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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

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Oral History
Stanislaus Ulam’s Interview (1979)
August 3, 2016
Stanislaus Ulam: You know, after forty-five years in this country, my accent is still very hard. Martin Sherwin: That’s all right. I still have a Brooklyn accent. Ulam:  Oh, you do? Sherwin: I left Brooklyn twenty years ago. I think even though I do know a lot of the answers to some of the questions […]
Oral History
Joseph Rotblat’s Interview
July 21, 2016
Martin Sherwin: This is an interview with Professor Joseph Rotblat, R-O-T-B-L-A-T, at his office in London. Well it really was quite a production. Seven hours! Joseph Rotblat: Yes, oh yes, quite a production. Sherwin: I thought Sam Waterston played a marvelous part. Rotblat: Who? Sherwin: The person who played [J. Robert] Oppenheimer. Rotblat: Oh, yes, […]
Facility
Canada
June 27, 2016
Often overlooked, Canada played an important role in the Manhattan Project, especially during the early stages of research and development. Canada was also crucial for another reason: its Northwest Territories provided a rich source of raw uranium needed to produce the bomb’s critical mass.   Eldorado Mine In May 1930, Canadian prospector Gilbert Labine discovered […]
Facility
Britain
Often overlooked, British physicists were the first to realize the feasibility of an atomic bomb and their urgings were vital to the development and success of the Manhattan Project in the United States.   Cavendish Laboratory Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University in England first opened in 1874 under the direction of James Clerk Maxwell, the […]
Oral History
Gerhart Friedlander’s Interview
March 16, 2016
Gerhart Friedlander: My name is Gerhart Friedlander. Interviewer: What was your role in the Manhattan Project? Friedlander: I got into the Manhattan Project very early; in fact, before there was an official Manhattan Project. I was a graduate student at Berkeley at the University of California. My thesis advisor was Glenn Seaborg, who later on […]
Oral History
Peter Lax’s Interview
February 18, 2016
Cindy Kelly: My name is Cindy Kelly with the Atomic Heritage Foundation. It is January 8, 2016, and I am in New York City with Peter Lax. My first question for him is to say his name and spell it. Peter Lax: Peter Lax, spelled L-A-X. Kelly: Great, thank you. So I would love to […]
Oral History
Sir Rudolf Peierls’s Interview
February 1, 2016
Martin Sherwin: This is Martin Sherwin. I’ll be interviewing Sir Rudolf Peierls at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Today’s date is June 6th, 1979.  You first met [J.Robert] Oppenheimer in Zurich in 1929? Rudolf Peierls: Right, yes. Sherwin: At that time, I think you mentioned you were working with [Wolfgang] Pauli’s group? […]
Oral History
Robert Christy’s Interview
January 15, 2016
Martin Sherwin: This is Martin Sherwin. I am on my way to interview Professor Robert Christy in his office at 423 Downs on the Caltech Campus in Pasadena, California, March 30th, 1983. You were a student of his? Robert Christy: I was a graduate student of [J. Robert] Oppenheimer’s from the fall of 1937 until […]
Oral History
Peter Galison’s Interview
August 20, 2015
Cindy Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly. This is Wednesday, June 24th, 2015, and I’m in Cambridge Massachusetts with Peter Gailson. My first question for you is to tell me your name and spell it. Peter Galison: My name is Peter Gailson, G-A-L-I-S-O-N. I’m a professor here at Harvard, Physics, a history of science. Twentieth century physics […]
Oral History
Lew Kowarski’s Interview – Part 2
July 7, 2015
Stephane Groueff: One thing I don’t understand, and it’s a very ignorant question, but what was actually the difference between [Enrico] Fermi’s experiment in ’34 and [Otto] Hahn’s? Because, why do we say that Hahn was the first one, while Fermi also bombarded uranium? Lew Kowarski: I don’t it’s true to say that Hahn was […]