92. Scientists at Los Alamos later remarked upon Ernest’s “obvious distress that weekend though they did not know the cause.” Wyden (1984), 170; “Memorandum for the Secretary of War,” June 26, 1945, no. 77, Harrison-Bundy file, MED/NARA.
93. In an earlier letter to Maria Mayer, Teller noted that he had asked Harold Urey “to talk with the Boy-scout about postwar plans.” It is unclear whether the “Boy-scout” in this case was Lawrence or Groves. Teller to Mayer, n.d., box 3, Mayer papers.
94. Szilard’s petition urged that the bomb not be dropped until the surrender terms had been made public in detail and the Japanese, knowing those terms, had still refused to surrender. Lanouette (1992), 269–75.
95. Oppenheimer’s report to Stimson on the views of the Scientific Panel noted: “With regard to these general aspects of the use of atomic energy, it is clear that we, as scientific men, have no proprietary rights.” The report is reprinted in Sherwin (1987), 304–5.
96. In a 1993 interview, Teller claimed that Oppenheimer had argued that scientists should not take sides for or against the use of the bomb. When he later discovered that the Scientific Panel had done just that, Teller said he felt betrayed. Teller did not mention Oppenheimer’s opposition to the petition in his letter to Szilard since he knew that Oppie would see the letter before it was sent. Teller to Oppenheimer, and Teller to Szilard, July 2, 1945, LANL; Edward Teller, Feb. 26, 1999, personal communication. Teller’s letter to Szilard is reprinted in Blumberg and Owens (1976), 156–57.
97. Tolman to Lansdale, June 19, 1944, file 400.112, series 5, MED/NARA.
98. May 5 and May 8, 1945, Groves diary, Groves/NARA.
99. York interview (1997).
100. Rhodes (1986), 601.
101. Lyall Johnson interview (1996).
102. Oppenheimer told Groves that the probable date for the test was July 18 and that Fat Man’s plutonium core weighed 6.2 kilograms. “Notes Taken at Meeting at Y,” June 27, 1945, file 20, MED/NARA.
103. Another two words—or without—were placed before “the Continental United States” in the description of where the work of the contract would take place. Underhill interview, n.d., Underhill papers, LANL.
104. Oppenheimer to Lawrence, July 5, 1945, folder 15, carton 29, EOL.
105. Groves (1962), 290; July 13, 1945, Cooksey diary, EOL.
106. Unmarked folder, carton 48, EOL. The talk at dinner was mostly about Lawrence’s plans for the postwar Rad Lab. Fidler interview (1992).
107. Lawrence requested an annual postwar budget of $1 million—more than thirty times what the Rad Lab had received from private sources before the war. Lawrence to Groves, July 13, 1945, folder 38, carton 29, EOL.
108. July 11, 1945, Groves diary, Groves/NARA.
109. Teller and Brown (1962), 16–17.
110. “A hundred-to-one it’s not needed, but what do we know?,” observed Teller, according to Joe Kennedy, who was also standing nearby. Seaborg (1992), vol. 4, 4.
111. Author interview with Willie Higinbotham, Los Alamos, N. Mex., June 9, 1993.
112. “O.E. [sic] Lawrence’s thoughts,” July 16, 1945, file 4, series 1, part 1, MED/NARA. Eyewitness accounts by McMillan, Serber, Alvarez, and others are in the Trinity file, Tolman papers, OSRD/NARA.
113. Serber (1998), 91–93. The intensity of the light was so unexpectedly great that the following day some Los Alamos scientists suggested using it as a weapon. Bradbury et al. to Parsons, “Proposal for a Modified Tactical Use of the Gadget,” box 29–9, LANL.
114. Alvarez (1987), 141–42.
115. Frank Oppenheimer interview (1983). Oppie’s much more famous formulation from the Gita—“Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds”—evidently came later.
116. Vannevar Bush interview, reel 7, 422, MIT.
8: A Stone’s Throw from Despair
1. A passenger on the plane, Admiral John “Chick” Hayward, recalled that there was even talk of recalling the cruiser Indianapolis—already on its way to Tinian with the uranium rings for the Hiroshima bomb—and substituting the more powerful and efficient implosion gadget. Interview with John “Chick” Hayward, Jacksonville Beach, Fla., Mar. 6, 1996; telex, Oppenheimer to Groves, July 19, 1945, and Groves to Oppenheimer, July 19, 1945, Oppenheimer folder, LANL.
2. Two days after Trinity, Lawrence met with George Harrison at the Pentagon to urge that Groves be promoted. Lawrence to Harrison, July 18, 1945, Harrison-Bundy file, MED/NARA.
3. “Development of Atomic Weapons,” Jan. 30, 1950, no. 1447, RG 128, Records of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (JCAE), National Archives; ITMOJRO, 32.
4. Groves to Secretary of War, July 27, 1945, box 6, MED history, Army/NARA.
5. Telegram, n.d., John Manley papers, folder 3, box 7, LANL.
6. Alvarez (1987), 144–45.
7. Author interview with Luis Alvarez, Los Alamos, N. Mex., Apr. 14, 1983.
8. Teller and Brown (1962), 18.
9. Molly Lawrence interview (1992).
10. Lawrence, “To Radiation Laboratory Employees,” Aug. 9, 1945, folder 23, carton 30, EOL; transcript of telephone conversations, Aug. 6, 1945, book 7, box 1, Rad Lab records.
11. Shane, “Autobiography,” chap. 7, p. 31, Donald Shane papers, Lick Observatory archives, University of California, Santa Cruz, Calif.
12. Author interview with I. I. Rabi, New Haven, Conn., Sept. 21, 1982.
13. Field report, Apr. 18, 1952, 11, sec. 12, Robert Oppenheimer file, FBI.
14. Oppenheimer to Lawrence, Aug. 30, 1945, folder 30, carton 29, EOL; Childs (1968), 366, 372.
15. Harrison to Oppenheimer, July 20, 1945, Harrison-Bundy file, MED/NARA.
16. Conant was hoping to recruit Oppenheimer to Harvard. Conant to Oppenheimer, Aug. 24, 1945, and Oppenheimer to Conant, Sept. 25, 1945, Conant folder, JRO.
17. Oppenheimer to Lawrence, Aug. 30, 1945, folder 30, carton 29, EOL. The letter is also reprinted in Smith and Weiner (1980), 300–302.
18. Oppenheimer to Stimson, Aug. 17, 1945, reprinted in Smith and Weiner (1980), 293–94.
19. The telegrams exchanged between panel members are in folders 15 and 30, carton 29, EOL.
20. Oppenheimer to Secretary of War, Aug. 17, 1945, no. 77, Harrison-Bundy file, MED/NARA.
21. Oppenheimer to Lawrence, Aug. 30, 1945, folder 30, carton 29, EOL; Hewlett and Anderson (1990), 417.
22. “Memorandum for the Record,” Aug. 18, 1945, no. 77, Harrison-Bundy file, MED/NARA.
23. Oppenheimer to Lawrence, Aug. 30, 1945, folder 30, carton 29, EOL.
24. Oppenheimer to Herbert Smith, Aug. 26, 1945, reprinted in Smith and Weiner (1980), 297.
25. Oppenheimer to Chevalier, Aug. 27, 1945, supplemental files,
