Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project, 1939-1945

Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project, 1939-1945
Author :
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Total Pages : 371
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780520927162
ISBN-13 : 0520927168
Rating : 4/5 (168 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project, 1939-1945 by : Paul Lawrence Rose

Download or read book Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project, 1939-1945 written by Paul Lawrence Rose and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No one better represents the plight and the conduct of German intellectuals under Hitler than Werner Heisenberg, whose task it was to build an atomic bomb for Nazi Germany. The controversy surrounding Heisenberg still rages, because of the nature of his work and the regime for which it was undertaken. What precisely did Heisenberg know about the physics of the atomic bomb? How deep was his loyalty to the German government during the Third Reich? Assuming that he had been able to build a bomb, would he have been willing? These questions, the moral and the scientific, are answered by Paul Lawrence Rose with greater accuracy and breadth of documentation than any other historian has yet achieved. Digging deep into the archival record among formerly secret technical reports, Rose establishes that Heisenberg never overcame certain misconceptions about nuclear fission, and as a result the German leaders never pushed for atomic weapons. In fact, Heisenberg never had to face the moral problem of whether he should design a bomb for the Nazi regime. Only when he and his colleagues were interned in England and heard about Hiroshima did Heisenberg realize that his calculations were wrong. He began at once to construct an image of himself as a "pure" scientist who could have built a bomb but chose to work on reactor design instead. This was fiction, as Rose demonstrates: in reality, Heisenberg blindly supported and justified the cause of German victory. The question of why he did, and why he misrepresented himself afterwards, is answered through Rose's subtle analysis of German mentality and the scientists' problems of delusion and self-delusion. This fascinating study is a profound effort to understand one of the twentieth century's great enigmas.


Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project, 1939-1945 Related Books

Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project, 1939-1945
Language: en
Pages: 371
Authors: Paul Lawrence Rose
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2023-11-10 - Publisher: Univ of California Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

No one better represents the plight and the conduct of German intellectuals under Hitler than Werner Heisenberg, whose task it was to build an atomic bomb for N
Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project
Language: en
Pages: 384
Authors: Paul Lawrence Rose
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 1998 - Publisher: Univ of California Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Digging deep into the archival records among formerly secret technical reports, Rose chronicles the story of Werner Heisenberg, whose task it was to build an at
Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project, 1939-1945
Language: en
Pages: 371
Authors: Paul Lawrence Rose
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 1998 - Publisher: Univ of California Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This is the first book to expose, with full documentation, Heisenberg's fundamental misunderstanding of the atomic bomb and, at the same time, to dissect the la
Atomic Bomb Scientists
Language: en
Pages: 408
Authors: Joseph J. Ermenc
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 1989 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Heisenberg's War
Language: en
Pages: 650
Authors: Thomas Powers
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 1993 - Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In this "superbly researched and well-written book" (Time), Powers concludes that Werner Heisenberg, the leading figure in the German atomic effort, consciously