DOCSLIB.ORG

The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner as told to Andrew Szanton The Recollections of Eugene P. Wigner as told to Andrew Szanton Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Llbrary of Congress Cataloglng-ln-Publlcatlon Data Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902- The reeolleetlons of Eugene P. Wigner as told to Andrew Szanton I Andrew Szanton. p. eil. Ineludes blbllographleal re fe rene es and Index. I. Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902- 2. Physlelsts--Unlted States- -Slography. 1. Szanton, Andrew. 11. Tltls. QC16.W55 1992 530 ' • 92--d e20 [sI 92-17040 CIP ISBN 978-0-306-44326-8 ISBN 978-1-4899-6313-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4899-6313-0 © 1992 Andrew Szanton Originally published by Plenum Press in 1992. Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover 1st edition 1992 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, rnicrofilrning, recording, or otherwise, without written perrnission from the Publisher q-~tkJod d-fi'~~J~ rz first met Dr. Eugene Wigner while working on an oral J history project at the Smithsonian Institution in Wash­ ington, D.C. Funded by the Sloan Foundation, the Smithson­ ian's Museum of American History was building a video ar­ chive of the personal recollections of those who had worked on the Manhattan Project during the Second World War, building the world's first atomic bomb. I was introduced to Dr. Wigner at a Smithsonian panel in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A few months later, I spent two days in Princeton, New Jersey, and interviewed hirn twice, at length. Eugene Wigner's head is large, with gray hair on the sides and a few stray wisps on top, a prominent nose, large ears, and watery blue eyes that sparkle. He dressed with a casual formal­ ity. His voice was wonderfully rich, heavilyaccented, full of humor and regret. Dr. Wigner was extremely polite. Inside his own office, he asked my permission before removing his suit jacket. His v brief coughing fits, he assured me, were involuntary. "lt is my fauIt," he said. "But not my conscious fault." But the polite­ ness was not distancing. He offered his attention with a shy sincerity that I found affecting. By the end of the second interview, I was struck by how much vivid material was in tbis life-the political and intellec­ tual tensions ofturn-of-the-century Budapest; the inspiration of Albert Einstein; the tense, foreboding work on the atomic bomb. I knew that no major book had ever been written about Dr. Wigner, and I urged him to write his memoirs. To this, Dr. Wigner gave a very firm "no." For the scien­ tist, he said, one's work is all that should remain. The Ameri­ can notion of celebrity he found distasteful. He was quite content with his niche in the bistory of physics, and wanted no part of a memoir. Or so I thought until one day around June 1988, when he wound up a routine telephone call by asking politely when I planned to come up to Princeton and help bim write bis memoirs. I was taken aback. But I managed to say that I would like to do that very much and would begin planning immediately. At the end of August 1988, I said a fond goodbye to the Smith­ sonian and moved up to Princeton. I conducted over 30 interviews with Eugene Wigner that fall of 1988, most ofthem in bis office, on tape. When we met at bis home, he seemed to dislike the recording apparatus. I took notes. Our very first interview was in his office. I asked Dr. Wigner what he wanted from bis memoirs. He spoke impre­ cisely, but at length and with feeling. It was dear that he wanted the book to convey the love of science that he and his colleagues had feIt. He expected the book to evoke the spirit of bis principal mentors and colleagues and of their scientific work. Dr. Wigner was troubled that bis memoirs would inevi­ tably center on bimself. He said repeated1y: "I do not want fame." The transitory quality offame was a favorite theme ofDr. Wigner. In bis own ease, he seemed pleased enough that he would soon be forgotten. But that many ofbis scientifie peers would also be forgotten he c1early regarded as a great tragedy. Undemeath a11 ofthe modesty, the eontinental manners, the deep reservoirs of politeness, I sensed that Eugene Wigner feIt that he had never been fully understood. His passion for science, bis personal experience, and bis thoughts on the politi­ cal side ofhuman nature had nowhere been put on the record. "Who is Eugene Wigner, and why should I read a book about him?" I have heard those implicit questions many times over the last few years. Here I will try briefly to answer them. Eugene Wigner is one ofa generation ofphysicists ofthe 1920s who remade the world of physies. It was a generation that extended from Berlin to London to Pisa to Zurieh-and to Budapest, though not quite yet to New Y ork or Cbicago. The first physicists in this generation-Wemer Heisen­ berg, Erwin Sehrödinger, and Paul Dirae to name three---cre­ ated quantum meehanics, throwing open dozens of funda­ mental questions. The ones who eame just after scrambled to answer them and to pose further, more eomplicated ques­ tions. Eugene Wigner was in the seeond group. He has posed and answered some of the fundamental questions of twen­ tieth-century physies. Dr. Wigner would be an important historieal figure for bis eontribution to physies alone. And since he was too mod- est to describe them much in the heart of the book, I should summarize them here. In the late 1920s, Dr. Wigner laid the foundation for the theory of symmetries in quantum mechanics. In 1933, he was probably the first to