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ACT 2 ***Interlocutor
moves center stage and waits till audience settles*** Interlocutor. After dinner, talk moves from discussion of what happened in the test to the question of what use to make of the bomb that had been created. A momentous decision faces the President of the United States.
O. I think we all deserve another drink, don’t you? Scotch anyone? F.
Thank you Oppie. I think I need something after that steak. It was wonderful,
but molto, molto caldo. B.
Yes, thank you. Perhaps if the formula for the sauce is not too secret, you
could share it with me. It would take the chill off a winter’s day in Denmark.
Do you mind if I smoke my pipe, Kitty? O.
No. please go right ahead, I’ll join you. Kitty? I see you‘ve helped
yourself. Klaus? Fu.
Please. GG
I’ll pass on the drink Dr. Oppenheimer. I have to be in Washington shortly. B.
Everything‘s moved so fast, Enrico. You remember the conference at George
Washington University in January 39. I had just had a letter from Lise Meitner
about Hahn’s experiment in Berlin producing barium when bombarding uranium
with neutrons. The meeting became very lively about fission of a uranium nucleus
liberating large amounts of energy. They
suggest a demonstration to the Japanese and other world leaders to show how
powerful the bomb is. Their opinion is that this is the way to end the war
without thousands of people having to die.
*** K sits again*** GG.
Yeh, I know all about that in detail; General Pa Watson told me. He was there
when your buddy Alexander Sachs carried the letter to Roosevelt back in 39. To
get his line across, Sachs told the President a story about a young American
inventor offering Napoleon a fleet of steamships to reach England in any weather
and it seems Napoleon chased him away. Well, the President chewed on this
mistake of Napoleon for a while and then sent some servant to dig out a bottle
of Napoleon brandy. He had a drink with Sachs and then said "What you’re
after, Alex, is to see that the Nazis don’t blow us up, right?" He then
told General Watson "Pa, this requires action". That’s how we got
underway. F.
Thanks Oppie K.
Yes. Obviously it has. B.
Now is the time for openness between all nations. We should bring all our allies
including France and Russia, into this program and try every other approach to
end this war before using the bomb on Japan. GG.
Professor, your approach is ridiculously naïve. The fascists in Europe and the
Japs are not the only threats. Right this minute the communists are making plans
to crush those countries in Europe that their armies control. They’ll do the
same in Japan if we let them in. You know what Stalin does to his own people -
murdering anyone who disagrees with him? Do you think any place on earth will be
safe if he has the bomb? Fu.
I thought the Russians are supposed to be our allies, General? They liberated my
country, and I am grateful. I have English nationality now, but I’m sure that
my family and friends in Germany are very happy to have the Nazis off their
necks. B.
And I don’t think that you have fully absorbed what I have just said
General…there can be no secrets in science… Yesterday we got there first but
any other nation has only to work out how to do it; everybody knows what needs
to be done. Russia has many
good scientists and soon they will build a weapon just as we have…as powerful
or perhaps more powerful. ***Fu.
Rises and exits back left*** Fu.
Excuse me. B.
For decades to come the public will be suspicious of the motives of
scientists because of the secrecy surrounding the development of atomic weapons
here at Los Alamos. GG.
It’ll take ‘em twenty years, the Russians. B.
But if we can build some trust while they are still our allies, perhaps we can
control the proliferation of these terrible things. Surely anyone who could see
what we all saw yesterday would know that the bomb should never be used against
people. F.
There is a more big problem out there - making bombs with hydrogen isotopes
slamming together. This could be making our Trinity test look like firework. But
how are we stopping people now ? A thousand time more powerful is just another
step down the road. You can be doing the arithmetic behind an envelope. The bomb
we made will be trigger for hydrogen weapon soon. GG
And you guys think you are going to put your toys away now.
Forget that, you’re not going to explore this next step? Of course you
are. And even if you don‘t you can bet that another bunch of scientists will
pick it up where you lay it down. Just hope to God they live in a democracy like
this and not a totalitarian jungle like Russia. O.
More tobacco Niels? B.
No thank you Robert. GG.
I’m sure what you’ve been telling me is very important to you,
Professor Bohr, and you think the world will live or die depending on whether we
accept your ideas or not. Sir, let me use an old Army expression you are full
of crap. The nations of the world would love to get their hands on the secret of
how to make an atomic bomb. We‘d have every tin-pot dictator in the world
building ‘em. The decisions’ll be made by people in Washington who aren’t
sheltered from the real world in their ivory towers like you. ***Fu
returns to his seat.*** K.
General Groves, your opinions outside the military arena never cease to amaze
me. You should remember that my husband, Dr. Fermi, and Professor Bohr were Three
Star Scientists long before you were a One Star General. These
scientists, sitting around this table, created this monster while your people
were pushing papers around in Washington. Yesterday, they showed the world that
they could annihilate this planet. They’ll be remembered as the people who did
this, not you, and they have to carry that terrible responsibility for what they
have done. Their opinions should be listened to. They ‘re not locked in ivory
towers; it’s you and the military who are locked away from humanity. Their
genius made a frightening bomb, and it’s their opinions that should be sought
by the leaders of this country, not yours. GG..
