Why did the Third Reich, for all its industrial might and
technological resources, fail to create a nuclear bomb? That's the
central concern of this masterful, wide-angle reckoning by Powers
(Thinking about the Next War, 1982, etc.). At the heart of the
panoramic narrative is Werner Heisenberg, whose work on quantum
mechanics and the so-called uncertainty principle earned him
considerable fame during the 1920's. Along with most other
world-class physicists, Heisenberg was fascinated by fission's
potential. But unlike many colleagues who had emigrated because of
Hitler's institutionalized anti-Semitism, he remained in Germany
throughout the war. Love of country partially explained this
difficult decision, which also involved a desire to preserve and
protect Germany's scientific future. At any rate, Heisenberg - who
early on had convinced Albert Speer and the Wehrmacht that A-bombs
were a mission impossible - "was free to do what he could to guide
the German atomic research effort into a broom closet." Fellow
scientists - in particular, those assigned to the Manhattan Project
- were generally reluctant to accept Heisenberg's subsequent
apologia. Nor at the time did Allied intelligence believe that he
was trying to develop reactors rather than bombs. Powers
nonetheless determines that the unwillingness of Heisenberg and
other German physicists to put a superweapon at the disposal of a
military/police state was indeed a root cause of Hitler's failure
to become a charter member of the nuclear club. In reaching this
arguably persuasive conclusion, the author provides vivid vignettes
on Heisenberg's peers - Hans Bethe, Niels Bohr, Enrico Fermi, Otto
Hahn, Robert Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard, etc. Covered as well are the
counterespionage campaigns mounted by Anglo-American agents
(including baseball player Moe Berg), who at one point seriously
considered abducting or assassinating Heisenberg. A comprehensive
and resonant overview, notable for its compassionate perspectives
on the moral dilemmas faced by men of genius caught up in a global
conflict. (Kirkus Reviews)
One of the last secrets of World War II is why the Germans failed
to build an atomic bomb. Germany was the birthplace of modern
physics it possessed the raw materials and the industrial base and
it commanded key intellectual resources. What happened?In
Heisenberg's War , Thomas Powers tells of the interplay between
science and espionage, morality and military necessity, and
paranoia and cool logic that marked the German bomb program and the
Allied response to it. On the basis of dozens of interviews and
years of intensive research, Powers concludes that Werner
Heisenberg, who was the leading figure in the German atomic effort,
consciously obstructed the development of the bomb and in a famous
1941 meeting in Copenhagen with his former mentor Neils Bohr in
effect sought to dissuade the Allies from their pursuit of the
bomb. Heisenberg's War is a "superbly researched and well-written
book" ( Time ) whose extraordinary story engrosses- and haunts.
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