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Physicists in Times of War” Has Gained New Topicality As a Result of the US Doctrine of Preemptive Strikes Adopted by the Bush Administration
Physicists in times of war Bert Schroer CBPF, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150 22290-180 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Institut fuer Theoretische Physik der FU Berlin, Germany December 2005 Abstract Though the majority of physicists would probably not support pre- emptive wars, nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction would not exist without their contributions. Einstein’s anti-militaristic position has been well-documented and the present essay recalls the role of some contemporary and past physicists on this issue. The idea that the rationality of scientific thought is a reliable antidote against supporting wars in order to achieve political or ideological aims was neither correct in the past nor is it presently valid. In the physics community there always existed a minority of supporters of wars of conquest of territory, domination of people beyond the borders or regime change. The “preemptive” war for the US hegemony in the middle east has given the problem of “physicists in times of war” new actuality, especially on the third anniversary of its start with a country slipping into civil war and culprit of this bloody mess talking about the fight for victory. One of the most perplexing appologists of the agressive war of Nazi- Germany against “the Bolshevist peril” has been the physicist Pascual Jordan whose interesting scientific and controversial political biography is the main issue of this essay. 1 Introductory remarks As a result of a significant coincidence 2005 was not only the centennial year of Einstein’s greatest discoveries but it also marks the 60 year commemoration of the end of the second world war, which was perhaps one of the greatest arXiv:physics/0603095v2 [physics.soc-ph] 20 Mar 2006 man-made tragedy and certainly 20thcenturies darkest episode. -
Der Mythos Der Deutschen Atombombe
Langsame oder schnelle Neutronen? Der Mythos der deutschen Atombombe Prof. Dr. Manfred Popp Karlsruher Institut für Technologie Ringvorlesung zum Gedächtnis an Lise Meitner Freie Universität Berlin 29. Oktober 2018 In diesem Beitrag geht es zwar um Arbeiten zur Kernphysik in Deutschland während des 2.Weltkrieges, an denen Lise Meitner wegen ihrer Emigration 1938 nicht teilnahm. Es geht aber um das Thema Kernspaltung, zu dessen Verständnis sie wesentliches beigetragen hat, um die Arbeit vieler, gut vertrauter, ehemaliger Kollegen und letztlich um das Schicksal der deutschen Physik unter den Nationalsozialisten, die ihre geistige Heimat gewesen war. Da sie nach dem Abwurf der Bombe auf Hiroshima auch als „Mutter der Atombombe“ diffamiert wurde, ist es ihr gewiss nicht gleichgültig gewesen, wie ihr langjähriger Partner und Freund Otto Hahn und seine Kollegen während des Krieges mit dem Problem der möglichen Atombombe umgegangen sind. 1. Stand der Geschichtsschreibung Die Geschichtsschreibung über das deutsche Uranprojekt 1939-1945 ist eine Domäne amerikanischer und britischer Historiker. Für die deutschen Geschichtsforscher hatte eines der wenigen im Ergebnis harmlosen Kapitel der Geschichte des 3. Reiches keine Priorität. Unter den alliierten Historikern hat sich Mark Walker seit seiner Dissertation1 durchgesetzt. Sein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Kaiser Wilhelm-Gesellschaft im 3. Reich beginnt mit den Worten: „The Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics is best known as the place where Werner Heisenberg worked on nuclear weapons for Hitler.“2 Im Jahr 2016 habe ich zum ersten Mal belegt, dass diese Schlussfolgerung auf Fehlinterpretationen der Dokumente und auf dem Ignorieren physikalischer Fakten beruht.3 Seit Walker gilt: Nicht an fehlenden Kenntnissen sei die deutsche Atombombe gescheitert, sondern nur an den ökonomischen Engpässen der deutschen Kriegswirtschaft: „An eine Bombenentwicklung wäre [...] auch bei voller Unterstützung des Regimes nicht zu denken gewesen. -
Otto Stern Annalen 4.11.11
