Bohr to President Roosevelt, July 3, 1944, JROP, Box 34, MDLOC.

66
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, pp. 94–95, 196.

67
. Quoted in Powers,
Heisenberg’s War
, p. 255.

68
. Author’s interview with Robert Christy, Pasadena, Calif., July 29, 1998.

69
. Richard Feynman interview with Charles Weiner, June 28, 1966, OHC, NBL, AIP.

70
. Felix Frankfurter to Lord Halifax, April 18, 1945, JROP, Box 34, MDLOC.

71
. Quoted in Moore,
Niels Bohr
, p. 343.

72
. See R. V. Jones, “Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill,”
Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society
, 1966, p. 88; and Gowing,
Britain and Atomic Energy
, p. 355.

73
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, pp. 106–108.

74
. See Aage Bohr, “The War Years and the Prospects Raised by the Atomic Weapons,” in Rozental,
Niels Bohr
, pp. 206–207; and Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, p. 109.

75
. Hyde Park Aide-Memoire, September 18, 1944, President’s Map Room Papers, Naval Aide’s File, Box 172, FDRL.

Chapter 6: The Decision to Use the Bomb

1
. Leo Szilard to Vannevar Bush, January 14, 1944, LSP, Box 5, Folder 21, MSCD, GL, UCSD.

2
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, pp. 118–119. Compton himself addressed the political implications of atomic bombs for the first time in a memorandum to James Conant in August 1944. See Arthur H. Compton to James B. Conant, August 15, 1944, BCF, ROSRD, MEDR, NA.

3
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, p. 120; see also Arthur H. Compton to Alice K. Smith, September 30, 1958, Series 3, Box 27, Arthur H. Compton Papers (hereafter cited as AHCP), Washington University Archives (hereafter cited as WUA), St. Louis, Mo.

4
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, p. 122; and Bohr Memorandum, May 8, 1945, summarizing his communications with Roosevelt, JROP, Box 34, MDLOC.

5
. Lanouette with Silard,
Genius in the Shadows
, p. 260.

6
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, pp. 200–201; and Leo Szilard, “Atomic Bombs and the Postwar Position of the United States in the World,” March 12, 1945, reprinted in Weart and Szilard,
Leo Szilard
, pp. 196–204.

7
. See Leo Szilard to Ernest Lawrence, April 3, 1945; and Ernest Lawrence to Leo Szilard, April 9, 1945, EOLP, BL, UCB.

8
. Quoted in Wyden,
Day One
, p. 141; and Weart and Szilard,
Leo Szilard
, p. 182.

9
. Quoted in Allan R. Millett and Peter Maslowski,
For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States of America
(revised, Free Press, 1994), p. 482.

10
. Quoted in John W. Dower,
War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War
(Pantheon Books, 1986), pp. 39–40.

11
. Quoted in Steve Birdsall,
Saga of the Superfortress
(Doubleday, 1980), p. 195.

12
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, pp. 145–147.

13
. Henry L. Stimson Diary, December 31, 1944, Sterling Library, Yale University.

14
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, pp. 134, 190.

15
. Ibid., p. 150; and Harry S Truman,
Memoirs, Vol. I: Year of Decisions
(Double-day, 1955), p. 10.

16
. Henry L. Stimson, “Memo Discussed with the President,” April 25, 1945, Box 151, Folder 60, HBF, MEDR, NA.

17
. J. Robert Oppenheimer, “The Atomic Bomb as a Great Force for Peace,”
New York Times Magazine
, June 9, 1946, p. 60.

18
. Leo Szilard to J. Robert Oppenheimer, May 16, 1945, LSP, Box 14, Folder 27, MSCD, GL, UCSD.

19
. Author’s interview with Louis Rosen, Los Alamos, N.Mex., July 16, 1997.

20
. Ibid.

21
. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission,
In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer
, pp. 32–33.

22
. Bodanis,
E = mc
²
, p. 161.

23
. Lanouette with Silard,
Genius in the Shadows
, p. 265.

24
. Quoted in Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, p. 202.

25
. James Byrnes to President Roosevelt, March 3, 1945, Box 147, HBF, MEDR, NA.

26
. See Szilard, “Reminiscences,” pp. 122–128; Smith,
A Peril and a Hope
, pp. 28–30; and James F Byrnes,
All in One Lifetime
(Harper and Brothers, 1958), pp. 284–285.

27
. Szilard, “Reminiscences,” p. 129.

28
. Arthur H. Compton, Statement to Interim Committee, May 28, 1945, BCF, ROSRD, MEDR, NA.

29
. Compton,
Atomic Quest
, p. 238.

30
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, pp. 203–204; and Stimson Diary, May 31, 1945, SL,YU.

31
. Handwritten Notes “To the Four [Scientists],” May 31, 1945, HBF, MEDR, NA.

32
. Diary entry for May 31, 1945, Series 4, Box 1, AHCP, WUA.

33
. Quoted in Moore,
Niels Bohr
, p. 369.

34
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, pp. 206–207.

35
. Quoted in Davis,
Lawrence and Oppenheimer
, p. 142.

36
. Compton,
Atomic Quest
, pp. 238–239.

37
. Quoted in Davis,
Lawrence and Oppenheimer
, p. 247.

