Werner Heisenberg

Werner Karl Heisenberg (December 5, 1901 – February 1, 1976) was a celebrated German physicist and Nobel laureate, one of the founders of quantum mechanics. He was born in Würzburg, Germany and died in Munich. Heisenberg was the head of Germany's nuclear energy program, though the nature of this project, and his work in this capacity has been heavily debated.

Work during the War

Nuclear fission was discovered in Germany in 1939. Heisenberg remained in Germany during World War II, working under the Nazi regime. He belonged to a team led by Professor Walther Bothe to develop one of Germany's many nuclear weapon/nuclear power programs, but the extent of his cooperation in the development of weapons has been a subject of historical controversy. Heisenberg's work comprised various efforts to create sustained fission reactions and possibly the creation of a Plutonium breeder reactor at the cave in Hechingen. A rival atomic bomb project was led by Prof. Kurt Diebner for Heerswaffenamt. In contrast, Prof. Kurt Diebner and Dr Paul Harteck worked on uranium enrichment and a uranium based atomic bomb.

Related Topics:
Nuclear fission - 1939 - Germany - World War II - Nazi - Nuclear weapon - Nuclear power - Kurt Diebner

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It is shown (from the Farm Hall transcripts) that Heisenberg, even in 1945, was mistaken in his calculations of the critical mass of uranium required for an atomic bomb—he did not take into account the "drunkard's walk" trajectory of the slow neutrons emitted, grossly overestimating the critical mass, and concluding that it was too great to allow a bomb to be made—and therefore Germany was not even close to producing a nuclear weapon during the war. Covert eavesdropping on the interned scientists revealed that, on hearing the news of the Allied bombing of Hiroshima, he was convinced that it was an untrue propaganda trick, so sure was he that the critical mass was impracticably large. Some historians have questioned the reliability of the transcripts, as Heisenberg probably knew that he was being monitored; others believe that his shock could not have been feigned.

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It has been pointed out that Japanese physicist Dr. Yoshio Nishina did manage to correctly calculate the critical mass of uranium required to sustain a chain reaction. There was co-operation between Nazi scientists and the Japanese bomb project; Nazi Germany shipped uranium oxide to Japan for enrichment during 1944.

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Heisenberg revealed the atomic bomb program's existence to Bohr at a conference in Copenhagen in September 1941. After the meeting, the lifelong friendship between Bohr and Heisenberg ended abruptly. Bohr later joined the Manhattan Project. It is known that Reich's munitions minister Albert Speer was Heisenberg's strongest ally in the Nazi leadership and that Speer attempted to divert research funds away from nuclear weaponry. Speer came into conflict with other Nazi leaders for this stance. For this reason the SS ensured that funding was also given to rival nuclear projects without Speer's knowledge.

Related Topics:
1941 - Manhattan Project

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It has been speculated that Heisenberg had moral qualms and tried to slow down the project. Heisenberg himself attempted to paint this picture after the war, and Thomas Power's book Heisenberg's War and Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen adopted this interpretation. Part of this interpretation is based on the fact that Heisenberg did not champion the project to Albert Speer in a way which got it any attention or very much funding (which Samuel Goudsmit of the ALSOS project interpreted as being partially because Heisenberg himself was not fully aware of the feasibility of an atomic bomb). At best (for Heisenberg), he may have tried to hinder the German project; at worst, he may have just been ignorant of how to create an atomic bomb.

Related Topics:
Michael Frayn - Copenhagen - Albert Speer - Samuel Goudsmit - ALSOS

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uncomment this if it can be attributed

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(it has been wryly commented that one can know either Heisenberg's morality in this respect, or his competence, but not both).

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