Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (148 page)

and the British 390, 391, 397

Hungarian scientists 412

international knowledge of 443, 451–2, 458–9

and AEC/GAC 493, 499, 555–6

see also
Los Alamos; ‘Trinity Project’

Manley, John 326–7, 329–30, 331, 339, 340, 351, 353, 449–50, 463, 547, 549, 550, 553

Mann, Wilfrid: Lawrence to 267–8

Marks, Herbert 480, 524, 602, 603, 605, 608, 609, 610, 614, 628

Marshak, Robert 501, 504, 509, 542, 634

Marshall, Colonel James C. 323, 326

Marshall, General George 430, 443, 455, 474, 505–6, 547

‘Marshall Plan’ 505

Martin, Ian 163

Marx, Karl 233

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 126, 130, 133
n
, 353, 505, 510, 585, 591

Lincoln Laboratory/Project Lincoln 579–80

Lincoln summer school 579, 581, 591

MAUD Committee 293–6, 299, 300, 301, 304, 315

Maxwell, James Clerk 85, 154, 156–7

A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism
73

May, Andrew 465, 473

May, Kenneth 240

May–Johnson Bill 465–7, 471, 472, 473–5, 477, 492, 505

Mayer, Maria: Teller to 551

Mehra, Jagdish 521

Meitner, Lise 252, 253, 254, 255, 293, 318

Mendell, Clarence 55

Mendelssohn, Moses 5

Menzel, Donald 492

Merritt, Benjamin 508

Merton, Robert 652

mesons x, xii, 226–7, 288, 289, 491, 502–4, 509, 516, 528, 541, 634, 638–40, 666

‘mesotrons’ 226–7, 288–9

‘Met Lab’
see
Chicago University

Meyer, Agnes 656

Meyer, Eugene 656

Michelmore, Peter:
The Swift Years
224

Michigan, University of 132, 141, 255

Mickelson, Sig 643

‘Mike’ test 569, 570, 582, 584–7, 594

Miller, Merle 484–5

Millikan, Robert A.:

heads Caltech 145, 146

and rumours regarding RO 175–6

and ‘cosmic rays’ 180–81, 245

attacks RO and Carlson for discrediting his views 182–3

and Anderson’s cosmic-ray research 191, 192, 193, 227

and Einstein 197

and Bohr 206

80th birthday 516

Milnor, John 655

Milton, John 92

Minnesota, University of 536–7

Mirsky, Prince 90

MIT
see
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mitchell, William 607

Molotov, Vyacheslav 453

Montgomery, Deane 654

Morgan, Thomas 608, 619, 620

Morgans, the 9

Morgenthau, Henry 15, 280

Morrell, Lady Ottoline 62, 90

Morrill, James 537

Morrison, Emily 425

Morrison, Philip 259, 260, 264, 425, 428, 444, 454, 459, 462, 463, 506, 573, 658

Morse, Philip 144

Mott, Nevill 391, 491

Mott-Smith, L. M. 161

Mount Kisco conferences 655–7, 667

Mount Wilson Observatory 245, 247

Muir, Robert 240

Murphree, Eger V. 307

Murphy, Charles: ‘The Hidden Struggle for the H-bomb’ 590–91

Murphy, G. N. 183

Murray, Lieutenant James S. 381

Murray, Thomas E. 571, 574, 623

Murrow, Edward 456, 633, 634

Muzzey, David 32

Nabokov, Nicolas 646, 656

Nafe, John 504, 510

Nagasaki, bombing of 319–20, 443, 453–5, 457–8

aftermath 462, 557

Nation
: Chevalier’s letter to RO 629

National Academy of Sciences 505, 513, 575

RO to 529–30

Proceedings
143, 144

National Defense Research Council (NDRC) 293, 294, 295

National Research Council, US (NRC) 128, 132–3, 141, 145, 146, 148, 150, 151, 204, 211, 223, 284, 285, 286

Nature
116, 184, 187, 189, 190, 254, 255, 504

Nazi Party 116
n
, 123, 124, 198, 221, 230, 231

atomic weapons 380–81, 393–4, 395–7

NDRC
see
National Defense Research Council

Neddermeyer, Seth:

collaborates with Anderson on cosmic rays 205, 225, 227, 228

develops implosion concept 352–3

on Los Alamos board 354

heads Implosion Experimentation Group 355, 411–12, 413, 414, 419

sidelined by RO 415

Nedelsky, Leo 175, 199, 204, 208, 223

Nedelsky, Wenonah 223

Nehru, Jawaharlal 563

Nelson, Edward 504, 510

Nelson, Eldred 289, 290, 312, 316, 319, 320

Nelson, Margaret 343

Nelson, Steve (
né
Stefan Mesarosh) 279–80

with Dallet in Spain 277–8

and Kitty Oppenheimer 278, 279, 280

rises in CP ranks 279, 280

meets RO 280

and Folkoff 302

under FBI surveillance 334–5, 336, 343–5

last meeting with RO 336

and Lehmann 334–5, 336, 364

and Weinberg 343, 344, 345, 357, 358, 366, 374–5, 494, 533, 536

neutrinos 178
n
, 180, 186, 228

neutron stars 245, 246, 247, 248–9, 250, 283

neutrons 94
n
, 99, 183, 184–5, 186, 189, 193, 213, 226, 228, 261, 646

Pauli’s 177, 178, 180, 181, 183, 186

Nevada
, USS 489

New Deal 219, 242, 243, 271

Newman, James 473

New Mexico 45, 46
ff
., 84–5

Newton, Isaac 113, 115, 193

New York:

Jews 4–8, 9–16, 31

Harmonie Club 11

Union League Club 11, 17

West 94th St 22, 24

Riverside Drive 29, 479

New York Herald
12

New York Herald Tribune
488, 503, 663

New York Mineralogical Club 31

New York Times
32, 54, 182, 191, 196, 216, 422, 440, 449, 467, 495, 525, 554, 625, 634, 641, 667

Magazine
663

New Yorker
446

Nichols, Lt Colonel Kenneth D. 322–3, 326, 382, 436, 561, 602, 603–4, 606, 607, 608, 609, 620, 621–3, 626

Nichols, L. B. 591–2

Nixon, Richard 534, 601, 649

NKVD 308, 345, 391, 423

Nobel Prize winners 56, 78, 85, 94, 95, 100, 102, 103, 105, 116, 126, 128, 139, 145, 147, 158, 167, 169, 196, 209, 212, 248, 267, 317, 403, 501, 526, 530, 566, 640, 641, 651, 659

Nordau, Max 10–11

Nordheim, Gertrude 229

Nordheim, Lothar 229

Norstad, General Lauris 548, 565

Norton, Garrison 577

NRC
see
National Research Council, US

Oak Ridge, Tennessee 323, 326, 328
n
, 331–2, 341, 343, 349, 353, 358, 372, 387, 406, 408, 410, 414, 423, 537

Observer
599

Occhialini, Giuseppe (Beppo) 194–5, 220

Ofstie, Admiral Ralph 563

O’Keefe, Bernard 452, 453

Oldstone conference (1949) 529–30

Oliphant, Mark 293, 295–6, 299, 300, 301, 308

Olson, Loren K. 645

Oppenheimer, Babette (
née
Rothfeld) 9

Oppenheimer, Benjamin (grandfather) 9, 26, 31

Oppenheimer, Ella (
née
Friedman; mother) 18–19

has deformed hand 19

wedding 19–20

builds art collection 22

and RO 24, 25–6, 39, 44, 51, 142

and death of second son 25

attends Ethical Culture Society meetings 26–7

and move to Riverside Drive 29

as a Jew 72, 73

in Europe
en famille
44

in New Mexico 84–5

visits RO in Cambridge 93, 94

takes him to France 98

insists he see psychiatrist 98

in New Mexico 163

visits RO at Pasadena 173

illness and death 179–80, 191

Oppenheimer, Emil (uncle) 9, 18

Oppenheimer, Francis (Frank; brother):

birth 25, 29

and RO 25, 29, 39, 151

on family trips 44, 84–5

sails with RO 140

at Riverside Drive 141

crashes car 150–51

at Perro Caliente 163, 179, 222

advised about women by RO 170

RO buys him a car 179

at Johns Hopkins 179, 220, 221

at American Physical Society meeting 182

at Cambridge 198, 209

at Caltech 219, 223

political interests 219–21

and Melba Phillips 222

marriage 223–4

joins CP 235–6

organises communist group at Caltech 236

at Perro Caliente with RO and family 276, 278

works with Bloch 281

CP membership ruins career 281

taken on by Lawrence to build cyclotron 312

his name given to Groves by RO 378, 382, 383–4

under surveillance 388–9

at Los Alamos 425

and first atomic explosion 440

FBI dossier on 499

at Caltech conference on cosmic rays (1948) 516

and Weinberg 533

RO refuses to answer questions about 533

appalled by RO’s disloyalty to Peters 535

summoned before HUAC 536

dismissed by Minnesota University 536–7

rejected by Lawrence 537

becomes a rancher 537

RO’s letters to 29–30, 147, 149, 154, 163–4, 170, 173–4, 179–80, 194, 196–7, 198, 199, 200–1, 203–4, 207, 209, 210–11, 218, 219, 519, 524, 532