find that the force between two nucleons-very weak ordinarily-becomes very much greater when the nucleons are brought quite close to­ gether-a million times greater than the electrica1 forces be­ tween the electrons in the outer part of atoms. Dr. Wigner showed that the most essential properties of the nuclei follow from widely recognized symmetries of the laws of motion. And he proved that his laws of symmetry apply equally to both protons and neutrons. He extended his research into atomic nuclei in the late 1930s. These researches have shaped more than nuclear phys­ ics; they help to explain much of elementary particle physics. Wigner also developed an important general theory of nuclear reactions. He contributed greatly to the practica1 use of nuclear energy. Much of his work in solid-state physics is still central to that field. In physics, Dr. Wigner has shown a rare array oftalents: brilliance in theoretical matters; brilliance in the laboratory; and a superb grounding in engineering. Between 1939 and 1945, apart ofthis great generation of physicists remade the world again. This time it was a far larger world that they changed-one of nations, armies, and peo­ pIes. They did it first by understanding that an atomic bomb could be bui1t; then by arguing that it must be built in the United States, immediately; and finally by learning how to build it, on the fly, and under terrible pressure. Eugene Wigner was a giant of this undertaking as well. It tumed out that Dr. Wigner also played the game of politics, and rather skillfully for arecent emigre and a pro­ fessed politica1 amateur. In 1939 and 1940, he played a crucial political role in agitating for a Manhattan Project, a federal response to the splitting of the atom. During the war, Dr. Wigner directed theoretical studies at the Metallurgica1 Laboratory in Chicago, creating a working nuc1ear pile for the production of plutonium, which yields atomic energy when it is induced to fission. Dr. Wigner was crucial to the Met Lab's success in under­ standing plutonium production and developing plans for a water-cooled atomic pile. He promoted construction of a large-scale atomic pile to produce plutonium and developed superb engineering designs used by the DuPont Company to construct an air-cooled atomic pile. And in the years since the war, Eugene Wigner has been a national figure in promoting the adoption of a major civil defense program. The war ended almost 50 years ago. Eugene Wigner is nowan old man, but still a Hungarian. I am an American two generations younger. We have speilt many hours together without c10sing much ofthe gulfbetween uso More than once, he has looked at me at the start of an interview and asked with real curiosity: "How old are you?" Eugene Wigner himself does not look 89. He is about 5 feet 7 inches ta11 and 150 pounds, slightly stooped with age. Like many very old men, he often seems boyish. He is young enough to climb stairs two at a time and to be chagrined that he cannot descend in the same way. He rises from achair easily and often walks around a room to help himself recall. Remembering is hard for him, and when we reach a hole in his memory he is apt to say, "That is a scandal!" He holds hirnself to a high standard. My mistakes, though, he meets with grace, often saying with a smile, "Worse crimes have been committed." I have been gratified to find that Dr. Wigner's recollec­ tions in my own interviews consistently square with the writ­ ten record ofhis past thought. His accounts ofthe people and events ofhis life have remained intemally consistent through­ out the three years in which this book was formed.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Wolfgang Pauli Niels Bohr Paul Dirac Max Planck Richard Feynman
    Wolfgang Pauli Niels Bohr Paul Dirac Max Planck Richard Feynman Louis de Broglie Norman Ramsey Willis Lamb Otto Stern Werner Heisenberg Walther Gerlach Ernest Rutherford Satyendranath Bose Max Born Erwin Schrödinger Eugene Wigner Arnold Sommerfeld Julian Schwinger David Bohm Enrico Fermi Albert Einstein Where discovery meets practice Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQ ST in Baden-Württemberg . Introduction “But I do not wish to be forced into abandoning strict These two quotes by Albert Einstein not only express his well­ more securely, develop new types of computer or construct highly causality without having defended it quite differently known aversion to quantum theory, they also come from two quite accurate measuring equipment. than I have so far. The idea that an electron exposed to a different periods of his life. The first is from a letter dated 19 April Thus quantum theory extends beyond the field of physics into other 1924 to Max Born regarding the latter’s statistical interpretation of areas, e.g. mathematics, engineering, chemistry, and even biology. beam freely chooses the moment and direction in which quantum mechanics. The second is from Einstein’s last lecture as Let us look at a few examples which illustrate this. The field of crypt­ it wants to move is unbearable to me. If that is the case, part of a series of classes by the American physicist John Archibald ography uses number theory, which constitutes a subdiscipline of then I would rather be a cobbler or a casino employee Wheeler in 1954 at Princeton. pure mathematics. Producing a quantum computer with new types than a physicist.” The realization that, in the quantum world, objects only exist when of gates on the basis of the superposition principle from quantum they are measured – and this is what is behind the moon/mouse mechanics requires the involvement of engineering.
