Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (139 page)

445
. ‘shorten the war’: Rhodes (1988), 701

445
.
Enola Gay
set off from Tinian: the account of the Hiroshima
raid that follows is based on those given in Christman (1998), Gordin (2007), Rhodes (1988) and Serber (1998).

445
. ‘Fellows’: Rhodes (1988), 710

445
. ‘We turned back’: ibid.

445
. ‘a pot’: ibid., 711

445
. ‘I was trying’: ibid.

446
. ‘I just could not understand’: ibid., 717

446
. a long article: see Hersey (1989)

446
. ‘in the conviction’:
New Yorker
, 31 August 1946, quoted DeGroot (2005), 109

447
. ‘He drove the boat’: Hersey (1989), 45

447
. ‘Many of them’: Rhodes (1988), 718

447
. ‘a woman with her jaw missing’: ibid., 721

447
. ‘people with their bowels and brains coming out’: ibid.

447
. ‘dead child’: DeGroot (2005), 88

447
. ‘that Hiroshima had disappeared’: Rhodes (1988), 728

447
. the official estimate: ibid.

447
. the best estimate: see
http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml
, from which my figures were taken

448
. ‘Deak to Farrell’: Christman (1998), 193

448
. to find a cable: Groves (1962), 319

448
. he went out to play tennis: ibid., 320

448
. ‘The hours went by’: ibid., 321

448
. ‘I went to sleep’: ibid., 322–3

448
. It arrived in triumph: see Christman (1998), 194

448
. ‘additional information’: Groves (1962), 323

448
. ‘felt this strike’: ibid.

449
. ‘I was eating lunch’: Truman (1955), 421

449
. ‘Sixteen hours ago’: Donovan (1996), 97

450
. ‘the achievement’: ibid., 98

450
. ‘the Japanese’: Cohen (1983), 22

451
. ‘Hahn was completely shattered’: Bernstein (2001), 115

451
. ‘I don’t believe a word’: ibid., 116

451
. ‘ten tons’: ibid., 117

451
. ‘Here is the news’: ibid., 357

451
. ‘By God’s mercy’: ibid., 361

451
. ‘We were unable’: ibid., 121

452
. ‘I am thankful’: ibid., 122

452
. ‘I was asked’: ibid., 124

452
. ‘You are probably’: Chevalier (1965), ix

452
. ‘had often discussed’: Groves (1962), 342

452
. ‘With the success’: Rhodes (1988), 738

453
. On 8 August: ibid., 736

453
. ‘after about 3 August’: see page 443

454
. ‘Young man’: Groves (1962), 344

454
. arrived at Kokura: Rhodes (1988), 740

454
. The best estimate: see
http://www.atomicarchive.com/Docs/MED/med_chp10.shtml

454
. about 70,000: Rhodes (1988), 740

454
. ordered him off the plane: Serber (1998), 113

454
. ‘The only picture’: ibid., 114

454
. ‘You have known’: ibid., 112

455
. ‘our entire organization’: Groves (1962), 353

455
. reported to General Marshall: Rhodes (1988), 743

455
. ‘for by that time’: Groves (1962), 346

455
. ‘any demand’: Rhodes (1988), 742

455
. ‘the most cruel’: Stoff et al. (1991), 244

455
. ‘massacring’: ibid.

455
. ‘said the thought’: ibid., 245

455
. ‘From the moment’: ibid., 247

456
. ‘I cannot endure’: Rhodes (1988), 744

456
. ‘the enemy’: ibid., 745

456
. ‘Seldom, if ever’: quoted Hunner (2004), 77

456
. ‘Let me tell you’: Serber (1998), 115

456
. ‘Hey, Oppie’: Michelmore (1969), 113

456
. ‘There’s surprisingly little excitement’: Serber (1998), 114

456
. ‘A whole damn bunch’: Goodchild (1980), 169

457
. ‘Few of us’: Frisch (1980), 177

457
. ‘nervous wreck’: Herken (2002), 139

457
. when Lawrence came to Los Alamos: ibid., 140

457
. ‘There is every reason’: Hunner (2004), 82

457
. ‘revulsion’: Smith (1965), 77

457
. ‘The reasons’: Conant (2005), 330

458
. ‘He smoked constantly’: ibid., 333

458
. ‘We believe’: JRO to Stimson, 17.8.1945, Stoff et al. (1991), 255, S & W, 294

458
. ‘had an opportunity’: JRO to EOL, 30.8.1945, S & W, 301

458
. ‘felt reluctant’: ibid.