38
. Arthur H. Compton to Colonel Kenneth D. Nichols, June 4, 1945, MUC-AC-1306/7, MEDR, NA. See also Diary entry for June 3, 1945, Series 4, Box 1, AHCP, WUA.

39
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, p. 210.

40
. Ibid.

41
. Franck Report, June 11, 1945, reprinted as Appendix B in Smith,
A Peril and a Hope
, pp. 560–572.

42
. See James Franck, “Washington Trip Memo,” April 21, 1945, James Franck Papers, Box 18, DSC, JRL, UC.

43
. Compton,
Atomic Quest
, p. 236.

44
. Ibid., p. 247.

45
. Ibid., pp. 239–240.

46
. See Leo Szilard to Arthur H. Compton, July 19, 1945, LSP, Box 6, Folder 29, MSCD, GL, UCSD; and Wyden,
Day One
, p. 171.

47
. Compton,
Atomic Quest
, pp. 240–241.

48
. Recommendations on the Immediate Use of Nuclear Weapons, June 16, 1945, HBF, MEDR, NA.

49
. Oppenheimer, “Niels Bohr and His Times,” Part 3, p. 15, JROP, Box 247, MDLOC.

50
. Quoted in Moore,
Niels Bohr
, p. 370.

51
. HBF, MEDR, NA.

52
. Leo Szilard, “The Story of a Petition,” July 28, 1946, LSP, Box 40, Folder 15, MSCD, GL, UCSD.

53
. HBF, MEDR, NA.

54
. “A Petition to the President of the United States,” July 17, 1945, JROP, Box 70, MDLOC.

55
. Quoted in Weart and Szilard,
Leo Szilard
, p. 167; and Compton,
Atomic Quest
, p. 262.

56
. Leo Szilard to Frank Oppenheimer, July 10, 1945, JROP, Box 70, MDLOC.

57
. Quoted in Teller with Shoolery,
Memoirs
, p. 206; and author’s interview with Edward Teller, Stanford, Calif., July 27, 1998.

58
. Edward Teller to Leo Szilard, July 2, 1945, LSP, Box 18, Folder 36, MSCD, GL, UCSD.

59
. Edward Teller to Gregg Herken, February 26, 1999, cited in Herken,
Brotherhood of the Bomb
, p. 365.

60
. Teller with Brown,
The Legacy of Hiroshima
, p. 14.

61
. Teller,
Better a Shield than a Sword
, p. 60.

62
. Teller with Brown,
The Legacy of Hiroshima
, p. 19.

63
. Author’s interview with Edward Teller, Stanford, Calif., July 27, 1998.

64
. Quotes are in Wyden,
Day One
, p. 150.

65
. Quoted in Jungk,
Brighter than a Thousand Suns
, p. 171.

66
. See Farrington Daniels and Arthur H. Compton, “A Poll of Scientists at Chicago,”
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
(hereafter cited as
BAS
), February 1948, p. 44.

67
. Arthur Compton to Kenneth Nichols, July 24, 1945, MUC-AC-1306/7, MEDR, NA.

68
. Quoted in Knebel and Bailey, “The Fight over the A-Bomb,” p. 20.

69
. Ibid.

70
. Sherwin,
A World Destroyed
, pp. 194–196, 212.

71
. Jette,
Inside Box 1663
, p. 99.

72
. Quoted in Groueff,
The Manhattan Project
, p. 44.

73
. Quoted in
Los Alamos: Beginning of an Era, 1943–1945
(Los Alamos National Laboratory Public Relations Office), p. 44.

74
. Norris,
Racing for the Bomb,
p. 400, n. 13.

75
. Quoted in
Los Alamos: Beginning of an Era
, p. 46.

76
. Author’s interview with Donald Hornig, Cambridge, Mass., May 14, 1998.

77
. Quoted in Bush,
Pieces of the Action
, p. 148; and Lamont,
Day of Trinity
, p. 226.

78
. Quoted in Glenn T. Seaborg,
Journals: Volumes 1–4, April 19, 1942–May 19, 1946
(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1992), vol. 4, p. 4.

79
. Quoted in Jungk,
Brighter than a Thousand Suns
, p. 199.

80
. “E. O. Lawrence’s Thoughts,” July 16, 1945, Correspondence (“Top Secret”) of the Manhattan Engineer District, 1942–1946 (hereafter cited as CTS, MED), Record Group 77, NA.

81
. Quoted in Sid Moody, “Proving Ground,”
Albuquerque Journal
Special Reprint, Julyl995, p. 3.

82
. Rabi,
Science
, p. 138.

Chapter 7: Three Fires

1
. Author’s interview with Donald Hornig, Cambridge, Mass., May 14, 1998.

2
. Quoted in Laurence,
The Story of the Atomic Bomb
, p. 17.

3
. Hans Bethe to Anne Longley, June 7, 1995, BPP; and Else,
The Day After Trinity
(KTEH-TV, 1980).

4
. “E. O. Lawrence’s Thoughts,” July 16, 1945, CTS, MED, Record Group 77, NA.

5
. Ernest O. Lawrence to George L. Harrison, July 18, 1945, EOLP, BL, UCB.