Deceased--Louis Rosen

Louis Rosen
June 10th, 1918 to August 15th, 2009

"Louis Rosen, 91, Dies; Worked on First Nuclear Bombs"

by

Douglas Martin

September 6th, 2009

The New York Times

On May 9, 1951, on a coral atoll in the Pacific, scientists ignited what they hoped would be the first man-made thermonuclear reaction, the basis of the hydrogen bomb. A fireball rose 1,800 feet.

But the explosion alone, awe-inspiring though it was, was not enough to convince one eyewitness, Edward Teller, considered the father of the H-bomb, that thermonuclear fusion had indeed occurred. For that he had to wait for the results of a test devised by two young fellow physicists who worked with him at Los Alamos, N.M., where the first atomic bombs had been built.

At 5:30 the next morning, one of those colleagues, Louis Rosen, told Dr. Teller the exhilarating news: yes, fusion had been achieved. Dr. Teller promptly raced out to pay off a $5 bet.

He had bet against himself, wagering with a colleague that fusion would not occur.

Dr. Rosen died on Aug. 15 in Albuquerque at the age of 91; his granddaughter, Ambyr Hardy, said a subdural hematoma was the cause.

He was one of the last surviving links to the scientific giants who had created the atomic age — men like J. Robert Oppenheimer and Enrico Fermi as well as Dr. Teller. But more than that, he had also advanced the era.

Dr. Rosen was a lifer at Los Alamos. Where other scientists drifted away, he spent his career there, and built the most intense atom smasher in the world. He was also part ambassador, part lobbyist for the Los Alamos National Laboratory, promoting its continuing importance as a center not only of weapons development but also of basic research.

His atom smasher was his most spectacular project. “This monstrous gadget will give us new windows on the nucleus, a new set of probes,” he said in an interview with The New York Times.

Existing accelerators at the time smashed a high-speed beam of protons or electrons into a target. The resulting debris of subatomic particles would yield information on the composition of the nucleus. Dr. Rosen’s machine used the beam of protons to create a secondary, highly intense beam of particles called pi mesons, or pions.

When smashed into the target material, the meson beam — 1,000 times as intense as that of any existing accelerator — could be used as a probe to study how pions interact with other nuclear materials. The continuous interchange of pions between proton and neutron is part of the glue holding the nucleus together.

By contrast, higher-energy but less intense accelerators obliterated more of the nucleus but could not study the same kind of internal nuclear dynamics.

Another scientist at the time compared the two kinds of accelerator this way: think of the earlier version as hitting the nucleus with a baseball bat, and Dr. Rosen’s as doing so with a rapier.

In an article in Physics Today in 1966, Dr. Rosen called his machine “a badly needed bridge between nuclear and subnuclear physics.”

In the 1990s, after Dr. Rosen had formally retired but remained involved in decision making, the group at Los Alamos in charge of the accelerator shifted course, in line with changing directions in physics. No longer did it harvest pions. Instead, it concentrated on neutrons, which were being used in more and more basic research and in practical applications.

One application was to probe stockpiled nuclear weapons that could no longer be tested. Other applications included studying the structure of complex biological molecules and re-examining the nuclear fuel cycle. In particular, Los Alamos became known for testing neutrons in very cold temperatures — a tiny fraction of a degree above absolute zero.

Louis Rosen was born in Manhattan, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Alabama, and a doctorate in physics from Pennsylvania State University. He said he never took a course in nuclear physics.

With his doctorate he went directly to Los Alamos to join the Manhattan Project, the code name for the group of scientists, mathematicians and engineers who built the first nuclear bombs. He worked at the laboratory until two days before his death.

Dr. Rosen’s wife of more than 60 years, the former Mary Terry, died in 2004. He is survived by his brother, Bernard; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

After the war, as many scientists began to leave Los Alamos, Dr. Rosen set about trying to retain as many as he could as well attract top-level replacements. It was partly with this in mind that he and Norman Bradbury, the laboratory’s director, came up with the idea of the accelerator. Dr. Rosen lobbied federal agencies and members of Congress alike for support.