459
. ‘Could all this be printed out’: Smyth (1989), ix

459
. ‘Rather’: ibid.

459
. ‘I had the fairly clear impression’: JRO to EOL, 30.8.1945, S & W, 301

459
. ‘Secretary Byrnes’: Stoff et al. (1991), 256

460
. ‘I can understand now’: Chevalier (1965), x

460
. ‘The thing had to be done’: B & S, 319

460
. ‘You will believe’: JRO to HWS, 26.8.1945, S & W, 297

460
. ‘in an earnest’: JRO to Bernheim, 27.8.1945, S & W, 297–8

460
. ‘You will understand’: JRO to Deutsch, 24.8.1945, S & W, 295

461
. a long letter to Charles Lauritsen: JRO to Lauritsen,
c
. 27.8.1945, S & W, 298–300

461
. ‘a real instrument’: JRO to Marcelle Bier, 31.8.1945, S & W, 303

461
. ‘tickling the dragon’s tail’: see Hoddeson et al. (1993), 346–8, and Malenfant (2005)

461
. suffered an accident: see Hunner (2004), 84–5

462
. ‘I think it’s good propaganda’: Stoff et al. (1991), 258

462
. ‘I’ll be delayed’: Serber (1998), 114

462
. ‘The most striking impression’: ibid., 123

462
. ‘callousness’: ibid., 125

462
. ‘The ruins’: ibid., 135

462
. a press conference: see Norris (2002), 439–40

463
. ‘No one’: Hunner (2004), 114–5

463
. origins of this organisation: I am dependent here on the information provided in Piccard (1965). It is more usual to say that ALAS was formed on 30 August 1945, but, using contemporary sources and ALAS’s own archive of documents, Piccard gives a fuller and more detailed account that traces the origins back to the spring of 1945.

463
. ‘the international control’: from an anonymous note in the ALAS files, dated 24 October 1945, quoted Piccard (1965), 252

464
. a document: reproduced in full ibid., Appendix A

464
. ‘In the event’: ibid., 259

464
. ‘The development of the atomic bomb’: ibid.

464
. ‘You will probably recognize’: S & W, 304

464
. ‘Mr Harrison points out’: Piccard (1965), 260

465
. ‘If this bill passes’: Lanouette (1994), 286

466
. ‘felt that he had’: Rhodes (1996), 241

466
. ‘I must confess’: Smith (1965), 140

466
. ‘frightening’: Lanouette (1994), 287

466
. ‘Mention to a Senator’s secretary’: ibid., 288

467
. ‘It was a declaration’: Wilson (1996), 353

467
. ‘not necessarily’: ibid.

467
. ‘The scientific background’: Piccard (1965), 261

467
. ‘one of the best speeches’: Conant (2005), 346

467
. ‘It is our hope’: S & W, 310

468
. ‘The peoples of this world’: ibid., 311

471
. ‘He’d better be careful’: Conant (2005), 351

471
. ‘The woods’: ibid.

471
. ‘There were always people’: ibid., 352

471
. ‘somewhat academic’:
Hearings on Science Legislation (S. 1297 and related bills): Hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on military affairs
, United States Senate, Seventy-Ninth Congress, first session, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office (1945), 300

471
. ‘a plea’: ibid., 301

472
. ‘If the so-called secret’: ibid., 322

472
. ‘no technical difficulty’: ibid., 325

472
. ‘The two’: ibid., 321

472
. ‘The Johnson bill’: ibid., 308

472
. ‘oblique attack’: quoted Smith (1965), 154

472
. ‘the coolest reception’: Thorpe (2006), 176

472
. ‘Oppie’s suggestions’: ibid.

472
. a dinner: see Lanouette (1994), 290

473
. ‘I never saw a man’: Wallace (1973), 496–7

473
. May opened proceedings at 10 a.m.: see Lanouette (1994), 290–3

473
. ‘patient consideration’: ibid., 291

474
. a ‘masterpiece’: ibid., 292

474
. ‘He talked’: ibid., 293

474
. ‘The bill’:
Hearings on Science Legislation
, 127, quoted Thorpe (2006), 172

474
. ‘To the congressmen’: Lanouette (1994), 293

474
. ‘I think it is a matter’: quoted Thorpe (2006), 173

474
. ‘an enormous technological development’:
Hearings on Science Legislation
, 300, quoted Thorpe (2006), 174

474
. ‘a plea for leaving’: ibid., 301, quoted Thorpe (2006), 174

475
. ‘I don’t want to see’: B & S, 332

475
. ‘The first thing’: ibid., 331

475
. ‘Perhaps’: ibid.

