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blu
Step on my cubes.
Joined: 19 Mar 2003
Posts: 4638
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OK, for starters let's look at the whole paragraph off of the web site you got that from:
Einstein's greatest role in the invention of the atomic bomb was signing a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt urging that the bomb be built. The splitting of the uranium atom in Germany in December 1938 plus continued German aggression led some physicists to fear that Germany might be working on an atomic bomb. Among those concerned were physicists Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner. But Szilard and Wigner had no influence with those in power. So in July 1939 they explained the problem to someone who did: Albert Einstein. According to Szilard, Einstein said the possibility of a chain reaction "never occurred to me", altho Einstein was quick to understand the concept (Clark, pg. 669+; Spencer Weart & Gertrud Weiss Szilard, eds., "Leo Szilard: His Version of the Facts", pg. 83). After consulting with Einstein, in August 1939 Szilard wrote a letter to President Roosevelt with Einstein's signature on it. The letter was delivered to Roosevelt in October 1939 by Alexander Sachs, a friend of the President. Germany had invaded Poland the previous month; the time was ripe for action. That October the Briggs Committee was appointed to study uranium chain reactions.
( From: http://www.doug-long.com/einstein.htm )
Now, this is saying that because of worrying about Germany destroying the world, that he agreed to *SIGN* a letter to influence the decision. This was to a person that Einstein trusted, FDR.
Let's take some more quotes from that same article:
" the atomic bomb would have been invented without Einstein's letters, but that without the early U.S. work that resulted from the letters, the a-bombs might not have been ready in time to use during the war on Japan"
"The atomic bomb related work that Einstein did was very limited and he completed it in two days"
"Prof. Albert Einstein... said that he was sure that President Roosevelt would have forbidden the atomic bombing of Hiroshima had he been alive and that it was probably carried out to end the Pacific war before Russia could participate."
Einstein later wrote, "I have always condemned the use of the atomic bomb against Japan."
" five months before his death, Einstein summarized his feelings about his role in the creation of the atomic bomb: "I made one great mistake in my life... when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification - the danger that the Germans would make them."
OK, that to me doesn't seen like this horrible contradiction that you were trying to imply.
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Thu Jan 22, 2004 5:24 pm
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