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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Innovations

Oral History
Marshall Rosenbluth’s Interview
October 23, 2015
Richard Rhodes: How did you get involved in the program? Marshall Rosenbluth: Well, you can probably guess. I’ve already told you that I was a student of [Edward] Teller’s. I was in the Navy during the war and then went back to the University of Chicago where my parents were living, to graduate school, and […]
Oral History
Frank G. Foote’s and James F. Schumar’s Interview
Stephane Groueff: Okay, now it’s recording. Dr. Foote, you started telling me from the beginning— Frank G. Foote: Knowing nothing about the uranium, and this was supposed to be my new business; I’d go over to the library to find out what was known. Groueff: In 1942? Foote: In 1942, August. Ordinarily, you’d expect this […]
Oral History
David P. Rudolph’s Interview
Stephane Groueff: Recording Dr. Rudolph. Dave Rudolph: As far as the organizational structure was concerned, when I reported to work, I reported to a man who had the administrative responsibilities for purchasing for the project and warehousing. You might say purchasing and supply functions – warehousing the stores, shipping to a small extent. No sooner […]
Oral History
Charles Critchfield’s Interview
October 15, 2015
Charles Critchfield: Is that your book, by the way? Richard Rhodes: Yes. Critchfield: Making of the Atomic Bomb? Rhodes: Yes. Critchfield: I’ve always heard it, Making of the Bomb. No, I didn’t know it was your book. Rubby Sherr sent me that, and he also sent me excerpts from two or three other books on the bomb. Rubby was […]
Oral History Interviewee
Charles Critchfield
Charles Critchfield was a mathematical physicist assigned to work on the development of gun-type fission weapons, and eventually implosion-type weapons, at Los Alamos. He returned to Los Alamos in 1952 to work on the development of the hydrogen bomb. In this interview, Critchfield explores the personalities of his fellow Manhattan Project scientists, including Edward Teller, […]
Oral History
Ted Taylor’s Interview – Part 1
Ted Taylor: I think Carson Mark is the most valuable resource to talk to about what happened in those days at Los Alamos. At Livermore, [Edward] Teller, certainly. Richard Rhodes: Teller won’t talk to me, I’m afraid. He’s decided I’m the enemy. Taylor: Herb York I think is anxious for the story to be told correctly. […]
Oral History
David Fox’s Interview
October 13, 2015
Reed Srere: Hi, I am Reed Srere – R-e-e-d S-r-e-r-e. I am recording this oral history for the Atomic Heritage Foundation on June 3 [2015] in Washington, DC. Please state your name. David Fox: I am David Fox. I live in Providence, Rhode Island. My father was a physicist on the Manhattan Project in Manhattan. […]
Oral History
To Fermi ~ with Love – Part 3
October 12, 2015
[Thanks to Ronald K. Smeltzer for donating the record “To Fermi with Love” to the Atomic Heritage Foundation.] Narrator: Finally, the decision was made: build the pile in the west stands. The facilities under Stagg Field included the usual locker room, showers, and four handball or racquets courts. The heavy graphite material began to roll in […]
Oral History
Norman Brown’s Interview (2005)
September 24, 2015
Norman Brown: My name is Norman L. Brown. Brown is spelled as Brown is usually spelled, without an E. Cindy Kelly: Great, okay. Why don’t you start by telling us how you became part of the Manhattan Project? Brown: I was a sophomore at MIT. I was talked into enlisting in what was called then […]
Oral History
Leroy Jackson and Ernest Wende’s Interview
August 25, 2015
Stephane Groueff: Start from the beginning and if you can give me in a few words the history of how it started, who actually came into contract, and how?  Leroy Jackson: With respect to the construction of the City of Oak Ridge, Stone & Webster was retained. I believe it is what we classify as […]