475
. ‘never’: ibid.

476
. ‘sacred trust’: see Piccard (1965), 257

476
. ‘I saw him’: Pharr Davis (1969), 260

476
. ‘Mr President’: B & S, 332

476
. ‘I told him’: ibid.

476
. ‘cry-baby scientist’: ibid.

476
. ‘Don’t worry’: ibid.

476
. ‘Years later’: S & W, 315

477
. ‘But when you’: ibid., 317

477
. ‘the almost unanimous resistance’: ibid.

477
. ‘the views suggested’: ibid., 324

477
. ‘insistent tone’: ibid.

477
. ‘say that no bombs be made’: ibid., 322

478
. ‘If some of you’: ibid., 315

478
. ‘I would like’: JRO to JBC, 29.9.1945, S & W, 308

478
. he wrote to William Houston: S & W, 308

478
. ‘I did actually’: ITMO, 35

478
. ‘I was sort of reluctant’: ibid.

479
. seized and destroyed five cyclotrons: see Groves (1962), Chapter 27, 367–72

479
. ‘Oppenheimer and I’: Bernstein (2004), 100

479
. ‘walked back and forth’: Lilienthal (1964), 13

480
. ‘an extraordinary personage’: ibid., 14

480
. ‘worth living a lifetime’: B & S, 340

480
. ‘All the participants’: Acheson (1969), 153, quoted B & S, 340

480
. ‘knew more’: Groves (1962), 411

480
. ‘had little or no knowledge’: ibid.

480
. ‘Everybody genuflected’: Goodchild (1980), 178

480
. ‘The way it worked’: ITMO, 37

480
. On 2 February: see ibid.

481
. ‘we did not feel’: Groves (1962), 412

481
. ‘It would nevertheless’: for Churchill’s Fulton speech in full, see
http://www.historyguide.org/europe/churchill.html

482
. ‘That was the day’: Pharr Davis (1969), 259

482
. ‘a workable plan’: Acheson (1969), 154

482
. ‘interpreter of military policy’: Herken (2002), 166

482
. ‘for the purpose’: JEH to Clark, 26.4.1946, JRO FBI file

483
. ‘Are you there, dear?’: FBI San Francisco office to JEH, 14.5.1946, JRO FBI file

483
. ‘At this point’: ibid.

483
. first met early in April: see Meyrowitz (1990), 263

483
. ‘Mark my words’: Pharr Davis (1969), 261

483
. In another: ‘Atomic Explosives’, Oppenheimer (1955), 3–17

484
. ‘world government’: ibid., 13

484
. ‘renunciation’: ibid.

484
. ‘has from day to day’: ‘Justification for continuation of technical or microphone surveillance’, FBI San Francisco Office, 12.7.1946, JRO FBI file

484
. ‘the United States’ top military secret’: Bern to Patterson, 3.6.1946, JRO FBI file

484
. ‘would place us’: Gregory C. Bern to Robert P. Patterson, Secretary of War, 3.6.1946, JRO FBI file

484
. ‘that the United States’: Miller (1976), 244–5

485
. On that advice: see Norris (2002), 483

485
. ‘Mr Baruch told me’: ITMO, 40

485
. At the meeting: B & S, 344–6

485
. ‘Baruch Plan’: see Dupuy and Hammerman (1973), 302

485
. their own proposal: ibid., 308, see also Gromyko (1947)

486
. ‘the Oppenheimers’: H.B. Fletcher, FBI San Francisco Office to JEH, 11.6.1946, JRO FBI file

486
. a phone conversation: H.B. Fletcher, FBI San Francisco Office to JEH, 13.6.1946, JRO FBI file

486
. an unsuccessful attempt: H.B. Fletcher, FBI San Francisco Office to JEH, 18.6.1946, JRO FBI file

486
. on 26 June: Chevalier (1965), 61, says ‘early June’, but Chevalier’s FBI file shows 26 June as the correct date – see Herken (2002), 161

486
. ‘in monosyllables’: Chevalier (1965), 63

486
. ‘I have here’: ibid., 64

486
. ‘dropped by my house’: B & S, 357

487
. ‘I approached no one’: ibid.

487
. ‘I cannot tell you why’: B & S, 356