In the Shadow of the Bomb [Hardcover]

Silvan S. Schweber (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691049890 | ISBN-13: 978-0691049892 | Publication Date: April 17, 2000

In the Shadow of the Bomb narrates how two charismatic, exceptionally talented physicists--J. Robert Oppenheimer and Hans A. Bethe--came to terms with the nuclear weapons they helped to create. In 1945, the United States dropped the bomb, and physicists were forced to contemplate disquieting questions about their roles and responsibilities. When the Cold War followed, they were confronted with political demands for their loyalty and McCarthyism's threats to academic freedom. By examining how Oppenheimer and Bethe--two men with similar backgrounds but divergent aspirations and characters--struggled with these moral dilemmas, one of our foremost historians of physics tells the story of modern physics, the development of atomic weapons, and the Cold War.

Oppenheimer and Bethe led parallel lives. Both received liberal educations that emphasized moral as well as intellectual growth. Both were outstanding theoreticians who worked on the atom bomb at Los Alamos. Both advised the government on nuclear issues, and both resisted the development of the hydrogen bomb. Both were, in their youth, sympathetic to liberal causes, and both were later called to defend the United States against Soviet communism and colleagues against anti-Communist crusaders. Finally, both prized scientific community as a salve to the apparent failure of Enlightenment values.

Yet, their responses to the use of the atom bomb, the testing of the hydrogen bomb, and the treachery of domestic politics differed markedly. Bethe, who drew confidence from scientific achievement and integration into the physics community, preserved a deep integrity. By accepting a modest role, he continued to influence policy and contributed to the nuclear test ban treaty of 1963. In contrast, Oppenheimer first embodied a new scientific persona--the scientist who creates knowledge and technology affecting all humanity and boldly addresses their impact--and then could not carry its burden. His desire to retain insider status, combined with his isolation from creative work and collegial scientific community, led him to compromise principles and, ironically, to lose prestige and fall victim to other insiders.

Schweber draws on his vast knowledge of science and its history--in addition to his unique access to the personalities involved--to tell a tale of two men that will enthrall readers interested in science, history, and the lives and minds of great thinkers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Open a survey-textbook treatment of the development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, and you will certainly encounter J. Robert Oppenheimer's name within the first few lines. The contributions of Hans A. Bethe, a gifted physicist who fled Nazi Germany and was quickly recruited for the Allied cause, were arguably no less important than Oppenheimer's. But, writes Silvan Schweber--himself a physicist who studied at Princeton University while Albert Einstein and Oppenheimer were in residence there--Bethe has been largely forgotten, and perhaps not accidentally.

Oppenheimer, Schweber suggests, was so attentive to seeking fame and influence that he was too quickly willing to compromise his principles on such matters as the use of atomic weaponry in warfare. His nadir came when, testifying before Joseph McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee in 1949, Oppenheimer denounced several of his colleagues as Communist sympathizers--and this from a man who had been closely involved in leftist politics before World War II. By contrast, Bethe, as Schweber writes admiringly in this study of the two scientists' lives and work, went out of his way to "act courageously in the interests of community and humankind," in both the scientific and political realms. Troubled by his role in creating weapons of mass destruction and intent on taking morally correct actions, Bethe spent much of his postwar energies quietly arguing for arms reduction, an effort that contributed to the international nuclear test ban treaty of 1963. --Gregory McNamee

From Scientific American

Many a scientist has to think today about what Schweber calls "the danger of the knowledge of certain technologies." It is an issue that came into sharp focus with the development of the atomic bomb. Schweber treats it by tracing the careers of physicists J. Robert Oppenheimer and Hans Bethe, with emphasis on their answers to the question "What is the role of the scientist in a democracy?" In so doing he sets the stage for an inquiry into other profound and troubling questions: "What did it in fact mean for scientists to address problems affecting all of humankind? What moral and political responsibilities did it entail, particularly during the beginning of the Cold War and in the McCarthy era? And how did scientists respond to these demands?" Schweber is a physicist and a historian of science, serving as professor of physics and professor of the history of ideas at Brandeis University. He brings both talents compellingly to his discussion.

EDITORS OF SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (April 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691049890
• ISBN-13: 978-0691049892
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,074,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A contrasting study of two brilliant individuals, August 21, 2009

By 

Ashutosh Jogalekar "Sciencecat" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: In the Shadow of the Bomb: Oppenheimer, Bethe, and the Moral Responsibility of the Scientist (Princeton Series in Physics) (Paperback)

In this scholarly and highly readable book, historian and physicist Silvan Schweber contrasts the life, times and work of two of the most important scientists of the twentieth century. Robert Oppenheimer and Hans Bethe were both extraordinarily gifted individuals, born within a few years of each other. As Schweber illustrates, their lives demonstrate fascinating similarities and differences.

