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I've always wondered. What kind of government secrets were they worried he'd let slip? It's been so long that they must be declassified by now. His breadth of e

I've always wondered. What kind of government secrets were they worried he'd let slip? It's been so long that they must be declassified by now. His breadth of expertise was so great, it'd be interesting to know what kind of contributions he was making to the government.

nwah1 8y ago
Could file a FOIA and find out.
- btrettel 8y ago
  A list of his work with the Atomic Energy Commission could be obtained from OSTI: https://www.osti.gov/freedom-information-act-foia https://www.osti.gov/freedom-information-act-foia For the Department of Defense, you could get a list from DTIC: https://discover.dtic.mil/email-form-dtic-foia https://discover.dtic.mil/email-form-dtic-foia I doubt much if anything interesting by von Neumann is still classified or limited. If something is still classified it's probably because no one wanted to declassify it, not that it's sensitive. If anyone does file FOIA requests for these lists, contact me, as I'm interested but not interested enough to file the requests. See my HN profile for a link to my personal website with a contact form.
  - areoform 8y ago
    I think that you might be underestimating his work. He was not just a physicist, but a system's integrator when it came to the military. He almost single-handedly structured our deterrence stance. There were von Neumann committees where he shaped the heart of American nuclear and ICBM policy. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a416289.pdf https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a416289.pdf He also designed The Critical Component that's kept classified by most governments. These lenses are what compress plutonium to trigger the reaction in a fission device and they're also used in other manners for fusion weapons. von Neumann did so much and knew so much that we might never know the extent of his true contributions to applied science. http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/02/01/weekly-document-12-implosion-to-declassify-or-not-to-declassify-1945/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/02/01/weekly-document-12...
    - btrettel 8y ago
      Thanks for the comment and the links. You may be right. My comment was based on what I am familiar with that was previously classified. (All of which has been since declassified, so there's probably sampling bias.) I don't know much about nuclear weapons, or von Neumann's involvement in them for that matter.
      - areoform 8y ago
        No problem! There's no way for us to know about things that are so classified that only a few people have seen it all. NSA hacks aside, the US Government keeps a tight lid on these sorts of things. All we get to see are the papers and rumors from the periphery. I highly recommend the Nuclear Secrecy blog if you'd like to learn more! It's totally like being in a teenage clique that's playing a game of chinese whispers, with the added side bonus of nuclear weapons and global annihilation. Come for the clique, stay for the nuclear winter. http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/
      - wrycoder 8y ago
        Also, you could look at George Dyson’s (son of Freeman) book about von Neumann, “Turing’s Cathedral”. Included is detail about the early computer he developed that did the hydrogen bomb hydrodynamic calculations for the Los Alamos lab.
  - no_identd 8y ago
    Anyone actually doing this, please use https://www.muckrock.com https://www.muckrock.com for your FOIA. It'll save you effort and everyone else who wants the same information, too.
  - orbifold 8y ago
    I believe the precise way in which slow neutrons are produced to start nuclear fission is still classified.
auntienomen 8y ago
von Neumann played a major role in the development of the nuclear weapons. Not just the Manhattan project, but also in the development of the hydrogen bomb and ICBMs. It's pretty likely that those are the secrets the government was guarding in 1953.

nwah1 8y ago

Could file a FOIA and find out.

btrettel 8y ago
A list of his work with the Atomic Energy Commission could be obtained from OSTI: https://www.osti.gov/freedom-information-act-foia https://www.osti.gov/freedom-information-act-foia For the Department of Defense, you could get a list from DTIC: https://discover.dtic.mil/email-form-dtic-foia https://discover.dtic.mil/email-form-dtic-foia I doubt much if anything interesting by von Neumann is still classified or limited. If something is still classified it's probably because no one wanted to declassify it, not that it's sensitive. If anyone does file FOIA requests for these lists, contact me, as I'm interested but not interested enough to file the requests. See my HN profile for a link to my personal website with a contact form.
- areoform 8y ago
  I think that you might be underestimating his work. He was not just a physicist, but a system's integrator when it came to the military. He almost single-handedly structured our deterrence stance. There were von Neumann committees where he shaped the heart of American nuclear and ICBM policy. https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a416289.pdf https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a416289.pdf He also designed The Critical Component that's kept classified by most governments. These lenses are what compress plutonium to trigger the reaction in a fission device and they're also used in other manners for fusion weapons. von Neumann did so much and knew so much that we might never know the extent of his true contributions to applied science. http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/02/01/weekly-document-12-implosion-to-declassify-or-not-to-declassify-1945/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2012/02/01/weekly-document-12...
  - btrettel 8y ago
    Thanks for the comment and the links. You may be right. My comment was based on what I am familiar with that was previously classified. (All of which has been since declassified, so there's probably sampling bias.) I don't know much about nuclear weapons, or von Neumann's involvement in them for that matter.
    - areoform 8y ago
      No problem! There's no way for us to know about things that are so classified that only a few people have seen it all. NSA hacks aside, the US Government keeps a tight lid on these sorts of things. All we get to see are the papers and rumors from the periphery. I highly recommend the Nuclear Secrecy blog if you'd like to learn more! It's totally like being in a teenage clique that's playing a game of chinese whispers, with the added side bonus of nuclear weapons and global annihilation. Come for the clique, stay for the nuclear winter. http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/
    - wrycoder 8y ago
      Also, you could look at George Dyson’s (son of Freeman) book about von Neumann, “Turing’s Cathedral”. Included is detail about the early computer he developed that did the hydrogen bomb hydrodynamic calculations for the Los Alamos lab.
- no_identd 8y ago
  Anyone actually doing this, please use https://www.muckrock.com https://www.muckrock.com for your FOIA. It'll save you effort and everyone else who wants the same information, too.
- orbifold 8y ago
  I believe the precise way in which slow neutrons are produced to start nuclear fission is still classified.

auntienomen 8y ago

von Neumann played a major role in the development of the nuclear weapons. Not just the Manhattan project, but also in the development of the hydrogen bomb and ICBMs. It's pretty likely that those are the secrets the government was guarding in 1953.