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Very cool Article! For all the political discord going on in this day and age, reading this transcript really does make me feel proud to be an American.

to3m 10y ago
I'd keep quiet about that if I were you! The tree of liberty might be looking a bit peaky...
kmonad 10y ago
What a strange reaction to reading this document.
- blackflame7000 10y ago
  If you read the transcript, you can see that the Germans really were in awe of what was accomplished by the Americans with the time and resources available. It makes me proud to know that my nation can get pass the BS when push comes to shove and do the impossible when the impossible needs doing. As an engineer I have a profound understanding and respect for people who dare to do what others said couldn't be done. It's one of the things that motivates me to learn. For me, I think it's really cool to hear others say "Wow I didn't think you could do that!"
  - matthewmorgan 10y ago
    Except that: "Research and production took place at more than 30 sites across the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.", and relied heavily on German-Jewish scientists who had fled the Nazi regime, as well as British research.
    - hga 10y ago
      But it was America's unique industrial prowess that made it work, especially in time to effect the end of the war. No less a figure than Neals Bohr believed it impossible on those grounds, said in 1939 "It can never be done unless you turn the United States into one huge factory", and when "Nicholas Baker" visited America, remarked that was indeed just what we'd done or were doing. "The Arsenal of Democracy" was not just a slogan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_of_Democracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_of_Democracy).
davesque 10y ago
I actually agree. It seems there was no other time in recent history when we were truly in the right about so many things. I believe there are some passages in this document that touch on this: "HAHN: I must honestly say that I would have sabotaged the war if I had been in a position to do so." "...They then went on to discuss the feelings of the British and American scientists who had perfected the bomb and HEISENBERG said he felt it was a different matter in their case as they considered HITLER a criminal..." "WEIZSÄCKER: Our strength is now the fact that we are 'un–Nazi'." Many of the physicists mentioned here expressed doubts about the Nazi regime. Perhaps it could be said that they didn't achieve the bomb because, in many ways, they didn't want their leaders to possess it. So there was a kernel of doubt preventing them from doing so. On the other hand, the Americans did not have that problem since they "considered Hitler a criminal" and viewed it as imperative that they win the war at any cost. Maybe this made the moral question of whether or not to achieve the bomb less of an obstacle for them. That gave a psychological benefit which facilitated the work they were doing.
- blackflame7000 10y ago
  Yes that is an excellent point! Moral superiority and the imparitive to act are highly motivating factors. What's interesting is that when faced with the opposite senario, humans tend to default to inaction rather than be a whistleblower. Moral superiority is only motivating if the majority is on your side.
  - hga 10y ago
    Perhaps the single most curious things in Rhode's book is what put them off the path of graphite moderated natural uranium reactors, the work of a single unreliable scientist who, as it happened, was not using pure enough graphite (too many neutron poisons, it was quite a challenge for us to get graphite pure enough). That pretty much dead ended their efforts on the science front, heavy water natural uranium reactors are quite possible (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor although I remember reading somewhere the Canadians had access to extra rich in U-235 uranium), but definitely not trivial, especially when we were zapping their supplies of heavy water from Norway.
krenoten 10y ago
America today is not the America of WWII. We are not saving the world from Hitler today, we are blowing up weddings and causing Europe to be flooded by refugees running from the chaos left in the power vacuum we created. The reaction to this caused Brexit, and nationalism across Europe is again on the rise thanks in large part to our foreign policy.
fit2rule 10y ago
For all the transcripts that make Americans happy, there are plenty that will make them miserable.

to3m 10y ago

I'd keep quiet about that if I were you! The tree of liberty might be looking a bit peaky...

kmonad 10y ago

What a strange reaction to reading this document.

blackflame7000 10y ago
If you read the transcript, you can see that the Germans really were in awe of what was accomplished by the Americans with the time and resources available. It makes me proud to know that my nation can get pass the BS when push comes to shove and do the impossible when the impossible needs doing. As an engineer I have a profound understanding and respect for people who dare to do what others said couldn't be done. It's one of the things that motivates me to learn. For me, I think it's really cool to hear others say "Wow I didn't think you could do that!"
- matthewmorgan 10y ago
  Except that: "Research and production took place at more than 30 sites across the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.", and relied heavily on German-Jewish scientists who had fled the Nazi regime, as well as British research.
  - hga 10y ago
    But it was America's unique industrial prowess that made it work, especially in time to effect the end of the war. No less a figure than Neals Bohr believed it impossible on those grounds, said in 1939 "It can never be done unless you turn the United States into one huge factory", and when "Nicholas Baker" visited America, remarked that was indeed just what we'd done or were doing. "The Arsenal of Democracy" was not just a slogan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_of_Democracy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_of_Democracy).

davesque 10y ago

I actually agree. It seems there was no other time in recent history when we were truly in the right about so many things. I believe there are some passages in this document that touch on this: "HAHN: I must honestly say that I would have sabotaged the war if I had been in a position to do so." "...They then went on to discuss the feelings of the British and American scientists who had perfected the bomb and HEISENBERG said he felt it was a different matter in their case as they considered HITLER a criminal..." "WEIZSÄCKER: Our strength is now the fact that we are 'un–Nazi'." Many of the physicists mentioned here expressed doubts about the Nazi regime. Perhaps it could be said that they didn't achieve the bomb because, in many ways, they didn't want their leaders to possess it. So there was a kernel of doubt preventing them from doing so. On the other hand, the Americans did not have that problem since they "considered Hitler a criminal" and viewed it as imperative that they win the war at any cost. Maybe this made the moral question of whether or not to achieve the bomb less of an obstacle for them. That gave a psychological benefit which facilitated the work they were doing.

blackflame7000 10y ago
Yes that is an excellent point! Moral superiority and the imparitive to act are highly motivating factors. What's interesting is that when faced with the opposite senario, humans tend to default to inaction rather than be a whistleblower. Moral superiority is only motivating if the majority is on your side.
- hga 10y ago
  Perhaps the single most curious things in Rhode's book is what put them off the path of graphite moderated natural uranium reactors, the work of a single unreliable scientist who, as it happened, was not using pure enough graphite (too many neutron poisons, it was quite a challenge for us to get graphite pure enough). That pretty much dead ended their efforts on the science front, heavy water natural uranium reactors are quite possible (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor although I remember reading somewhere the Canadians had access to extra rich in U-235 uranium), but definitely not trivial, especially when we were zapping their supplies of heavy water from Norway.

krenoten 10y ago

America today is not the America of WWII. We are not saving the world from Hitler today, we are blowing up weddings and causing Europe to be flooded by refugees running from the chaos left in the power vacuum we created. The reaction to this caused Brexit, and nationalism across Europe is again on the rise thanks in large part to our foreign policy.

fit2rule 10y ago

For all the transcripts that make Americans happy, there are plenty that will make them miserable.