(To be published by Annalen der Physik in December 2011) Otto Stern (1888-1969): The founding father of experimental atomic physics J. Peter Toennies,1 Horst Schmidt-Böcking,2 Bretislav Friedrich,3 Julian C.A. Lower2 1Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamik und Selbstorganisation Bunsenstrasse 10, 37073 Göttingen 2Institut für Kernphysik, Goethe Universität Frankfurt Max-von-Laue-Strasse 1, 60438 Frankfurt 3Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Faradayweg 4-6, 14195 Berlin Keywords History of Science, Atomic Physics, Quantum Physics, Stern- Gerlach experiment, molecular beams, space quantization, magnetic dipole moments of nucleons, diffraction of matter waves, Nobel Prizes, University of Zurich, University of Frankfurt, University of Rostock, University of Hamburg, Carnegie Institute. We review the work and life of Otto Stern who developed the molecular beam technique and with its aid laid the foundations of experimental atomic physics. Among the key results of his research are: the experimental test of the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of molecular velocities (1920), experimental demonstration of space quantization of angular momentum (1922), diffraction of matter waves comprised of atoms and molecules by crystals (1931) and the determination of the magnetic dipole moments of the proton and deuteron (1933). 1 Introduction Short lists of the pioneers of quantum mechanics featured in textbooks and historical accounts alike typically include the names of Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Arnold Sommerfeld, Niels Bohr, Max von Laue, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, Paul Dirac, Max Born, and Wolfgang Pauli on the theory side, and of Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, Ernest Rutherford, Arthur Compton, and James Franck on the experimental side. However, the records in the Archive of the Nobel Foundation as well as scientific correspondence, oral-history accounts and scientometric evidence suggest that at least one more name should be added to the list: that of the “experimenting theorist” Otto Stern. -
ISOLDE and Nuclear Structure PG Hansen
CHS-35 February 1992 CERN LIBRARIES, GENEY A Illlllll l!llll ll llllllll lll lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll llll llll CM-P00043022 The SC: ISOLDE and Nuclear Structure P.G. Hansen GENEVA 1992 The Study of CERN History is a project financed by institutions m several CERN Member States. This report presents preliminary findings, and is intended for incorporation into a more comprehensive study of CERN's history. It is distributed primarily to historians and scientists to provoke discussion, and NO PART OF IT SHOULD BE CITED OR REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR. Comments and criticism are welcome, and should be sent to the author at Institute of Physics and Astronomy University of Aarhus DK-8000 Aarhus Denmark. Copyright History of CERN Project, Geneva, 1992 The SC: ISOLDE and Nuclear Structure P.G. Hansen GENEVA 1992 The SC: ISOLDE and Nuclear Structure P.G. Hansen Institute of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University DK-8000 Aarhus 1. Introduction 2. The early interest in nuclear physics at CERN 2.1 The conferences on High-Energy Physics and Nuclear Structure and Nuclei Far From Stability 2.2 CERN's Nuclear Structure Committee (1964-66) and other scientific committees 2.3 Studies of complex nuclear reactions by radiochemical methods 2.4 Open problems in nuclear physics in the sixties and seventies 3. Experiments with muons and pions 3.1 Muonic x-rays 3.2 Pions and nuclei 3.3 Tests of quantum electrodynamics and the masses of the pion and the muon 3.4 Scattering and production of pions on nuclei 3.5 Other experiments with muons 3.6 Looking back 4. -
Guide to the James Franck Papers 1882-1966
