'Lor. 27 NO.2 SPRING 2007

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'Lor. 27 NO.2 SPRING 2007 . ... .' . ~ ., ~ ':~i! ,,~ .... .. , , . ' •• ". I­I- • • . ~ ..........r. ". ." 10­10- " THE FRIENDS OF MOUNT HOPE CEMETERY. 'lor. 27 NO.2 SPRING 2007 Committed to the idea that the world's scientists should collaborate fOr the common good, good, D,; Robert Marshak organized a series ofinternational confirences 011 physics at at the University ofRochesterfrom 1950 through 1957. 1957. ROCHESTER'S ATOMIC LEGACY: LEGACY: ROBERT AND RUTH MARSHAK- A COUPLE UNITED THROUGH SCIENCE SCIENCE By Tim Stacey Dr. Robert tributed so much to Marshak died on rhe scientific and December 23, 1992. global community, On March 26, 1993, and who died wilh­ fricnds and family of our warning. The Dr. Marshak garh­ rexr he had JUSt tln­ ered IOgether a[ rhe ishcd wriring was a Univcrsity of culmination of Rochester to hold a researching and nH:l1lorial service. wriring for five Dr. Marshak died years. exactly one day afrer t1ni~hing a new book While banter­ on particle physics. ing with his wife, He lost his balance Ruth Marshak, on while swimming on the day hefore his vacation and passing, Dr. drowned off the coasr of Cancun, Mexico. D,: Man-hak (/ront row) listem as celebrated Marshak reportedly kidded, "[['S done. Now I Many people who were involved in Dr. physicists j. Robert Oppenheimer and Hans can die." This unintentionally poignant Marshak's professional career came to speak Bethe converse at the 1957 international remark helps (() indica[c how much of borh ,lIld extol the virrues of a man who had con- nuclear physics confirence. Ruth and Robert Marshak's lives revolved around the study of science. Ruth Marshak Ruth G. Marshak aided her husband project. Living in Los Alamos was radically supported Robert's work through many rhrough the travails of achieving tenure stanis different from Rochester, prompting Ruth actions. After Robert's death, Ruth Marshak and performing academic duties. According to Marshak to write an essay titled, "Secret City." pteserved Robert's memory as a physicist by remarks made by the Marshaks' son, Stephen, When the Marshaks originally left Rochester reating a scholarship in his name for interna­ at Dr. Marshak's memorial service, the local for New Mexico, the government did not tional physicists to speak at American Physical Rochester paper often featured Ruth Marshak divulge most of the details of their living Society conventions. as an entertainer and charismatic personality arrangements in Los Alamos. They did not for the visiting physicists. Ruth rook an active even acquire full directions ro the location of Ruth died of cancer four years after her role in social responsibilities associated with Los Alamos until halfway through the trip. husband on April 17, ) 996 in Champaign, her husband's scientific career. In "Secret City" \Vhen they arrived, Ruth found herself in a Illinois. According ro her obituary, donations by Ruth Marshak, she described her duties as place that emphasized a standard of living that "in her memory" were made to the University an academic lady: "She went to faculty teas, strongly contrasted with what she had grown of Rochester Marshak Fellowship Fund in frerted over her budget, and schemed for her accustomed to in Rochester. In "Secret City," Physics and Astronomy. This couple bonded husband's advancement." she described their arrival at the camp: "My with their commitment to each other and the first impression was discouraging. The rickety science that surrounded both of their lives. Ruth Marshak also noted that a physics houses looked like tenements of a metropoli­ The Marshaks became immortalized in professor worked longer hours than college tan slum-washing hung everywhere, and Rochester through their solidarity roward the professors in other disciplines of research. She garbage cans were overflowing." advancement of science. said that she was satisfied with this lifestyle, but her way of living changed when her hus­ The space given to the Marshaks barely Th grave for Robert and Ruth Marshak band began to work on the Manhattan accommodated two people, allll a small, is in Mount Hope Cemetery. Their monu­ Project. unpaved road connected them to the rest of ment is a modest gravestone, and it is located the housing on the "Project." The array of in the Temple B'rith Kodesh congregation plot In 1942, the United States commis­ purchasable goods was slim, and until house­ of Section R. Their burial in Mount Hope sioned the creation of the Manhattan Engineer wives complained, groceries such as eggs were Cemetery demonstrates an aspect of the District to begin the production of an atomic not provided. The governing board of the Los Marshaks' commitment to the university. Rush weapon. Fears of the Axis powers having the Alamos community rationed many luxuries. Rhees Library, the symbol of knowledge and capabilities to produce such a weapon drove For instance, once a week the cafeteria for the learning for the University of Rochester, is most of the initiative for creating such a residents offered "steak night," when "cuisine clearly