    [Show full text]
  • I. I. Rabi Papers [Finding Aid]. Library of Congress. [PDF Rendered Tue Apr
    I. I. Rabi Papers A Finding Aid to the Collection in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 1992 Revised 2010 March Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact Additional search options available at: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms998009 LC Online Catalog record: http://lccn.loc.gov/mm89076467 Prepared by Joseph Sullivan with the assistance of Kathleen A. Kelly and John R. Monagle Collection Summary Title: I. I. Rabi Papers Span Dates: 1899-1989 Bulk Dates: (bulk 1945-1968) ID No.: MSS76467 Creator: Rabi, I. I. (Isador Isaac), 1898- Extent: 41,500 items ; 105 cartons plus 1 oversize plus 4 classified ; 42 linear feet Language: Collection material in English Location: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Summary: Physicist and educator. The collection documents Rabi's research in physics, particularly in the fields of radar and nuclear energy, leading to the development of lasers, atomic clocks, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to his 1944 Nobel Prize in physics; his work as a consultant to the atomic bomb project at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory and as an advisor on science policy to the United States government, the United Nations, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization during and after World War II; and his studies, research, and professorships in physics chiefly at Columbia University and also at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Selected Search Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.
    [Show full text]
  • Leo Szilard in Physics and Information By
    Leo Szilard in Physics and Information by Richard L. Garwin IBM Fellow Emeritus IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 www.fas.org/RLG/ Email: [email protected] Presented in the invited APS session R17 “The Many Worlds of Leo Szilard” Savannah, Georgia April 7, 2014 at 11:21 AM _04/07/2014 Leo Szilard in Physics and Information.doc 1 Abstract: The excellent biography1 by William Lanouette, ``Genius in the Shadows,'' tells it the way it was, incredible though it may seem. The 1972 ``Collected Works of Leo Szilard: Scientific Papers,'' Bernard T. Feld and Gertrud W. Szilard, Editors, gives the source material both published and unpublished. Szilard's path-breaking but initially little-noticed 1929 paper, ``On the Decrease of Entropy in a Thermodynamic System by the Intervention of Intelligent Beings'' spawned much subsequent research. It connected what we now call a bit of information with a quantity k ln 2 of entropy, and showed that the process of acquiring, exploiting, and resetting this information in a one-molecule engine must dissipate at least kT ln 2 of energy at temperature T. His 1925 paper, ``On the Extension of Phenomenological Thermodynamics to Fluctuation Phenomena,'' showed that fluctuations were consistent with and predicted from equilibrium thermodynamics and did not depend on atomistic theories. His work on physics and technology, demonstrated an astonishing range of interest, ingenuity, foresight, and practical sense. I illustrate this with several of his fundamental contributions to nuclear physics, to the neutron chain reaction and to nuclear reactors, and also to electromagnetic pumping of liquid metals.