University of Chicago Library Guide to the James Franck Papers 1882-1966 © 2006 University of Chicago Library Table of Contents Acknowledgments 3 Descriptive Summary 3 Information on Use 3 Access 3 Citation 3 Biographical Note 4 Scope Note 15 Related Resources 21 Subject Headings 21 INVENTORY 22 Series I: Correspondence 22 Series II: Manuscripts 51 Subseries 1: Physics - work in Germany and Denmark, 1905-1934 51 Subseries 2: Physics - work in United States, 1935-1958 53 Subseries 3: Biophysics - work on Photosynthesis at Johns Hopkins, 1935-193855 Subseries 4: Biophysics - work on Photosynthesis at the University of Chicago,55 1938-48 Subseries 5: Biophysics - work on Photosynthesis after 1948 55 Subseries 6: General Articles and Talks on Science 71 Subseries 7: Papers by other scientists 72 Subseries 8: Notes, memoranda and fragments 76 Subseries 9: Atomic Scientists' Movement, 1944-1953 76 Subseries 10: Franck Memorial Symposium, May 12-13, 1966 79 Series III: Tape Recordings and Photographs 80 Subseries 1: Tape recordings 80 Subseries 2: Hertha Sponer's photograph album, Göttingen, 1920-1933 80 Series IV: Personal Documents and Memorabilia 90 Subseries 1: Documents 90 Subseries 2: Clippings 93 Subseries 3: Biographies and Obituaries 94 Subseries 4: Memorabilia; Scrolls, Certificates, Medals, Mementos 96 Series V: Robert Platzman's Editorial Papers for the "Selected Works of James98 Franck" Series VI: Addenda 103 Subseries 1: Correspondence between James Franck and his nephew and Dr. Heinz104 Kallman Subseries 2: Oversize 105 Descriptive Summary Identifier ICU.SPCL.FRANCK Title Franck, James. Papers Date 1882-1966 Size 20.5 linear feet (29 boxes) Repository Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A. -
Hitler's Uranium Club, the Secret Recordings at Farm Hall
HITLER’S URANIUM CLUB DER FARMHALLER NOBELPREIS-SONG (Melodie: Studio of seiner Reis) Detained since more than half a year Ein jeder weiss, das Unglueck kam Sind Hahn und wir in Farm Hall hier. Infolge splitting von Uran, Und fragt man wer is Schuld daran Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. The real reason nebenbei Die energy macht alles waermer. Ist weil we worked on nuclei. Only die Schweden werden aermer. Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. Die nuclei waren fuer den Krieg Auf akademisches Geheiss Und fuer den allgemeinen Sieg. Kriegt Deutschland einen Nobel-Preis. Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. Wie ist das moeglich, fragt man sich, In Oxford Street, da lebt ein Wesen, The story seems wunderlich. Die wird das heut’ mit Thraenen lesen. Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. Die Feldherrn, Staatschefs, Zeitungsknaben, Es fehlte damals nur ein atom, Ihn everyday im Munde haben. Haett er gesagt: I marry you madam. Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. Even the sweethearts in the world(s) Dies ist nur unsre-erste Feier, Sie nennen sich jetzt: “Atom-girls.” Ich glaub die Sache wird noch teuer, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, Und fragt man, wer ist Schuld daran, So ist die Antwort: Otto Hahn. -
Wolfgang GENTNER Research Director
Who is who in CERN Research Director Wolfgang GENTNER Synchro-cyclotron Division The group of visiting scientists headed Wolfgang Gentner then returned to by Prof. A. Lagarrigue, from the Eco'k Germany where he became Prof. W. Polyfechnique in Paris, arrived at the Bothe's assistant at the Kaiser Wilhelm 25 GeV synchrotron on 1 July. Institute (now the Max-Planck Institute) The group is placing a large piece of in Heidelberg. There, he continued his experimental equipment weighing near work on gamma rays. In particular, he ly 100 ions in the synchrotron beam. determined their photonuclear effects on This is a propane-freon bubble chamber all the elements. For this work, he used measuring 1 x 0.5 x 0.5 m, installed in gamma rays at 17 MeV—the highest en time to take its first photographs on ergy gamma rays which had so far been 22 July and take part in a long experi obtained—produced by the reaction of ment on 8 and 9 August. After Prof. lithium when bombarded by protons B. Hahn's Group from the Swiss Univer at an energy of a million electronvolt. sity of Fribourg, which will take part In October, Prof. Centner will resign The protons were provided by a 1 MeV in experiments during the whole of I960, from his duties as Research Director of Van de Graaff electrostatic accelerator this is the second team of physicists the Synchro-cyclotron Division to be constructed by the young physicist. from the Member States to come and come Director of the Max-Planck Re At the beginning of 1939, Wolfgang work at CERN. -