visible from the gravesite. According to weapon of mass destruction. This operation, at Los Alamos reached its all-time peak." The the Rush Rhees Rare Books Library archivist, historically known as the Manhattan Project, living conditions in Los Alamos changed how Nancy Martin, the Marshak family intention­ set up multiple labs around the country. The the physicist's wife had to function, but Ruth ally positioned the grave in relation to Rush main research facility was located in Los Marshak still managed to find her niche in rhe Rhees. Alamos, New Mexico. Many areas of research new environment. were central ro development of the atomic Robert Marshak came to the University bomb, because the theoretical ideas and engi­ She taught at the school in Los Alamos, of Rochester in 1939, having finished his neering surrounding the bomb were still rela­ and during her stay there the school changed Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics at Cornell tively unknown in the early 1940s. superintendents four separate times. Different University. He had srudied the astronomical superintendents ascribed ro different pedagogi­ phenomenon of white dwarfs at Cornell with In 1944, Hans Bethe recruited Dr. cal theories and wanted teachers to present the Hans A. Berhe, a prominent astrophysicist and Robert Marshak to work on rhe Manhatran material in different ways. The constant Nobel Prize winner. The University of Project in Los Alamos. ]. Robert changing of administration forced Ruth Rochester originally hired Dr. Marshak for one Oppenheimer controlled the lab where Marshak ro alter her teaching style often. She year to fill a professor position that the univer­ Marshak worked, and eventually the lab taught a curriculum designed to prepare sru- sity promised to a person who had taken time appointed him to the position of chief deputy orf for advanced study at another institution. of theoretical physics. EPITAPH During this yearlong appointment, a vacancy Pub/Ishee! Cjm1rterly b)1 the Friends oj' for a tenure-track physics professor became Once his work was declassified, Dr. MOll1lt HOjJI'Hop/' CemetelJl, Rochesfn; available, and Marshak obtained this position. Marshak gained a large amount of scientific M'lO YOrk 14020. tl nOJlpmjitnOJljJmjit member commendation ror his research in subatomic Dr. Marshak barely started his research particle theory at Los Alamos. He developed a organlz./lt!onorgfwlz.tlt!onJOtmdecllilJO,mdec!lil 1980. at Rochester before he joined the military theory of how shock waves travel through neu­ © 2007 The Friend. of Mount Hope Cemetery effort when the United States entered World trons and how nuclear particle collisions can Richard 0. Rns/w/,Retslw/. EditorI::dt/or War II. He began his work researching for the be mathematically modeled. These waves /tltl 1.f5'ltmc/' AD'ocla/i' £dllorEditor U.S. Department of Defense at the Michigan would be tided "Marshak waves" in future Fmllk A. C,!leSjJie,Ct!!eSjJie, PhotographerPhotograjJher Institute ofTechnology and then the Montreal research papers in particle physics. This theory Dtlt/'iV/alczelosh Art Dlir'ClorDlir'etor Atomic Energy Laboratory. While performing held important applications to the weapon Llm!leLlm!!e lJ.1a!czellJshIl.fafczellJsh Ec!itorialEclitoria!AmstfmtAmstfml scientific research for implementation in war­ production of the Manhattan Project. Basic IlIIT1llft!flIlmlf'! IJ/{'mbmhipIJ/{'mbmhijJ Ij' $20. Cal! (585) fare, Marshak traveled between Rochester and 40J401-3494-3494JOr aftn' pocketjJocketguide to iV/ollnt the various places where he carried out The Manhattan Project forced the HOjJeHope CemereJ}/CemeteJ}/ andfl/l membenhipmembenhijJ applicd­ajJjJ!icd­ research. He met a schoolteacher named Ruth Marshaks to relocate ro Los Alamos and live in tioll.tilJl{. See ollr co!otji,!co!otjitldJlt:!dJII:! liljOrmattlJeliljOrmatllle /Oeb Gup during this time, and they married in a makeshift town set up specifically to house page:jJage: 10IOIl;jOJ/Jh.OlgIOIOIl;jOJ/Jh.Olg 1943. military officials and scientists working on the dems for college.college, and although the level of dif­ research. The new forum, however,however. helped sci­ that they could speak at APS meetings. Ruth ticulty was high.high, she felt that her teaching entists to collaborate in a collective similar to Marshak also recognized lhe importance of greatly enhanced the future scholarship of her the Project. The first Rochester Conference making an international stage for scientific Mudellls. had such famous physicists as]. Robert ach ievement. Oppenheimer.Oppenheimer, Hans Bethe.Bethe, and Richard At the end of "Secret Ciry."Ciry," Ruth Feynman in attendance. Two particular papers that Dr. Marshak Mar~hak fondly remembers the camaraderie published at the Universiry of Rochester and friend~hip that blossomed at Los Alamos. Previously attempted post-war confer­ showed his commitment to fostering a po,itivepositive According to biographical memoirs of Robert ences on particle physics had been small and international scientific research environmelll Marshak written by Ernest M.
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