The Quantum Exodus: Jewish Fugitives, the Atomic Bomb, and the HolocaustIt was no accident that the Holocaust and the Atomic Bomb happened at the same time. When the Nazis came into power in 1933, their initial objective was not to get rid of Jews. Rather, their aim was to refine German culture: Jewish professors and teachers at fine universities were sacked. Atomic science had attracted a lot of Jewish talent, and as Albert Einstein and other quantum exiles scattered, they realized that they held the key to a weapon of unimaginable power. Convinced that their gentile counterparts in Germany had come to the same conclusion, and having witnessed what the Nazis were prepared to do, the exiles were afraid. They had to get to the Atomic Bomb first. The Nazis meanwhile had acquired a more pressing objective: their persecution of the Jews had evolved into extermination. Two dreadful projects - the Bomb and the Holocaust - became locked in a grisly race. |
Contents
1 Neutrons and Nazis | 1 |
2 The rise of German science | 16 |
3 Cultural cleansing | 34 |
4 Emblematic emigrants | 59 |
5 The fall of German science | 74 |
6 Plagues | 95 |
7 Abide with me | 118 |
8 Fission mission | 137 |
10 For in much wisdom is much grief | 173 |
11 Science and anxiety | 201 |
Europe redux | 225 |
A list of emigrant scientists | 241 |
| 250 | |
Acknowledgements | 254 |
| 256 | |
9 Gathering nuclear fuel | 156 |
Other editions - View all
The Quantum Exodus: Jewish Fugitives, the Atomic Bomb, and the Holocaust Gordon Fraser Limited preview - 2012 |
The Quantum Exodus: Jewish Fugitives, the Atomic Bomb, and the Holocaust Gordon Fraser No preview available - 2016 |
The Quantum Exodus: Jewish Fugitives, the Atomic Bomb, and the Holocaust Gordon Fraser No preview available - 2012 |
Common terms and phrases
academic Alamos already appeared army arrived Atomic Austria authorities awarded became become began Berlin Bohr bomb born Britain British called Cambridge career century CERN changed Chemistry Civil Service Law colleagues continued Copenhagen culture died discovered effort Einstein emigrant energy Europe European father Fermi finally fission followed forced formally Frisch Germany in 1933 Göttingen happened Heisenberg Hitler idea important initially Institute Italy Jewish Jews laboratory later learned leave Left Germany letter light lived London looked major March mathematical moved Nazi needed Neumann neutron Nobel Prize nuclear objective offer Oxford Pais Peierls physicist physics political position quantum quantum mechanics returned Rhodes Schrödinger scientific scientists soon Soviet Szilard Teller took turned University uranium von Neumann wanted wartime Weisskopf wife York young Zurich