The Virus House -
David Irving The Virus House - F FOCAL POINT Copyright © by David Irving Electronic version copyright © by Parforce UK Ltd. All rights reserved No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. Copies may be downloaded from our website for research purposes only. No part of this publication may be commercially reproduced, copied, or transmitted save with written permission in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act (as amended). Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. To Pilar is the son of a Royal Navy commander. Imper- fectly educated at London’s Imperial College of Science & Tech- nology and at University College, he subsequently spent a year in Germany working in a steel mill and perfecting his fluency in the language. In he published The Destruction of Dresden. This became a best-seller in many countries. Among his thirty books (including three in German), the best-known include Hitler’s War; The Trail of the Fox: The Life of Field Marshal Rommel; Accident, the Death of General Sikorski; The Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe; Göring: a Biography; and Nuremberg, the Last Battle. The second volume of Churchill's War appeared in and he is now completing the third. His works are available as free downloads at www.fpp.co.uk/books. Contents Author’s Introduction ............................. Solstice.......................................................... A Letter to the War Office ........................ The Plutonium Alternative....................... An Error of Consequence ......................... Item Sixteen on a Long Agenda............... Freshman................................................... Vemork Attacked..................................... -
Bruno Touschek in Germany After the War: 1945-46
LABORATORI NAZIONALI DI FRASCATI INFN–19-17/LNF October 10, 2019 MIT-CTP/5150 Bruno Touschek in Germany after the War: 1945-46 Luisa Bonolis1, Giulia Pancheri2;† 1)Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Boltzmannstraße 22, 14195 Berlin, Germany 2)INFN, Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, P.O. Box 13, I-00044 Frascati, Italy Abstract Bruno Touschek was an Austrian born theoretical physicist, who proposed and built the first electron-positron collider in 1960 in the Frascati National Laboratories in Italy. In this note we reconstruct a crucial period of Bruno Touschek’s life so far scarcely explored, which runs from Summer 1945 to the end of 1946. We shall describe his university studies in Gottingen,¨ placing them in the context of the reconstruction of German science after 1945. The influence of Werner Heisenberg and other prominent German physicists will be highlighted. In parallel, we shall show how the decisions of the Allied powers, towards restructuring science and technology in the UK after the war effort, determined Touschek’s move to the University of Glasgow in 1947. Make it a story of distances and starlight Robert Penn Warren, 1905-1989, c 1985 Robert Penn Warren arXiv:1910.09075v1 [physics.hist-ph] 20 Oct 2019 e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]. Authors’ ordering in this and related works alternates to reflect that this work is part of a joint collaboration project with no principal author. †) Also at Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Contents 1 Introduction2 2 Hamburg 1945: from death rays to post-war science4 3 German science and the mission of the T-force6 3.1 Operation Epsilon . -
Quest 8.2 10/10 For