    [Show full text]
  • Decoherence and the Transition from Quantum to Classical—Revisited
    Decoherence and the Transition from Quantum to Classical—Revisited Wojciech H. Zurek This paper has a somewhat unusual origin and, as a consequence, an unusual structure. It is built on the principle embraced by families who outgrow their dwellings and decide to add a few rooms to their existing structures instead of start- ing from scratch. These additions usually “show,” but the whole can still be quite pleasing to the eye, combining the old and the new in a functional way. What follows is such a “remodeling” of the paper I wrote a dozen years ago for Physics Today (1991). The old text (with some modifications) is interwoven with the new text, but the additions are set off in boxes throughout this article and serve as a commentary on new developments as they relate to the original. The references appear together at the end. In 1991, the study of decoherence was still a rather new subject, but already at that time, I had developed a feeling that most implications about the system’s “immersion” in the environment had been discovered in the preceding 10 years, so a review was in order. While writing it, I had, however, come to suspect that the small gaps in the landscape of the border territory between the quantum and the classical were actually not that small after all and that they presented excellent opportunities for further advances. Indeed, I am surprised and gratified by how much the field has evolved over the last decade. The role of decoherence was recognized by a wide spectrum of practic- 86 Los Alamos Science Number 27 2002 ing physicists as well as, beyond physics proper, by material scientists and philosophers.
    [Show full text]
  • EUGENE PAUL WIGNER November 17, 1902–January 1, 1995
    NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES E U G ENE PAUL WI G NER 1902—1995 A Biographical Memoir by FR E D E R I C K S E I T Z , E RICH V OG T , A N D AL V I N M. W E I NBER G Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoir COPYRIGHT 1998 NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS WASHINGTON D.C. Courtesy of Atoms for Peace Awards, Inc. EUGENE PAUL WIGNER November 17, 1902–January 1, 1995 BY FREDERICK SEITZ, ERICH VOGT, AND ALVIN M. WEINBERG UGENE WIGNER WAS A towering leader of modern physics Efor more than half of the twentieth century. While his greatest renown was associated with the introduction of sym- metry theory to quantum physics and chemistry, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for 1963, his scientific work encompassed an astonishing breadth of sci- ence, perhaps unparalleled during his time. In preparing this memoir, we have the impression we are attempting to record the monumental achievements of half a dozen scientists. There is the Wigner who demonstrated that symmetry principles are of great importance in quan- tum mechanics; who pioneered the application of quantum mechanics in the fields of chemical kinetics and the theory of solids; who was the first nuclear engineer; who formu- lated many of the most basic ideas in nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry; who was the prophet of quantum chaos; who served as a mathematician and philosopher of science; and the Wigner who was the supervisor and mentor of more than forty Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Gregg Herken Papers, Circa 1980-1990
    Gregg Herken Papers, circa 1980-1990 Finding aid prepared by Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Institution Archives Washington, D.C. Contact us at [email protected] Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Descriptive Entry.............................................................................................................. 1 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 1 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 3 Gregg Herken Papers https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_252109 Collection Overview Repository: Smithsonian Institution Archives, Washington, D.C., [email protected] Title: Gregg Herken Papers Identifier: Accession 96-060 Date: circa 1980-1990 Extent: 2 cu. ft. (2 record storage boxes) Creator:: Herken, Gregg, 1947- Language: Language of Materials: English Administrative Information Prefered Citation Smithsonian Institution Archives, Accession 96-060, Gregg Herken Papers Access Restriction Donor permission required, Transferring office; 2/8/1996 Agreement of Transfer; Contact reference staff for details. Descriptive Entry This accession consists personal papers created by military historian Gregg Herken, Chairman of
    [Show full text]
  • PERSPECTIVES in AMERICAN HISTORY by Leo Szilard Edited By
    OFFPRINT FROM PERSPECTIVES IN AMERICAN HISTORY VOLUME II • 1968 Reminiscences by Leo Szilard edited by Gertrud Weiss Szilard and Kathleen R. Windsor REMINISCENCES* by LEO SZILARD edited by Gertrud Weiss Szilard and Kathleen R. Winsor [EDITORs' NOTE: Leo Szilard at various times considered writing his own biography, but he never did. He had a sense of history, however, and care­ fully preserved, in folde~s marked "History," all correspondence and other documents which he thought to be of historical signiftcance. In 1951, when he seriously contemplated writing the history of the Manhattan Project, he organized the pertinent documents into ten folders, by different topics and time periods. The documents which are appended here come largely from this collection which Szilard selected himself. He also drafted an outline for his memoirs. During a period of serious illness in 1960, which kept him in the hospital for a year, he used a tape recorder-which had been put into his sick room for the purpose of an oral history project-to dictate instead the first draft of The Voice of the Dolphins and Other Stories (New York, 1961), a whimsical history of the future twenty-five years, which seemed vastly more important to him than the history of the past quarter century. However, at times he enjoyed giving interviews to interested visitors. On a few such occasions his wife switched on his tape recorder. What follows is an exact transcription of parts of these tapes, with editing limited to the minimum necessary to change spoken to written English. These highly personal, pungent, and incisive comments by a leading par­ ticipant in three great episodes in recent American history-the migration of intellectuals from Hitler's Europe to America; the development of a nuclear chain reaction; and the effort to prevent the use of atomic bombs and to estab­ lish civilian control of atomic energy-are published here by courtesy of Mrs.
