ACHIEVING THERARE Robert F. Christy’s Journey in Physics and Beyond 8756_9789814460248_tp.indd 1 2/5/13 4:11 PM This page is intentionally left blank ACHIEVING THERARE Robert F. Christy’s Journey in Physics and Beyond I.-Juliana Christy California Institute of Technology, USA World Scientific NEW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TAIPEI • CHENNAI 8756_9789814460248_tp.indd 2 2/5/13 4:11 PM Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Christy, I.-Juliana. Achieving the rare : Robert F. Christy's journey in physics and beyond / I.-Juliana Christy. pages cm Includes index. ISBN 978-9814460248 (paperback : alkaline paper) 1. Christy, Robert F. 2. Physicists--United States--Biography. 3. Nuclear physics--United States--History-- 20th century. 4. Astrophysics--United States--History--20th century. 5. California Institute of Technology-- Biography. I. Title. QC16.C52C47 2013 530.092--dc23 [B] 2013012736 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Copyright © 2013 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. Printed in Singapore Preface This book arose in an unusual and unexpected way. Ten years ago, in 2003, I was informed of the presence of invasive cancer. It had started with breast cancer but had spread into the lymph system, and imaging showed an invasion into the liver and kidney. Until then I had worked full-time as an astrophysicist at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). However, I now decided to devote most of my time and energy to my fight against the cancer. Additional motivation for this decision came from the fact that most of my close relatives from earlier generations had died of cancer. I was touched by the support given to me by my boss Prof. Tom Tombrello, Chairman of the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy at Caltech. He gave me permission to take an indefinite leave of absence to fight the cancer while keeping my academic position for me. This was of crucial importance to keep up my confidence in myself and in what I was doing. I had a great deal of support from many doctors and from my family. My strongest support came from my husband, Robert F. Christy — he often doubted my unconventional methods, but he believed in me and in my ability to find a solution. When I returned cancer-free after several years I approached the new division Chairman, Prof. Andrew Lange, and asked him whether he wanted me to go back into astrophysics or do something totally new, such as writing a book of my recollections of the “Giants of Caltech.” I was in a unique position to do the latter: I had many fascinating personal recollections of the eminent professors and trustees of Caltech, mostly from the decade when my husband was Provost (during part of which he was also the Interim President). Prof. Lange answered, “Write the book.” The first chapter was the one to be on my husband, Prof. Robert F. Christy, but I soon found that I had far more material than would fit into a single chapter. His story ended up as an entire book — this one. v vi Achieving the Rare I wrote much of the first draft of the book in May and June of 2011 while I was recovering from a major elective surgery. At that time, my husband was still available to answer my many questions. During the next year, while my health improved, his declined. I was trying to help him by using some of the unconventional techniques that had worked so well for me, and there were times when it looked promising. He had always been a survivor, but this time it was not to be. He passed on, smiling, on Wednesday October 3, 2012 in our master bedroom at home; my hands were in his while I kissed him on the right cheek and the forehead, and our older daughter Ilia kissed him on the left cheek. The final revisions for this book, including the addition of Robert’s last year and of memories contributed at his funeral, were completed in early 2013. I was always taken by the way that Ralph Leighton wrote his books on Dick Feynman. They were written in the way Dick Feynman would speak. One can almost hear his voice, with his Brooklyn accent. My husband also had a unique manner of speaking, always grammatically correct and beautifully rhythmic. He spoke in a deep, sonorous voice. He loved poetry and often quoted it in daily life. To me, his way of speaking and writing resonated like poetry. He also had a unique and subtle sense of humor. I could not reproduce his way of speaking via my own writing; therefore I included direct quotes from him as often as I could. Several interviews with Robert Christy had been recorded and transcribed, and extensive portions of these have been included at appropriate places in the text. Especially revealing are three interviews by his own family. The first took place in 2001 at the family’s ranch, where he was questioned by our two daughters Ilia and Alexa as well as by myself. The second family interview was in 2006, when our daughter Ilia and her husband Chris Wakeham organized a week-long family get-together in Santa Fe. Robert’s son Peter Christy and Peter’s wife Heidi Mason organized excursions to Los Alamos and to its beautiful surrounding area. While at Santa Fe, Robert was interviewed at length by his sons Ted and Peter and their respective wives Vera Nicholas and Heidi Mason, as well as by our daughter Ilia, her husband Chris, our daughter Alexa, and myself. His three young grandchildren Liana, Tess, and Jack Christy also quizzed him. Many of the questions were directed towards Robert’s experiences at Los Alamos while on the Manhattan Project. The lengthy job of transcribing this five and a half hour interview was accomplished by Dr. Arnold I. Boothroyd. Preface vii The third family interview was in February 2011. While recuperating in a hospital Robert recounted his memories of his sons Ted and Peter to Antonella Vigorito, who had been an administrative aide in the Christy home for several years. With the permission of the California Institute of Technology Archives (the copyright holder), a number of quotes were included from Sara Lippincott’s 2006 interview that was published in Physics in Perspective 8, 408-450. (Note that this interview was also published by the Caltech Archives in a slightly different form on the World-Wide Web at http://oralhistories.library.caltech.edu/129/ or http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechOH:OH_Christy_R.) While writing the book I often had questions about details of Robert’s earlier life. I would circulate between my study and his in our home, pose the questions to him, and immediately write down his answers in his own words. Some of these answers are included as direct quotes. A large number of quotes are included from letters that Robert wrote to me and to others. They display his love of life, his values, and his integrity. I kept a diary during some periods. This served as an additional resource for details from those years. In writing this book, I had tremendous support from our colleagues. Prof. Rudy Marcus asked me to include more of Robert’s administrative accomplishments, and made other suggestions that helped to improve the book. The present title I owe primarily to Prof. Kip Thorne, who also suggested improvements for the organization of the chapters. I am grateful to Prof. Freeman Dyson who was so supportive of this biography. I wish to thank Prof. Robbie Vogt for all of his encouragement. I am indebted to both Prof. David Politzer and Prof. Rudy Marcus for their positive comments on the book when they acted as reviewers for the publisher. Professors Charlie Campbell and Ward Whaling suggested several significant additions and corrections. I also wish to thank Prof. Jack Roberts, Prof. Francis Clauser, Dr. Judith Goodstein, Mrs. Francis Yariv, Mrs. Marylou Whaling, and Mr. Frank Rubin for their helpful and supportive comments. Prof. G. J. (“Jerry”) Wasserburg contributed the tale of Robert Christy’s necktie (see chapter 9). Charlotte (“Shelly”) Erwin of the Caltech Archives permitted us to photograph the framed necktie itself. I am indebted to Mrs. Rose Bethe, who introduced me to the World Scientific Publishing Company as well as providing a great deal of encouragement. viii Achieving the Rare I am very grateful to our daughters Ilia and Alexa Christy who read the manuscript with great care. They made suggestions and contributed details, anecdotes, and quotes. Ilia made a tremendous effort that improved the manuscript in many ways. She was particularly helpful in pointing out places where I had succumbed to my tendency towards long, convoluted, Germanic sentences. I am especially indebted to Gail Christy, who gave me many of the old documents and photographs of the Christy family.