Elemental Germans: Klaus Fuchs, Rudolf Peierls and the Making of British Nuclear Culture 1939–59

289 Pages·2012·2.288 MB·English

by  Christoph Laucht (auth.)

Elemental Germans

Elemental Germans
Klaus Fuchs, Rudolf Peierls and the
Making of British Nuclear Culture 1939–59
Christoph Laucht
Lecturer in 20th Century British History, University of Leeds
© Christoph Laucht 2012
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-35487-6
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ISBN 978-1-349-34667-7 ISBN 978-1-137-02833-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137028334
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In memory of Dr med Reinhard Laucht
(1943–2010)

Table of Contents
List of Figures viii
Preface ix
List of Abbreviations xii
Introduction 1
1 Difficult Beginnings: Social Integration between
Survival and Internment 12
2 Almost Accidental Beginnings: Professional Integration
between Marginalization and British–American Nuclear
Cooperation 31
3 American Interlude: The Manhattan Project, the
Atom Bomb and the Emergence of a New Approach
to Nuclear Research 56
4 A Nation Betrayed? The Klaus Fuchs Atomic Espionage
Case Reconsidered 82
5 Subject to Suspicion: Rudolf Peierls and the Klaus
Fuchs Espionage Case 110
6 The Responsible Scientist: Rudolf Peierls and the
Formation of the Atomic Scientists’ Association 125
7 The ‘Unpolitical’ Scientist: Rudolf Peierls, the Concept
of ‘Objective’ Science and the End of the Atomic
Scientists’ Association 151
Conclusions and Afterthoughts 172
Notes and References 178
Bibliography 237
Index 257
vii
List of Figures
1.1 Genia and Rudolf Peierls, date unknown. Photograph by
Francis Simon, Source: American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Francis Simon Collection,
Peierls Rudolf G 1 14
2.1 Rudolf Peierls (centre) at the University of Leipzig, 1931,
Source: AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Rudolf Peierls
Collection, Peierls Rudolf D 5 35
3.1 The Los Alamos Trading Post, October 1945, Source:
Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, United Kingdom,
The Papers and Correspondence of Egon Bretscher, BRER
A.62.a/0418. Courtesy of the Bretscher Family. Reprinted
with kind permission 59
4.1 Klaus Fuchs, 1960, DEFA-Photo, German Democratic
Republic, Source: AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Physics
Today Collection, Fuchs Klaus B 1 104
6.1 Rudolf Peierls, Sir James Chadwick and Geoffrey
Ingram Taylor, Cambridge, date unknown, Source: AIP
Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Gift of Dr Andrew Brown,
Peierls Rudolf C 10 133
7.1 Peierls on a visit to the West German capital of
Bonn in 1979, Source: AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives,
Rudolf Peierls Collection, Weizsäcker Carl D 3 155
viii
Preface
The famed physicist and so- called father of the atom bomb, J. Robert
Oppenheimer, once wrote to a friend that he was extremely fond of
physics and the arid wilderness of the American Southwest, but doubted
whether he would ever be able to bring them together. In 1943, he was
able to combine them when he became the scientific director of the
Manhattan Project’s central Los Alamos laboratory in the state of New
Mexico. While my mathematical skills are far from enabling me to even
remotely share Oppenheimer’s fondness of physics, I have developed
a considerable interest in the history of nuclear physics over the years,
and share his love for the American Southwest. For it was during a visit
to Los Alamos in September 2001 that I started my investigation of
the histories of nuclear culture and the Land of Enchantment, as the
state of New Mexico is also known. And, to a large extent, this book is
the product of these interests.
A large project like this book requires the help of many people
from various phases of my academic life. At the University of Kiel,
Dr J ens- Peter Becker introduced me to American cultural history.
During a one- year exchange programme at the University of Arizona
in 1998–9, Professor Michael Schaller subsequently sharpened my
awareness of Cold War – and in particular nuclear – history. After my
return to Germany, Professor Brigitte Fleischmann supervised my first
investigation of American atomic culture and established contact with
the University of New Mexico (UNM) where I continued with my
examination of the topic as part of an MA course in German Studies.
At UNM, I am enormously indebted to a number of people who sup-
ported me on my voyage into the world of nuclear culture, in particular
Dr A nne- Marie Werner- Smith, Professors Emeriti Warren Smith and
Peter Pabisch as well as the late Professors Ferenc Szasz and Timothy
Moy who offered very useful advice in the early stages of my research
but sadly passed away before this book was finished.
The focus of my research then changed in 2005 when I started
my Ph.D. degree in the University of Liverpool’s School of Cultures,
Languages and Area Studies. I am extremely grateful to my doctoral
supervisor Professor Eve Rosenhaft for her help, support and encour-
agement, and my second supervisor Professor David Seed for valuable
advice. My Ph.D. examiners Professor Martin Daunton and Dr Will
ix