I’ll ignore your rudeness, Mrs. Oppenheimer. The decision rests with the
President of the United States. .
Yes but its you who will report back to Washington on what happened yesterday.
The President will only know what you choose to tell him.
He could make the decision without ever knowing anything about the
opinions of the scientists who are actually responsible for this bomb GG.
You do not know what goes on Mrs. Oppenheimer. If you really want to know I have
already talked to President Truman about use of the bomb. You misjudge us if you
think we haven’t taken minimizing loss of life into account. We have selected
the target cities with that very much in mind. B.
General, if I could come back to my central argument. It is possible that
President Truman is not entirely cognizant of my earlier discussions with
President Roosevelt before he died. He was kind enough to give me his time and
seemed to be in total agreement with my view of the importance of international
agreements to control the spread and possible use of these terrible weapons. ***
O. pushes candy to GG.*** O.
Help yourself General. GG.
Thank you. B.
We should be considering what the world will be like after the fighting
is over. All the world must be made aware of this discovery of atomic energy and
made to realize that the fates of all nations are now closely intertwined. GG.
He probably said that he understood what you were saying. I can’t believe that
he said he agreed. B.
The only way mankind can escape this horrible sword of Damocles hanging over its
head is to give serious consideration to establishing international controls to
ensure that atomic energy will only be used for peaceful purposes and never in
warfare. This great discovery cannot become the property of just one or two
nations but must serve all nations. O.
It’s certainly true that all scientists, who worked on the bomb, are bothered
by the fact that such great discoveries become the property of a group of often
poorly-informed politicians. Most scientists believe this latest discovery
should become the property of all mankind and could serve for unprecedented
progress. What’s next? Either reason will prevail or we could be facing a
devastating war, destroying our civilization. If I understand your view, Neils,
you believe it’s impossible for a nation to retain an atomic monopoly
indefinitely on the basis of secrecy, and that consequently international
control is our only hope of preventing a secret nuclear arms race which could
lead to catastrophe. GG
You people are responsible for designing and building a weapon of war. That’s
it. You knew it when you came here. Others are responsible for how it is used.
The President has said we must go for a military target.
All ramifications will be looked at before we drop it. B
I don’t think we are challenging where "the buck stops" as you put
it in this country. But the President has to rely on people like you to help him
formulate his policies. You have such a fixed attitude that I believe you will
fail to lay out the issues properly before the policy makers in your Country. It
will be a great tragedy, for example, if the possibility of a demonstration
isn’t explained to the President as a viable option. GG
Let me try to punch home to you all one last time, since it’s getting late,
what matters in the decision about dropping the bomb on Japan. There are three
possibilities: *** stands, thumps fist into hand to emphasize each point, paces
about*** ONE:
The President could decide to invade Japan. Our estimates, based on the Okinawa
massacre, say we would loose half a million men and the Japs ten times that.
This would also give the Russians time to get in on the act perhaps attacking
the North Islands themselves. I’ve no illusions about Russia being a friend of
the US. War makes strange bedfellows and we should remember they were on the
side of the Nazis at the beginning of this war, not ours. B.
There are many who think an invasion will not be necessary. GG.
Let me finish:- TWO: The President could decide to starve the Japanese
into submission which would certainly spare the lives of many Americans. But
that isn’t a pretty picture for you either, is it? If the US navy blockades
Japan for a year or more, millions of Jap civilians would starve to death. THREE:
The President could decide to drop the bomb on selected Japanese cities killing
some tens of thousands of Japs, mostly military, and bringing the war to an end
in weeks. This saves our boys, keeps out the Russians and establishes us as
world leader. B.
General, you’ve again not included the fourth option of demonstration. We
still have two bombs, the uranium bomb that hasn’t been tested and Fat Man,
the other plutonium bomb, like the one yesterday. You will have yet another two
or three bombs in a few weeks? Why
not offer a demonstration. This would say to the world ‘See, we have this
weapon but we are ready to renounce its use against people if the Japanese
government will surrender.’ It would be a demonstration showing that America
is willing to work towards an international agreement including safeguards to
ensure that these weapons would never be used again. If Japan won’t agree to
this demonstration, only then would you bomb one of their cities. GG.
We don't have time to fool around with a demonstration. One of your Princeton
longhairs, John Wheeler, working at Hanford told me his brother was killed in
the fighting in Italy last year. More than a million people are dying each year.
If we had been able to use this bomb a year ago to stop the war, we could
have saved Dr. Wheeler's brother and a million other lives. F.
I am very with you, General, but you are missing a point. If we are the first to
use this thing against other peoples, we are loosing moral high ground and
everyone is thinking us becoming just like Stalin, Hitler and those in Japan. We
are becoming, how you say, the bad guys. We have been fighting moral war and not
sinking to where are the other side. As you explain, the options for the
President are very not pleasant. Option 1 kills many Americans, many Japanese
and lets the Russians into Japan. Option 2 kills many more of the enemy, in
‘orrible way, keeps Russians out but let’s war go on long time. Option 3 is
making us as the barbarians even if ending the war but makes America
"master race". I think Neils is asking “is that what we want”?