Oppenheimer, Hedwig (aunt) 9

Oppenheimer, Jackie (
née
Quann; sister-in-law) 223–4, 234, 235, 236, 276, 278–9, 281, 425, 426, 536, 537

Oppenheimer, Judith (niece) 276

Oppenheimer, Julius (father) 8, 67

early life 9, 16–17, 18

marriage 18, 19–20

career 20

and Ethical Society 20, 21, 22, 26–7, 33, 34

builds up art collection 22

relations with RO 24, 25, 26, 34–5, 37, 70

buys yacht 31

buys sloop for RO 31, 39

arranges special tuition for him 38

in Germany and New Mexico
en famille
44, 84–5

as a Jew 72, 73

visits RO at Cambridge 93, 94

arranges psychiatric treatment for him 97

takes him to France 98

persuaded to lease Perro Caliente 149–50

visits RO at Pasadena 173

buys him a car 173

and wife’s death 180, 182

lives with RO 197, 198

death 231

Oppenheimer, Katherine (‘Kitty’; wife) (
née
Puening,
formerly
Harrison) 276–8

meets RO 276, 278

disliked by Jackie Oppenheimer 278–9, 425

becomes pregnant 279

divorce and marriage to RO 279

and CP 279, 280

and Peter’s birth 281

and the Chevaliers 281–2

influences RO 336

Lansdale’s opinion of 361–2

disliked and unhappy at Los Alamos 338, 339, 425

takes to drink 425, 642

and daughter’s birth 426

treatment of children 339, 426, 643–4

with RO at Perro Caliente 460

at Berkeley 478

under FBI surveillance 482–3, 486

sworn at by RO 494

moves into Olden Manor, Princeton 506

with RO in Copenhagen and Paris 601

and RO’s resignation 602, 603

continues under surveillance 619–20

with RO in Tokyo 648

and family holidays in Virgin Islands 650, 666

at RO’s Fermi Award reception 657

and RO’s illness and death 666, 668

Oppenheimer, Katherine (‘Toni’; daughter) 426, 478, 506, 643, 644, 650, 668

Oppenheimer, Lewis Frank 25

Oppenheimer, Peter (son) 279, 281, 339, 426, 478, 506, 643–4, 650, 668

Oppenheimer, Robert

1904–29

German-Jewish background 3–4, 28

parents
see
Oppenheimer, Ella
and
Julius

birth 4, 24

childhood 13, 23, 24–7

schooling 27–9, 32–3, 34, 37–8, 44

friendships 30, 35, 37,
see also
Fergusson, Francis

interest in mineralogy 30–31, 44

and Smith as father figure 34–5, 43–4, 47

bullied 35, 37

interest in science 38–9

sailing adventures 39–40

illness 44, 47

in New Mexico 45, 46, 50–51

friendship with Horgan 46–8, 59–60, 72–3

interest in girls 49, 50, 51

at Harvard 52, 54, 61

and anti-Semitism 55–7

friendships 56–9, 60–61, 72, 78–9, 80–81

and Liberal Club 58

literary efforts 64–7

and Katherine Page 70, 71

takes holiday job in laboratory 71–2

passionately interested in physics 73–7

second-year courses 77

intense study 79–80, 81

final year and degree 81–2, 83

opts for Cambridge 83

in New Mexico 84–5

rejected by Rutherford as research student 85, 87–9

on walking holiday 84, 89, 90

friendlessness and misery at Cambridge 91–4

tutored by Blackett (
q.v.
) 94, 95, 96, 97

mental instability 96, 97–9, 100

tries to poison Blackett 97

as research student under Thomson 99–100

interest grows in theoretical physics 100

introduced to Cambridge clubs 100–1, 102

meets Dirac 101, and Ralph Fowler (
qq.v.
) 102

and Schrödinger’s (
q.v.
) theory 107

in Corsica 107, 108–10, 111, 112

reads Proust 110

keen to return to Cambridge 111–12

first publication 112

meets Ehrenfest (
q.v.
) 113

writes second paper on quantum mechanics 113, 114, 121–2

introduced to Bohr (
q.v.
) 113–14

impresses Born (
q.v.
) 114, 116

translates paper for him 116

at Göttingen 116–17, 121, 122–4

friendship with Charlotte Riefenstahl 124, 141–2

meets Arthur and Karl Compton (
qq.v.
) 125–6

disrupts Born’s lectures 127–8

reputation grows 128–9

PhD thesis published 129

researches quantum mechanics 131, 132

and Uhlenbeck (
q.v.
) 131, 132

offered NRC fellowship 132–3

collaborates on paper with Born 133–5

leaves Göttingen with doctorate 135–6

returns to US 137

homesickness 140, 163

holidays with brother 140 (
see
Oppenheimer, Frank)