    [Show full text]
  • Adobe Acrobat PDF Document
    BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH of HUGH EVERETT, III. Eugene Shikhovtsev ul. Dzerjinskogo 11-16, Kostroma, 156005, Russia [email protected] ©2003 Eugene B. Shikhovtsev and Kenneth W. Ford. All rights reserved. Sources used for this biographical sketch include papers of Hugh Everett, III stored in the Niels Bohr Library of the American Institute of Physics; Graduate Alumni Files in Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University; personal correspondence of the author; and information found on the Internet. The author is deeply indebted to Kenneth Ford for great assistance in polishing (often rewriting!) the English and for valuable editorial remarks and additions. If you want to get an interesting perspective do not think of Hugh as a traditional 20th century physicist but more of a Renaissance man with interests and skills in many different areas. He was smart and lots of things interested him and he brought the same general conceptual methodology to solve them. The subject matter was not so important as the solution ideas. Donald Reisler [1] Someone once noted that Hugh Everett should have been declared a “national resource,” and given all the time and resources he needed to develop new theories. Joseph George Caldwell [1a] This material may be freely used for personal or educational purposes provided acknowledgement is given to Eugene B. Shikhovtsev, author ([email protected]), and Kenneth W. Ford, editor ([email protected]). To request permission for other uses, contact the author or editor. CONTENTS 1 Family and Childhood Einstein letter (1943) Catholic University of America in Washington (1950-1953). Chemical engineering. Princeton University (1953-1956).
    [Show full text]
  • Dr. Leo Szilard Dead at 66 Death Came Quietly Yesterday to Dr
    Dr. Leo Szilard Dead at 66 Death came quietly yesterday to Dr. Leo Szilard, 66, whose urging caused Dr. Albert E instein t o suggest work on the atomic bomb. and who devoted th est of hu; life to efforts to prevent the loosing of the invention on n1ankind. Page 32. ) - ) New York ]{eralb m'tioutte Sunday, May 31, 1964 Man Behind the A-Bomh-Dr. Leo Szilard Dies On March 3, 1939, Dr. Leo Enrico Fermi in starting the He came to the United him to "speak directly and television discussions about Weinberg shared the $150,000 Szilard and Dr. Walter H. first sustained nuclear chain States in 1938 and resumed personally to the American peace, quarrreled with Dr. Atoms for Peace award o! _ Zinn conducted a nuclear reaction at the University of his researches at Columbia people" on Russian proposals Teller about U. S. atomic po­ the Ford Motor Company experiment at Columbia Uni­ Chicago. University, working t here for postwar esettlement. The licy and continued to think Fund. versity, which Dr. Szilard The rest of his life w-as de­ until 1940. He , Dr. Fermi State Department refused up ways of averting an atomic At the University of Chb later described in there voted to efforts to keep lm­ and other scientists wel·e him permission to communi­ war. cago, Dr. Szilard did research _ words: manity from destroying itself greatly frustrated by the cate with Stalin and he pub­ In 1961 , he founded a in the biophysics of aging.,. "Everything was ready and with the atomic and hydro­ refusal of military leaders to lished it as an open letter in "Council for a Liveable and, in 1959, announced a all we had to do was to turn gen bombs.