I NTERNATIONAL To Venture Beyond the Atmosphere The Foundation of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics And the Roots of West Geman Space Research BY ULF von RAUCHHAUPT German: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur verwaltung) in Munich serves them Förderung der Wissenschaft - or MPG administratively. in short). Therefore, a rough sketch of The MPG constantly tries to adapt The Max Planck Institute for its most important features during the itself to changes in the world of science. Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE1) in period covered here may be appropri- One way of adaptation is to open up Garching, a small town 35 kilometers ate.2 new institutes when and where promis- north of Munich, ranks among the most Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser ing new fields of basic research are important space research facilities in Wilhelm Society (Kaiser-Wilhelm- opening up. As outlined below, this was Germany. It contributed to most of the Gesellschaft or KWG) and re-founded certainly the case for space research in scientific space missions in which the after the Second World War as the West Germany at the beginning of the country participated: from early sound- MPG, this organization devotes itself to 1960s. The autonomy of the institute ing rocket programs; the HEOS-1 satel- basic research which cannot, or not yet, directors -- dubbed the “Harnack lite in 1968 and the first German easily be pursued within the framework Principle”3 -- has a considerable impact national satellite AZUR in 1969; to of universities. To insure independence, on whether or how new Max Planck present missions such as XMM Newton the MPG is legally a private institution Institutes are founded. -
January 2014
International Association of Mathematical Physics ΜUΦ Invitation Dear IAMP Members, according to Part I of the By-Laws we announce a meeting of the IAMP General Assembly. It will convene on Monday August 3 in the Meridian Hall of the Clarion NewsCongress Hotel in Prague opening Bulletin at 8pm. The agenda: 1) President report 2) Treasurer reportJanuary 2014 3) The ICMP 2012 a) Presentation of the bids b) Discussion and informal vote 4) General discussion It is important for our Association that you attend and take active part in the meeting. We are looking forward to seeing you there. With best wishes, Pavel Exner, President Jan Philip Solovej, Secretary Contents International Association of Mathematical Physics News Bulletin, January 2014 Contents Tribute to Freeman Dyson3 Is A Graviton Detectable?8 Call for nominations for the 2015 Henri Poincar´ePrize 22 Obituary: Oscar E Lanford III 23 News from the IAMP Executive Committee 26 Bulletin Editor Editorial Board Valentin A. Zagrebnov Rafael Benguria, Evans Harrell, Masao Hirokawa, Manfred Salmhofer, Robert Sims Contacts. http://www.iamp.org and e-mail: [email protected] Cover picture: Freeman Dyson The views expressed in this IAMP News Bulletin are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the IAMP Executive Committee, Editor or Editorial Board. Any complete or partial performance or reproduction made without the consent of the author or of his successors in title or assigns shall be unlawful. All reproduction rights are henceforth reserved, and mention of the IAMP News Bulletin is obligatory in the reference. (Art.L.122-4 of the Code of Intellectual Property). -
Main Attributes of Nuclides Presented in This Book
Appendix A Main Attributes of Nuclides Presented in This Book Data given in TableA.1 can be used to determine the various decay energies for the specific radioactive decay examples as well as for the nuclear activation examples presented in this book. M stands for the nuclear rest mass; M stands for the atomic rest mass. The data were obtained from the NIST and are based on CODATA 2010 as follows: 1. Data for atomic masses M are given in atomic mass constants u and were obtained from the NIST at: (http://www.physics.nist.gov/pml/data/comp.cfm). 2. Rest mass of proton mp, neutron mn, electron me, and of the atomic mass constant u are from the NIST (http://www.physics.nist.gov/cuu/constants/index. html) as follows: −27 2 mp = 1.672 621 777×10 kg = 1.007 276 467 u = 938.272 046 MeV/c (A.1) −27 2 mn = 1.674 927 351×10 kg = 1.008 664 916 u = 939.565 379 MeV/c (A.2) −31 −4 2 me = 9.109 382 91×10 kg = 5.485 799 095×10 u = 0.510 998 928 MeV/c (A.3) − 1u= 1.660 538 922×10 27 kg = 931.494 060 MeV/c2 (A.4) 3. For a given nuclide, its nuclear rest energy was determined by subtracting the 2 rest energy of all atomic orbital electrons (Zmec ) from the atomic rest energy M(u)c2 as follows 2 2 2 Mc = M(u)c − Zmec = M(u) × 931.494 060 MeV/u − Z × 0.510 999 MeV.