Both Oppenheimer and Bethe were precocious and were educated at the best universities in the world. They met when Bethe fled the Nazis for the US. Both of them became world-renowned for their accomplishments in research and teaching and for establishing world-class centers of physics; Oppenheimer at Berkeley and Bethe at Cornell. Oppenheimer early on recognised Bethe as a truly outstanding theoretician and picked him to lead the important theoretical division of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. In turn Bethe enormously respected Oppenheimer's intellect, astonishingly quick mind and vast knowledge of diverse fields. After the war both Bethe and Oppenheimer served as top consultants to the government on atomic energy and defense. While Bethe spearheaded the development of physics in the country from Cornell, Oppenheimer served as director of the famed Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he worked with individuals like Einstein, Dyson, Godel and von Neumann. Both Bethe and Oppenheimer acted as wise men who others consulted for advice on important matters of science and policy. Both men remained very good friends till Oppenheimer's death in 1967.

On the other hand there were vast differences which partly owed their provenance to each man's personality and which were responsible for shaping their lives. As Schweber notes, Oppenheimer harbored a conflict of personality and self-doubt throughout his life. He could be conceited, had a sharp tongue and made enemies, enemies who finally brought about his downfall in the government. Bethe on the other hand was one of the most balanced and strong-willed scientists of the century. He displayed remarkable equanimity and had rock solid self-confidence without a hint of arrogance. He could be calm under the most trying of circumstances and was a rock of Gibraltar on whom others could depend for sound advice. The differences in personality also led to each man's politics being quite different. While Bethe was a liberal, his more balanced frame of mind and dedication to science kept him from actively pursuing radical political causes. Oppenheimer's soul-searching in the 30s led him to being associated with a variety of left-wing organizations on the West Coast. While such associations were common among intellectuals of that depressing decade and mostly indicated nothing more than naive idealism, they nonetheless came to haunt Oppenheimer after the war.

Schweber's analysis demonstrates that these great differences in personal traits were partly responsible for the path that each man's life took. With his plodding approach and enormous stamina, Bethe made contributions of astonishing breadth and depth to modern physics, won a Nobel Prize and lived till the ripe age of 99. Oppenheimer's contributions were also outstanding but more limited. Perhaps his greatest contribution was the founding of modern theoretical physics in the United States. Nonethless, many people thought his contributions were not commensurate with his brilliance, partly because of his less focused approach and his being interested in several fields of study. Bethe served as a consultant to the government on important matters almost all his life because he could be more gentle and diplomatic than Oppenheimer, who with his sharp tongue and candid opinions quickly made powerful enemies. This led to him being hauled in front of a tribunal which revoked his security clearance. Wounded and depressed by this ungrateful action, Oppenheimer continued to write, teach and speak on science and society but could not influence government policy. On the other hand, Bethe continued to be more valuable as a government advisor throughout his life partly because he knew how to compromise and could be more diplomatic and modest than Oppenheimer.

Schweber's study then is a fascinating study of the forms that genius can take. Both Bethe and Oppenheimer were geniuses, and yet lived lives that were both similar in some ways as well as different. Schweber deftly dissects the various aspects of personality, circumstance, ability and history that were responsible for these similarities and differences. This book is a valuable addition to the history of modern physics that focuses on two of its most important participants.

13 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moral responsibility and ethical behaivor, September 29, 2000

By 

Harvey M. Solomon - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Shadow of the Bomb (Hardcover)

I cannot praise this book too highly. The issues it is concerned with, the qualities of the individuals it focuses upon, the importance of the lessons which Schweber so clearly defines make it an outstanding contribution to science and to general literature. I cannot remember another occasion in which I spent as much time on the introduction to a book as I did in this case.Although the setting is within the realm of science there is no requirement that the reader have a scientific background to appreciate fully the nature of this book which is concerned with moral responsibility and ethical behaivor at a level which impacts on the survival of humanity and the endurance of our planet. I found myself going back to my old copy of Lawrence and Oppenheimer by Nuel Pharr Davis which deals with many of the same issues in Schweber's book; but from a much different perspective. The concurent reading of both books has been a very satisfying experience. I believe In The Shadow of the Bomb is an extremely important book with meaningfull lessons for society. Nothing like it has been presented on this topic before.

Some years ago I visited Los Alamos and toured the small museum in Fuller Lodge which contains some interesting memorabilia from Oppenheimer's era. One is a letter from his secretary to the Buildings and Maintenance Department requesting that a carpenter come to Dr. Oppenheimer's office and drive a nail into the wall so that Dr. Oppenheimer could have a place to hang his hat. A second letter, dated some months later, is a repeat request for the same action. I was well aware that Oppenheimer was a theoretical physicist and not an expermental physicist never the less I marveled at the fact that he was apparently incapable of using even simple tools.I found this lack of a practical approach to a low level technical problem disconserting. If Oppenheimer had learned how to use a hammer to drive a nail perhaps things might have ended for him some what differently. We will never know.

5 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oppenheimer, Bethe and their moral responsibility, January 16, 2001

By 

J. Kellner (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In the Shadow of the Bomb (Hardcover)

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to find out something about two of the greatest scientists of the 20th century. I originally bought this book for a paper on J.R. Oppenheimer's ethical behaviour and I was a bit disappointed that the main part of where he completely changed his point of view concerning the development of the atomic bomhb and the H-bomb was written in the introduction. It is the most informative part of the book anyway, since it is easy to read even if you didn't have more than an introductory course in Physics at school.

All in all I can say that this is a book that gives a good look behind the scenes of science, in the mind of these two scientists who helped shape the world as we enter the next millennium.