Paul Lawrence Rose
Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project, 1939-1945
A Study in German Culture
$26.95, £18.95 paperback
9780520229266
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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.
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.
"A fascinating book."—Library Journal
"One of the most frightening 'what-ifs' of history is the Nazi effort to build a nuclear bomb. Here is a close-up look at that failed attempt . . . This meticulously detailed and definitive book should . . . appeal to any reader intrigued by the moral dimension of scientific work."—Kirkus Reviews
"Of the controversies surrounding the dawn of the atomic age, ranking near the top is the matter of Werner Heisenberg and his team's failure to put a bomb in Hitler's hands . . . Deeply researched scholarship."—Booklist
"Heisenberg, Rose argues convincingly, made a 'fundamental scientific error in 1940 that precluded him from recommending an all-out attack on the atomic bomb problem.' . . . In order to substantiate his claims, Rose carefully reconstructs Heisenberg's role in wartime planning for a German bomb, and offers a 'close contextual reading' of the transcribed conversations recorded secretly at Farm Hall."—Richard Bessel, Times Literary Supplement
"Rose makes a good case for his view of the Nazi bomb project. He marshals strong evidence, including a careful reading of the recently opened Farm Hall transcripts, to show that Heisenberg failed to grasp what was needed for an atomic explosive until after Hiroshima . . . . It is an important contribution to the literature that any scholar with an interest in the Nazi atomic bomb project or the history of nuclear energy should consult."—J. Samuel Walker, Technology and Culture
"Rose exposes the hollowness of Heisenberg's arguments as well as his apparent lack of moral conscience. This book is a very revealing one and is absolutely engrossing to read. I can warmly recommend it to any chemist who has an interest in the science that was going on behind the scenes during World War II."—Dennis H. Rouvray, Chemistry in Britain
"Rose shows convincingly that Heisenberg made a serious but simple conceptual mistake about the limiting condition of an explosive chain reaction and that the strength of Heisenberg's confidence in his analysis kept him from undertaking the more detailed calculations that might have corrected it."—J. L. Heilbron, American Historical Review
"By restoring the original context of uncertainty, Rose makes it possible to penetrate the mystique of Heisenberg as an infallible icon and to understand how even a physicist of his genius could have made the gross mistakes Goudsmit attributed to him. The wealth of archival detail Rose has newly brought to light also exposes some of the misreadings and distortions that have confused this history."—Robert H. March, Physics Today
"During the Second World War, the nightmare of a Nazi atomic bomb project under the leadership of Werner Heisenberg played a significant role in propelling the world into the nuclear age. After the war, German scientists including Heisenberg took credit for diverting the regime from pursuing a bomb, for moral as well as practical reasons. In this important and absorbing book, Paul Lawrence Rose meticulously documents a radically different view of what happened in Germany during the war. Rose has made an indispensable contribution to the literature of this important episode."—David Goodstein, California Institute of Technology
"One of the most frightening 'what-ifs' of history is the Nazi effort to build a nuclear bomb. Here is a close-up look at that failed attempt . . . This meticulously detailed and definitive book should . . . appeal to any reader intrigued by the moral dimension of scientific work."—Kirkus Reviews
"Of the controversies surrounding the dawn of the atomic age, ranking near the top is the matter of Werner Heisenberg and his team's failure to put a bomb in Hitler's hands . . . Deeply researched scholarship."—Booklist
"Heisenberg, Rose argues convincingly, made a 'fundamental scientific error in 1940 that precluded him from recommending an all-out attack on the atomic bomb problem.' . . . In order to substantiate his claims, Rose carefully reconstructs Heisenberg's role in wartime planning for a German bomb, and offers a 'close contextual reading' of the transcribed conversations recorded secretly at Farm Hall."—Richard Bessel, Times Literary Supplement
"Rose makes a good case for his view of the Nazi bomb project. He marshals strong evidence, including a careful reading of the recently opened Farm Hall transcripts, to show that Heisenberg failed to grasp what was needed for an atomic explosive until after Hiroshima . . . . It is an important contribution to the literature that any scholar with an interest in the Nazi atomic bomb project or the history of nuclear energy should consult."—J. Samuel Walker, Technology and Culture
"Rose exposes the hollowness of Heisenberg's arguments as well as his apparent lack of moral conscience. This book is a very revealing one and is absolutely engrossing to read. I can warmly recommend it to any chemist who has an interest in the science that was going on behind the scenes during World War II."—Dennis H. Rouvray, Chemistry in Britain
"Rose shows convincingly that Heisenberg made a serious but simple conceptual mistake about the limiting condition of an explosive chain reaction and that the strength of Heisenberg's confidence in his analysis kept him from undertaking the more detailed calculations that might have corrected it."—J. L. Heilbron, American Historical Review
"By restoring the original context of uncertainty, Rose makes it possible to penetrate the mystique of Heisenberg as an infallible icon and to understand how even a physicist of his genius could have made the gross mistakes Goudsmit attributed to him. The wealth of archival detail Rose has newly brought to light also exposes some of the misreadings and distortions that have confused this history."—Robert H. March, Physics Today
"During the Second World War, the nightmare of a Nazi atomic bomb project under the leadership of Werner Heisenberg played a significant role in propelling the world into the nuclear age. After the war, German scientists including Heisenberg took credit for diverting the regime from pursuing a bomb, for moral as well as practical reasons. In this important and absorbing book, Paul Lawrence Rose meticulously documents a radically different view of what happened in Germany during the war. Rose has made an indispensable contribution to the literature of this important episode."—David Goodstein, California Institute of Technology
March 1, 2002, Symposium at Smithsonian: Author Paul Lawrence Rose spoke at a debate on the play Copenhagen that coincided with its Washington opening
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