Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard

"If I had known that the Germans would not succeed in constructing the atom bomb, I would never have lifted a finger." - Albert Einstein [1]

Albert Einstein [2]

Brief Bio…

Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany in 1879. In 1905, he received his Ph.D. in physics, although by that time he had already achieved world fame for his publications on Brownian movement of molecules, his photoelectric theory, and his special theory of relativity, which related energy and matter in the famous equation, E = mc². Einstein received the Noble Prize in 1921 for his ideas on photons and the photoelectric effect. In 1933, he immigrated to the United States after Hitler came to power, and in 1939 he and Leo Szilard wrote the now famous “Einstein Letter” to President F.D. Roosevelt urging America to develop an atomic bomb. Although Einstein himself took no part in the bomb’s construction, his fame and respect caused the President to take action.

Leo Szilard (SIL-ahrd) [3]

Brief Bio…

Szilard was born in Budapest, Austro-Hungary in 1898. In 1921, he enrolled in a physics class taught by Einstein, and in 1927, he and Einstein started a seven-year collaboration on the invention of home refrigerators without moving parts. His studies and ideas also included the linear accelerator, cyclotron, electron microscope, and in 1933 Szilard conceived the neutron chain reaction. In 1942, he accepted a job at the University of Chicago “Metallurgical Laboratory” designing reactor-cooling systems, and was appointed head of the newly formed Manhattan project by General Leslie Richard Groves. Equally important to all his scientific contributions, Szilard was also insistent that scientists accept moral responsibility for the consequences of their work.

The “Einstein Letter”…

Read a copy of the original “Einstein Letter”

In July 1939, six months after the discovery of uranium fission by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, there was still no official U.S. atomic energy project in the works. Believing atomic bombs were possible to construct, Leo Szilard was disturbed by the lack of American action because he knew Nazi Germany could gain an unbeatable lead in the development process. Unable to convince Enrico Fermi of the need to continue atomic experiments, Szilard turned to his old friend Albert Einstein. Szilard explained the state of international research on uranium and evidence that a bomb was possible to Einstein. Einstein opposed the idea of making weapons, but he could not allow the Nazis sole possession of such destructive power. Initially, Szilard requested that Einstein warn the Belgian Queen Mother, whom Einstein knew, to prevent the large stockpile of uranium ore in the Belgian Congo from falling into Nazi hands. However, after the promise of one of President Roosevelt’s unofficial advisers, Alexander Sachs, to personally deliver a letter addressing Szilard’s concerns to the President, the “Einstein Letter” was first drafted [4]. Although Szilard gave Sachs the letter for delivery on August 2, Sachs did not meet with President Roosevelt until October 11, over a month after Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. Ten days later, the first meeting of the “Briggs Uranium Committee” was held in Washington, DC on President Roosevelt’s orders.

The Advisory Committee on Uranium…[1]

As promised to Albert Einstein (and Leo Szilard), President Roosevelt established the Uranium Committee in October 1939. Lyman J. Briggs, director of the National Bureau of Standards, was chosen to head up the committee, and it thus became known as the “Briggs Uranium Committee.” The committee included both civilian and military representatives, and took up the tasks of evaluating where the United States stood with regards to uranium research, along with recommending an appropriate role for the federal government. The committee concluded in its letter to President Roosevelt, among other things, “If the reaction turns out to be explosive in character, it would provide possible source of bombs with a destructiveness vastly greater than anything now known,” and “...we recommend adequate support for a thorough investigation” []. In 1940, the committee authorized a minimal 6000 dollars in research funds for uranium isotope separation research to be conducted by Leo Szilard and Enrico Fermi. Despite lack of financial support from the government, Szilard managed to arrange for industrial production of pure graphite and uranium necessary for a reactor, and in December 1942, he witnessed the first nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago “Metallurgical Laboratory.”

References

[1] Society for the Historical Preservation of the Manhattan Project. http://www.childrenofthemanhattanproject.org/index.htm. April 4, 2002.

[2] Reinhardt, Joachim. Pictures of Famous Physicists. http://www.th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~jr/portraits.html. April 4, 2002.

[3] Born Today. Alphabetical Author Index. http://www.born-today.com/Today/alpha/_s.shtml. April 4, 2002.

[4] Dannen’s Leo Szilard Page. http://www.dannen.com/ae-fdr.html. April 4, 2002.