    [Show full text]
  • Wolfgang Pauli 1900 to 1930: His Early Physics in Jungian Perspective
    Wolfgang Pauli 1900 to 1930: His Early Physics in Jungian Perspective A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota by John Richard Gustafson In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Advisor: Roger H. Stuewer Minneapolis, Minnesota July 2004 i © John Richard Gustafson 2004 ii To my father and mother Rudy and Aune Gustafson iii Abstract Wolfgang Pauli's philosophy and physics were intertwined. His philosophy was a variety of Platonism, in which Pauli’s affiliation with Carl Jung formed an integral part, but Pauli’s philosophical explorations in physics appeared before he met Jung. Jung validated Pauli’s psycho-philosophical perspective. Thus, the roots of Pauli’s physics and philosophy are important in the history of modern physics. In his early physics, Pauli attempted to ground his theoretical physics in positivism. He then began instead to trust his intuitive visualizations of entities that formed an underlying reality to the sensible physical world. These visualizations included holistic kernels of mathematical-physical entities that later became for him synonymous with Jung’s mandalas. I have connected Pauli’s visualization patterns in physics during the period 1900 to 1930 to the psychological philosophy of Jung and displayed some examples of Pauli’s creativity in the development of quantum mechanics. By looking at Pauli's early physics and philosophy, we gain insight into Pauli’s contributions to quantum mechanics. His exclusion principle, his influence on Werner Heisenberg in the formulation of matrix mechanics, his emphasis on firm logical and empirical foundations, his creativity in formulating electron spinors, his neutrino hypothesis, and his dialogues with other quantum physicists, all point to Pauli being the dominant genius in the development of quantum theory.
    [Show full text]
  • INFORMATION– CONSCIOUSNESS– REALITY How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence the FRONTIERS COLLECTION
    THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION James B. Glattfelder INFORMATION– CONSCIOUSNESS– REALITY How a New Understanding of the Universe Can Help Answer Age-Old Questions of Existence THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION Series editors Avshalom C. Elitzur, Iyar, Israel Institute of Advanced Research, Rehovot, Israel Zeeya Merali, Foundational Questions Institute, Decatur, GA, USA Thanu Padmanabhan, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, India Maximilian Schlosshauer, Department of Physics, University of Portland, Portland, OR, USA Mark P. Silverman, Department of Physics, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, USA Jack A. Tuszynski, Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada Rüdiger Vaas, Redaktion Astronomie, Physik, bild der wissenschaft, Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany THE FRONTIERS COLLECTION The books in this collection are devoted to challenging and open problems at the forefront of modern science and scholarship, including related philosophical debates. In contrast to typical research monographs, however, they strive to present their topics in a manner accessible also to scientifically literate non-specialists wishing to gain insight into the deeper implications and fascinating questions involved. Taken as a whole, the series reflects the need for a fundamental and interdisciplinary approach to modern science and research. Furthermore, it is intended to encourage active academics in all fields to ponder over important and perhaps controversial issues beyond their own speciality. Extending from quantum physics and relativity to entropy, conscious- ness, language and complex systems—the Frontiers Collection will inspire readers to push back the frontiers of their own knowledge. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/5342 For a full list of published titles, please see back of book or springer.com/series/5342 James B.
    [Show full text]
  • 75 YEARS Trinity Test the Dawn of America’S Scientific Innovation CONTENTS
    75 YEARS Trinity Test The Dawn of America’s Scientific Innovation CONTENTS 1 THE MANHATTAN PROJECT ........ 4 2 TRINITY TEST - JULY 16, 1945 ...... 6 3 1940s .............................................. 10 4 1950s ..........................................12 5 1960s ..........................................14 1970s ..........................................16 Beyond the advances in nuclear physics 6 and chemistry that made the “ 7 1980s ..........................................18 “ first functional atomic device possible, Trinity was arguably the greatest 1990s ..........................................20 scientific experiment ever conducted. 8 9 2000s ..........................................22 Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty U.S. Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration 10 2010s ..........................................24 11 2020 and FORWARD ..................... 26 1 Manhattan Project: The Origin of the Trinity Test In the 1920s-1930s, a young Hungarian-German physicist Roosevelt responded by launching The Manhattan Project, Leo Szilard led the field of nuclear research, submitting a nationwide network of laboratories and manufacturing patents for a linear accelerator (1928) and cyclotron (1929), facilities designed to collaboratively assist in the before collaborating with Albert Einstein to develop the manufacture of a new atomic weapon. Einstein refrigerator. But when Hitler came into power in 1933, Szilard fled to England, encouraging his friends and family to do the same. In England, he first described the nuclear chain reaction (1933) and patented an early design for a nuclear fission reactor (1934). In 1938, Szilard joined Einstein in the United States, but the rumor that a group of Berlin chemists had split the uranium atom made them so concerned that in 1939, they sent an urgent letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, warning him that that Axis scientists were working to turn new nuclear discoveries into a superweapon.
    [Show full text]