Maybe Hamming didn't "know about the formulas for the capture cross sections for oxygen and nitrogen". But "after all, there could be no experiments at the need

Maybe Hamming didn't "know about the formulas for the capture cross sections for oxygen and nitrogen". But "after all, there could be no experiments at the needed energy levels" seems like a valid point. However, perhaps "knowing" physics includes coming up with likely values for currently unmeasurable parameters. > I was pacing up and down the corridor when a friend asked me what was bothering me. I told him. His reply was, "Never mind, Hamming, no one will ever blame you." Right. If there was any blaming to be done, nobody left alive would know what Hamming's role had been.