Writing in 1983 in Los Alamos Science, Dr. Rosen recalled a visit by the comptroller of the Atomic Energy Commission, who spotted him in the audience.

“Ah, Louis Rosen is here,” the official said. “Every time I talk to him it costs me a million dollars.”

Louis Rosen home page

"The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer"--worthy

Okay, I sat through two hours of this documentary on the rise and fall of J. Robert Oppenheimer and must say that is one of the better offerings from PBS. Usually, "docudramas" flounder where the emphasis is placed on actors attempting to characterize famous individuals rather than the actual event as was PBS's "Einstein's Great Idea" where too much emphasis was spent on attempting to dramatize certain scientists set in lavish sets and costume. David Grubin's production was very different. David Strathairn's portrayal of Oppenheimer was to the point and limited to probably about 20% screen time allowing the narrator and guests to carry the force and message of the documentary interspersed with archival film and photographs.

The film illustrates a difference between an individual's interpretation of an ideology [communism] and strict adherence to its basic philosophy. Oppenheimer said over and over that certain elements of communism were relevant to him but he was not a card-carrying member involved in corrupting or compromising American policies or supporting a foreign government.

And high profile individuals with different agendas and inflated egos will have conflicts...J. Robert Oppenheimer vs Edward Teller and Lewis Strauus and the scientific ineptness of presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Harry Truman..

"The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer" is worth another viewing.

From: American Experience [WGBH]:

In the first dozen years of the atomic age, few men played a more pivotal role in shaping U.S. nuclear policy than the former banker Lewis Strauss. An ardent champion of the hydrogen bomb, he was also a strong believer in the importance of maintaining a large nuclear stockpile. His appointment to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1946 (an agency he chaired from 1953 - 58) meant he was well placed to influence both President Truman's and President Eisenhower's decisions on nuclear issues and to oversee the atomic related activities of all federal agencies.

The thorny, owlish-looking Lewis Strauss started out life as a travelling shoe salesman working for his father. He later became an incredibly successful investment banker. By the time he left Wall Street to join the AEC, he was earning a million dollars a year. His new government appointment required him to give up all his business interests, which he told an interviewer, made him feel "like a man who is amputating his own leg."

Early on in his role as an AEC commissioner, Strauss argued that the U.S. needed to have a system in place to detect foreign atomic tests. As it turned out the monitoring system set up at his insistence, was established just in time to detect the first Soviet atomic test in August 1949.

The news that the U.S. no longer had a monopoly on nuclear weapons, pitted Strauss against other members of the AEC including its chairman David Lilienthal. Lilienthal wanted to respond to the Soviet test by increasing the production of atomic bombs while at the same time stepping up the effort to create international controls for weapons of mass destruction. Strauss argued vigorously for a crash program to build a hydrogen bomb: "the time has now come for a quantum jump in our planning... We should now make an intensive effort to get ahead with the super [hydrogen bomb]." Strauss won the day. And in January 1950, President Truman publicly announced a "crash" program to build a superbomb.

Conflict over the H-bomb also created tensions between Strauss and physicist Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. Strauss told President Eisenhower that he would only accept the position of AEC chair if Oppenheimer played no role in advising the agency. He explained that he didn't trust Oppenheimer partly because of his consistent opposition to the superbomb. Within days of being sworn into office in July 1953, Strauss had all classified AEC material removed from Oppenheimer's office. By the end of the year, Oppenheimer's security clearance was revoked.

Over the years Strauss' arrogance and his insistence that he was always right made him unpopular on Capitol Hill. In 1959, after two months of exhausting hearings, the Senate rejected his nomination to be Secretary of Commerce. The ordeal was publicly humiliating for Strauss, especially after he was caught lying under oath. Afterwards the financier returned permanently to the private sector.

