Category Archives: Los Alamos Primer

One Year Ago — Nukes & Secrecy : The Bethe – Feynman Equation

Posted on October 29, 2018 by L

“Height five feet eleven inches, 190 pounds, eyes, blue, black wavy hair, very heavy and receding at forehead, has slight accent and is very precise in speech. Subject arrived at Idlewild airport, NYC, at 12:15 PM, EDST, on flight 935 … Continue reading →

Posted in Los Alamos Primer | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Los Alamos Primer — The Bethe – Feynman Equation [Nukes & Secrecy]

Posted on October 29, 2017 by L

“I returned to civilization shortly after that and went to Cornell to teach, and my first impression was a very strange one. (…) I sat in a restaurant in New York, for example, and I looked out at the buildings and … Continue reading →

Posted in Los Alamos Primer | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Los Alamos Primer — Section III

Posted on October 22, 2017 by L

“In a great number of cases, I have seen Dr. Oppenheimer act — I understand that Dr. Oppenheimer acted — in a way which was for me was exceedingly hard to understand. I thoroughly disagreed with him in numerous issues … Continue reading →

Posted in Los Alamos Primer | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Los Alamos Primer — Section II

Posted on October 15, 2017 by L

“We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that … Continue reading →

Posted in Los Alamos Primer | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Los Alamos Primer — Section I

Posted on October 8, 2017 by L

“On Edward Teller’s blackboard at Los Alamos,  I once saw a list of weapons— ideas for weapons — with their abilities and properties displayed. For the last one on the list, the largest, the method of delivery was listed as “Backyard”. … Continue reading →

Posted in Los Alamos Primer | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Los Alamos Primer — An Introduction

Posted on October 1, 2017 by L

“The [Los Alamos] Primer is an extraordinary document. Perusing it gives one a sense of being there at the start of the Los Alamos project. In its 24 pages, Serber both adroitly summarized the state of existing knowledge and laid … Continue reading →

Posted in Los Alamos Primer | Tagged , , | Leave a comment