In the Shadow of the Bomb: Oppenheimer, Bethe, and the Moral Responsibility of the Scientist (Princeton Series in Physics, 39)

275 Pages·2007·11.626 MB·English

by  Silvan S. Schweber

IN THE SHADOW OF THE BOMB
PRINCETONSERIESINPHYSICS
EditedbyPaulJ.Steinhardt,CurtisG.Callan,andPaulM.Chaikin(published
since1976)
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bySilvanS.Schweber
TheInterpretationofQuantumMechanicsbyRolandOmne`s
GravitationandInertiabyIgnazioCiufoliniandJohnArchibaldWheeler
TheDawningofGaugeTheorybyLochlainnO’Raifeartaigh
TheTheoryofSuperconductivityintheHigh-T CupratesbyP.W.Anderson
C
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byDirkterHaar
CriticalProblemsinPhysicseditedbyValL.Fitch,DanielR.Marlow,
andMargitA.E.Dementi
IntheShadowoftheBomb:Oppenheimer,Bethe,andtheMoral
ResponsibilityoftheScientistbyS.S.Schweber
MoreIsDifferent:FiftyYearsofCondensedMatterPhysicseditedby
N.PhuanOngandRavinN.Bhatt
IN THE SHADOW OF THE BOMB:
Oppenheimer, Bethe,
and the Moral Responsibility
of the Scientist
S. S. Schweber
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON AND OXFORD
Copyright©2000byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,
Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,3MarketPlace,
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AllRightsReserved
Thirdprinting,andfirstpaperbackprinting,2007
PaperbackISBN-13:978-0-691-12785-9
PaperbackISBN-10:0-691-12785-9
TheLibraryofCongresshascatalogedtheclotheditionofthisbookasfollows
Schweber,S.S.(SilvanS.)
IntheShadowoftheBomb:Oppenheimer,Bethe,
andthemoralresponsibilityofthescientist/
S.S.Schweber
p.cm.–(Princetonseriesinphysics)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-691-04989-0(cloth:alk.paper)
1.Oppenheimer,J.Robert,1904–1967.2.Bethe,HansAlbrecht,1906–
3.Atomicbomb–Moralandethicalaspects–UnitedStates.
4.Nuclearphysics–UnitedStates–Biography.I.Title.II.Series.
QC774.O56S322000
172'.422–dc21 99–052225
BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailable
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinUtopiaandBluejackdisplay
Printedonacid-freepaper.∞
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PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
For Paul Forman and Anne Harrington,
special friends,
Everett Mendelsohn,
a special colleague,
and Miriam

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xvii
INTRODUCTION 3
1. WHATISENLIGHTENMENT? 28
2. J.ROBERTOPPENHEIMER 42
OppenheimerandtheEthicalCultureMovement 42
TheAgendaoftheEthicalCultureSociety 46
TheTeachingofEthicsattheSchool 50
TheMaturationofOppenheimer 53
BecomingaPhysicist:OppenheimerandHisSchool 61
3. HANSBETHE 76
BecomingaBildungstra¨ger 76
BecomingaPhysicist:ArnoldSommerfeld 87
WholenessandStability 91
LosAlamos 104
BetheandOppenheimer:TheirEntanglement 107
4. THECHALLENGEOFMcCARTHYISM 115
TheBernardPetersCase 115
ThePhilipMorrisonCase 130
SomeConcludingComments 146
5. NUCLEARWEAPONS 149
AtomicBombs 149
HydrogenBombs 156
PSACandtheNuclearTestBanTreaty 168
6. ONSCIENCEANDSOCIETY 178
EPILOGUE 183
NotestotheChapters 187
Bibliography 239
Index 257

Preface
I used to be a theoretical physicist. I did my graduate studies at
PrincetonUniversityfrom1949to1952.DuringmystayinPrinceton,
theoreticalphysicswasdominatedbyEugeneWigner,theJonesPro-
fessorofMathematicalPhysicsattheuniversity,andRobertOppen-
heimer,whorecentlyhadbecomethedirectoroftheInstituteforAd-
vancedStudy.OnFridays,thedepartmentalcolloquiumwouldbring
Oppenheimer,whenhewasintown,totheuniversity,andthecom-
ments by Wigner and Oppenheimer would expose their contrasting
views of the world. Every Wednesday afternoon all the theory stu-
dentswouldtrekouttotheInstitutetoattendthetheoreticalphysics
seminar thereand listen toOppenheimer’s oftenacerbic comments
onthepresentation.
Princeton was an enormously stimulating place. I still vividly re-
member Einstein giving a series of lectures on unified field theory;
Bohr and Einstein presenting their differing views on quantum me-
chanicsininaudibleandincomprehensiblemutterings;Paulitalking
onspinandstatistics;vonNeumanncommentingonDavidBohm’s
formulationofthequantumtheoryofmeasurementandhiswalking
outofalecturebyJulianSchwinger.TheatmosphereinFineHall,the
home of the mathematics department, was equally heady. In addi-
tion, there was a rich cultural life. I recall Hermann Weyl delivering
hislecturesonsymmetry;EugeneWignergivingatalkattheGraduate
Schoolonthelimitsofscience;BertrandRussellgivingalecturetoa
packedauditorium,andDylanThomasarrivinglateanddrunktogive
passionate,movingreadingsofhispoetry.
ButtheyearsIspentatPrincetonwerealsotensetimes.TheCold
Warhadintensified,andwhenIarrivedthereinSeptember1949the
USSR had just detonated its first plutonium bomb. That fall, an in-
tensedebatetookplaceonwhethertodevelopanH-bomb.Icaught
my first glimpse of Hans Bethe when he was leaving Wigner’s office
sometime inOctober 1949.He wasin Princetonto discusswith Op-
penheimer the feasibility of a fusion bomb. The following spring,
David Bohm, a brilliant young theoretical physicist who had been a
staffmemberattheRadiationLaboratoryatBerkeleyduringthewar
and then became an assistant professor in Princeton’s Department
ofPhysics,wascitedincontemptofCongress;hehadtakentheFifth
Amendmentwhenrefusingtoanswercertainquestionsposedtohim
bytheHouseUn-AmericanActivitiesCommittee.In1950hewasin-
ix