Have demonstration and if going wrong is different ball game as you are saying. GG.
Did they give us a demonstration of what bombs could do to ships before they
moved on Pearl Harbor? K.
When I was at school, General, I was taught that two wrongs do not make a right. GG.
Do you really believe we could accept any guarantee the Japs would give us? In
any case, we don’t have fighters to reach Japan. The B-29s that go in have
would be on their own. And if the test was a dud we’d be a laughing stock. The
military’d never agree to such a harebrained scheme. K.
So we should bomb the hell out of them to save our troops. The end justifies the
means. You know, General, that was exactly the argument Hitler used when he
bombed Holland before moving in. So Hitler was right, was he General? GG.
WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON, MRS. OPPENHEIMER? If your son Peter was just one of those
half million boys we could lose, you would fly the bomb over yourself!
I’m going. ***Kitty hangs her head. Everyone starts to make
motions to leave.*** B.
Yes it is time we were on our way. F.
Thank you Kitty I am much enjoying the dinner. Fu.
Thank you for asking me. I’ll try
and catch Dick Feynman up O.
Let’s not end our celebration on a sour note; let’s not get angry with one
another. We’re supposed to be drinking to our success in making the bomb work
but we’ve finished up arguing about the future - that’s still clouded in
uncertainty and we’ve all got different opinions. Yesterday morning’s
explosion concentrated our minds wonderfully but we should eat drink and be
merry while we can. Tomorrow, for
sure, will bring still greater problems. GG.
Robert – I will see you in my office in the Pentagon at 9:30, Thursday
morning. K.
You men make war. We women
pay and pay. How many millions of dollars did your big bang cost yesterday?
Meanwhile, the women in this god-forsaken place can’t even get the diapers for
their children washed. ***Everyone except O. and K. leave the stage*** POSTSCRIPT ***Kitty
and O sit dejectedly amid the ruins of the dinner with the dirty plates and
glasses on the table. Oppenheimer with his head in his hands and Kitty smoking
and drinking slowly. *** Interlocutor
-
Robert Oppenheimer was initially treated as a hero and from his new position as
head of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton advised the government on
nuclear weapons and nuclear power. He refused to support the speeded up
development of the hydrogen bomb, and the Atomic Energy Commission removed his
security clearance after a contentious hearing in which he lied about his
left-wing contacts and had only lukewarm support from some of his former
colleagues. He never again served the government in any capacity though towards
the end of his life he was again accorded national honors. He died of cancer in
February 1967. After
Robert’s death Kitty dated and traveled with Robert Serber, who had been one
of the principle scientists at Los Alamos. Some of their friends thought that
they would marry but nothing ever came of it. She died of abdominal problems in
1972. Their daughter Toni
committed suicide. Their son
Peter flunked college and has lived his life as a recluse. Enrico
Fermi returned to the University of Chicago and accepted a professorship in a
new Institute for Nuclear Studies. He continued to do important theoretical
research in particle physics as well as experimental work with the Chicago
cyclotron. He died of stomach cancer in 1954 and the newly discovered element
100 was named fermium in his honor. Klaus
Fuchs returned to England in 1946 and became head of the theoretical division in
the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell.
Early in 1950 American security discovered that he had been passing
information to the Russians and informed the British. He was tried for violating
the Official Secrets Act and sentenced to 18 years in prison. His British
citizenship was revoked. After his release after serving 9 years, he went to
Leipzig in Eastern Germany and again took up research. He died there in 1988. Richard
Feynman became professor of physics initially at Cornell University and won the
Nobel Prize in 1965 for his discoveries in quantum electrodynamics. The Feynman
Lectures in Physics set a new standard for the teaching of physics, and his
report on the Challenger disaster led to substantial improvements in safety at
NASA. He died of cancer in February 1988. Niels
Bohr returned home to Carlsberg in Denmark and again took up the leadership of
his Institute in Copenhagen. He traveled widely and lectured on peace and the
atomic bomb. In November 1962 he died of heart failure. In Denmark he is honored
second only to the King and Queen. General
Groves continued directing the atomic bomb project until the Atomic Energy
Commission was created in 1947. After losing the battle to keep control
of the further development of nuclear weapons and nuclear power, he retired from
the Army and became a businessman with Remington Rand. He died in
1973. The
understanding of the behavior of the atomic nucleus has brought many benefits in
its wake- the generation of electricity, applications in medicine, agriculture
and industry. But the atomic
bomb cast its dark shadow over the interactions between nations throughout the
second half of the 20th century. It ended the most vicious war that has ever
been fought and no other war between world powers has occurred since then. It
made the United States the most powerful nation on earth. It also challenged
civilization to seek a peaceful way out of its conflicts or to self-destruct. Lights
come down.
End
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