"Revisiting the trial of the father of the atomic bomb"

January 25th, 2009

chicagotribune.com

In the middle of the last century, J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the most famous men in America.

His leadership of the Manhattan Project, which produced the atomic bomb, turned him into one of the nation's most powerful figures, and he was certainly the country’s most acclaimed scientist during and after World War II. Glowing media coverage of his life and accomplishments portrayed him as the absent-minded genius who exhibited the kind of can-do spirit that helped America win the war.

In the '50s, however, Oppenheimer's political enemies conspired to drag this proud man down from his lofty perch—not necessarily for being arrogant, but for disagreeing with powerful advocates for ever larger and more terrifying nuclear bombs.

The excellent "American Experience" documentary "The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer"...opens with the famous scientist at his lowest point. In 1954, Oppenheimer, who was never charged with any crime, was grilled for weeks in an unusual hearing that flouted most, if not all, accepted legal procedures. Actor David Strathairn ("Good Night, and Good Luck") does a wonderful job of depicting the prickly scientist in these re-creations, which are a little stagey but which ably bring the trial transcript to life.

The hearing was convened by the Atomic Energy Commission to examine whether Oppenheimer, who had been close to Communist Party members earlier in his life, was a security risk or a Communist himself (eventually he was stripped of his security clearance). Experts interviewed for the documentary say one of the real goals of the hearing—and other investigations—was to humiliate and "break" him, says Richard Rhodes, author of "The Making of the Atomic Bomb."

"He was made to look like a fool," Rhodes says.

It's hard not to have sympathy for this flawed but brilliant man. Oppenheimer could be cruel and socially awkward, but in the end, he appears to have been done in by his desire to protect old friends who had been in the Communist Party. Without ignoring Oppenheimer's flaws and mistakes in judgment, the physicists and journalists interviewed for this two-hour film paint a picture of a man who rose to the occasion during the Manhattan Project but emerged from the war with qualms about the way the atomic bomb had changed the world.

The persecution of Oppenheimer through the trial "removed the legitimacy of criticism against more and more nuclear weapons," according to Martin J. Sherwin, author of "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer."

Tragedy is certainly the right word for this tale.

In the matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer: transcript of hearing before Personnel Security Board and texts of principal documents and letters

by

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission

ISBN: 0262710021 9780262710022

Robert Oppenheimer: Letters and Recollections

by

Alice Smith and Charles Weiner [editors]

ISBN-10: 0804726205
ISBN-13: 978-0804726207

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer

by

Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

ISBN-10: 0375412026
ISBN-13: 978-0375412028

Science and the Common Understanding

by

J. Robert Oppenheimer

ISBN-10: 0671636014
ISBN-13: 978-0671636012


Andrei Sakharov vs Edward Teller

Los Alamos staff

Nuclear weaponry

The Manhattan Project...video presentation

"The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer"

The Manhattan Project...video presentation

From POSP's stringer Tim...the following:

"The Moment in Time documents the uncertain days of the beginning of World War II when it was feared the Nazis were developing the atomic bomb. The history of the bomb's development is traced through recollections of those who worked on what was known as "the gadget"."

The Moment in Time: The Manhattan Project


Also...

Andrei Sakharov vs Edward Teller

Philip Morrison...physicist

Rudi Peieris...physicist's physicist

Tickling the dragon's tail

Andrei Sakharov vs Edward Teller

Sparing of two theoretical physicists--what a story of science and ethics. The focus of this topic is to discuss the implementation of programs developing and maintaining a nuclear arsenal [and potential deployment] and the ethics of such considerations. Part of the analysis is a function of global political temperament in post World War II and current climate--the balance of power issue.

Some brief background material:

Andrei Sakharov:

1.) Born 1921 in Moscow.

2.) After a two year interruption during World War II he returned to his academic studies under the guidance of Igor Tamm in theoretical physics.

