#james cleugh

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Perhaps Oppenheimer's mental distress and failure to meet the situation are nowhere so apparent as in the following passages from his dialogues with Robb:

Robb: Did you oppose the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima because of moral scruples?

Oppenheimer: We set forth our—

Robb: I am asking you about 'I', not 'we'.

Oppenheimer: I set forth my anxieties and the arguments on the other side.

Robb: You mean you argued against dropping the bomb?

Oppenheimer: I set forth arguments against dropping it.

Robb: Dropping the atom bomb?

Oppenheimer: Yes, but I did not endorse them.

Robb: You mean, having worked as you put it, in your answer, rather excellently, by night and day for three or four years to develop the atom bomb, you then argued it should not be used?

Oppenheimer: No. I didn't argue that it should not be used. I was asked to say by the Secretary of War what the views of scientists were. I gave the views against and the views for.

Robb: But you supported the dropping of the bomb on Japan, didn't you?

Oppenheimer: What do you mean, support?

Robb: You helped pick the target, didn't you?

Oppenheimer: I did my job, which was the job I was supposed to do. I was not in a policy-making position at Los Alamos. I would have done anything that I was asked to do, including making the bombs a different shape, if I had thought it was technically feasible.

Robb: You would have made the thermonuclear weapon, too, wouldn't you?

Oppenheimer: I couldn't.

Robb: I didn't ask you that, Doctor.

Oppenheimer: I would have worked on it.

Robb: If you had discovered the thermonuclear weapon at Los Alamos, you would have done so. If you could have discovered it you would have done so, wouldn't you?

Oppenheimer: Oh, yes.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists" - Robert Jungk, translated by James Cleugh

[tenth-sentence]

The questions of conscience with which almost every nuclear physicist had confronted himself since the end of the war have found no acknowledged and binding answers even until today.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists" - Robert Jungk, translated by James Cleugh

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Teller often used to translate into German verses by the Hungarian poet Ady, a great favourite of his. One of these translations, which were never published, seems full of the presentiment of an existence which Teller and other research workers in atomic physics were fated to lead.

The Lord takes all whom he strikes and loves,

he bears them far from Earth . . .

their hearts aflame, their brains made ice,

Earth sends her laughter up to them

and, compassionate, the sun strews diamond dust

upon their lonely way.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists" - Robert Jungk, translated by James Cleugh

[tenth-sentence]

It is not clear whether he regards Teller as a good or a bad angel.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists" - Robert Jungk, translated by James Cleugh

[tenth-sentence]

The visitor found, to his astonishment, that Strauss was not alone.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists" - Robert Jungk, translated by James Cleugh

[tenth-sentence]

Unlike most other nuclear physicists, who had returned to their specialized pursuits after the failure of their attempts to help to mould the ideas of their countrymen, Oppenheimer continued his efforts in that direction.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists" - Robert Jungk, translated by James Cleugh

[whats-in-a-sentence]

He relates what happened then:

After my eyes became accustomed to the darkness I noticed that the spot seemed quite unsteady. Clearly this was more that what could be due to the continuous trembling of the earth, to the 'microseisms' that are caused by the pounding of the ocean waves on the shores of the Continent. It was due to the movements of my own eyes which in the darkness were not steadied by the surrounding picture of solid objects. Soon the luminous point gave me the feeling of being aboard a gently and irregularly moving vessel, so I braced a pencil on a piece of the apparatus and held it close to the luminous point. Now the point seemed steady and I felt as if I had come back to solid ground again. This was about the time of the actual shot. Nothing happened or could have happened. About a quarter of an hour was required for the shock to travel, deep under the Pacific basin, to the Californian coast. I waited with little patience, the seismograph making at each minute a clearly visible vibration which served as a time signal. At last the time signal came that had to be followed by the shock from the explosion and there it seemed to be: the luminous point appeared to dance wildly and irregularly. Was it only that the pencil which I held as a marker trembled in my hand? I waited for many more minutes to be sure that the record did not miss any of the shocks that might follow the first. Then finally the film was taken off and developed. By that time I had almost convinced myself that I must have been mistaken and that what I saw was the motion of my own hand rather than the signal from the first hydrogen bomb. Then the trace appeared on the photographic plate. It was clear and big and unmistakable. It had been made by the wave of compression that had traveled for thousands of miles and brought the positive assurance that Mike was a success.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists" - Robert Jungk, translated by James Cleugh

[whats-in-a-sentence]

Toward the end of August 1949 a United States Air Force 'flying laboratory', installed in a B-29 to assemble data for the protection of bomber crews, made a disturbing discovery.

"Brighter than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists" - Robert Jungk, translated by James Cleugh