new ideas: 300 years of newton's laws modified by Einstein's theories lead to the first chain reaction
"The history of the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, like that of all scientific achievements, begins with man's first philosophical speculations about the nature of the universe. Its ultimate consequences are still unpredictable. The sequence of discoveries leading to the atomic chain reaction was part of the search of science for a fuller explanation of nature and the world around us. No one had any idea or intent in the beginning of contributing to a major industrial or military development."
- Enrico Fermi
Chicago Sun-Times, "Fermi's Own Story", Nov. 23, 1952
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Albert Einstein: How I See the World, 1991
theory of relativity
"...it was his equation (E=mc2) which |
Albert Einstein: How I See the World, 1991
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Timeline of discoveries
"The story begins in Paris in 1896 when Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered the existence of radioactive elements;...
Two years later, also in Paris, Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium,...
In Zurich, Switzerland, in 1905, Albert Einstein announced his belief that mass was equivalent to energy.
A most important discovery came in 1912 when Ernest Rutherford discovered the minute but heavy nucleus which forms the core of an atom.
Then, in 1932,...Walther Bothe in Germany, and Frederic Joliot-Curie in Paris prepared the ground work that led James Chadwick of England to the discovery of the neutron.
The next step was taken in Rome in 1934. In experiments in which I was concerned it was shown that these neutrons could disintegrate many atoms, including those in uranium.
The final stepping-stone was put in place in Berlin when Otto Hahn, working with Fritz Strassman, discovered fission or splitting of the uranium atom.. When Hahn achieved fission, it occurred to many scientists that this fact opened the possibility of a form of nuclear (atomic) energy. The year was 1939. A world war was about to start."
- Enrico Fermi
Chicago Sun-Times, "Fermi's Own Story", Nov. 23, 1952
first successful chain reaction
"Enrico Fermi was the chief architect of that atomic furnace, which he named "pile," but has since become better known as a nuclear reactor."
The New York Times: Obituary, Nov. 29, 1954
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"At Columbia Fermi joined forces with H. L. Anderson, Zinn and Szilard, to study the possibility of developing a chain reaction in uranium. Szilard and Fermi decided to try a pile of graphite blocks interposed with lumps of uranium. A huge pile of graphite and uranium had arisen in the West stands of the University of Chicago Campus. When, on 2 December 1942, Enrico Fermi stood before that silent monster he was its acknowledged master. Whatever he commanded it obeyed. When he called for it to come alive and pour forth its neutrons it responded with remarkable alacrity; and when at his command it quieted down again, it had become clear to all who watched that Fermi had indeed unlocked the door to the Atomic Age." |