3.) Research in 1951 lead to the Tokamak reactor design.

4.) Major contributor to the Soviet development/testing of the first thermonuclear bomb in 1953 and H-bomb test in 1955.

5.) Contributed to the 1963 Test Ban Treaty.

6.) Returned to theoretical physics--"baryon asymmetry"/"uneven disbursement of matter and antimatter in the universe".

7.) Strong political antinuclear proponent during the antiballistic missile defense issue between the Soviet Union and the United States.

["Reflections on Progress, Peaceful Coexistence and Intellectual Freedom" was a keynote paper. Unfortunately, I cannot locate a complete copy of the essay. It appeared in the "New York Times" July 22nd 1968 issue. If anyone can supply a full copy please provide a link.]

8.) Ostracized from science/military spheres by Soviet government.

9.) Awarded Nobel Prize for Peace in 1975.

"Uncompromisingly and with unflagging strength Sakharov has fought against the abuse of power and all forms of violation of human dignity, and he has fought no less courageously for the idea of government based on the rule of law. In a convincing manner Sakharov has emphasized that Man's inviolable rights provide the only safe foundation for genuine and enduring international cooperation. In this way, in a particularly effective manner, working under difficult conditions, he has enhanced respect for the values that rally all true peacelovers."--1975 The Nobel Committee

10.) Internal exile from 1980 until 1986 when exonerated by Mikhail Gorbachev.

11.) Died in 1989.

"Andrei Sakharov: Theoretical Physics and Practical Humanics"

"Sakharov: Person of the 20th Century"

"Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov"


Edward Teller:

1.) Born 1908 in Budapest.

2.) Studied physics in Germany [Werner Heisenberg] and Denmark [Niels Bohr].

3.) Contributor to theoretical physics in the 1930's--Jahn-Teller effect concerning crystal symmetry as determined by electron and atomic nuclei reactions.

4.) Emigrated to the United States in 1935.

5.) Actively involved in atomic programs even before United State's involvement in World War II.

6.) Major participant in thermonuclear weaponry and eventual testing of said weapon in 1952.

7.) He and his buddy Ernest Lawrence lobbied for a new weapon testing facility--now Lawrence Livermore Laboratory.

8.) In the mid 1950's he butted against J. Robert Oppenheimer.

9.) Subsequent statements pushing for the H-bomb set a barrier between him and the scientific community for his lack of ethics. He too was ostracized.

10.) Given the Enrico Fermi prize 1962.

11.) Died in 2003.


"Edward Teller"

"Edward Teller in the Public Arena"

"Edward Teller, Ph.D./Father of the Hydrogen Bomb"

"Edward Teller's Scientific Legacy/Current Trends In International Fusion Research: 6th Symposium/Edward Teller Memorial Lecture"

"The death of a nuclear legend" by, Barton J Bernstein

"Truth Teller/The nuclear scientist the Left loves to hate"


Here are two brilliant men of theoretical physics that are passionately involved in their beliefs and goals: One [Andrei Sakharov] pleading for detente and restraint between two super powers, the other [Edward Teller] advocating continued nuclear weapon production.

I don't know that much about the physics of nuclear weaponry and was surprised about a particular feature of the hydrogen bomb in that it is an "unlimited" weapon in regards to megaton yield. The "slolika" [Soviet hydrogen bomb] was limited in megaton yield and that it was redesigned by Sakharov and Zel’dovich.

"The idea was to use the radiation (photons) generated by an initial atomic explosion to compress a tube, thereby igniting fusion within it. The design, similar to the Ulam-Teller one, had potentially unlimited yield because the length of the tube could be increased as required."

And, it was while he was at Arzamas-16 that Sakharov began his political changes about nuclear proliferation.

"The Metamorphosis of Andrei Sakharov: The inventor of the Soviet hydrogen bomb became an advocate of peace and human rights. What led him to his fateful decision?"