The Man Who Never Got Credit for the Atomic Bomb

Video Statistics and Information

Video
Captions Word Cloud
Reddit Comments
Captions
He may not be as famous as J. Robert Oppenheimer,   but Enrico Fermi’s experiments are what  led to the creation of the atomic bomb. Growing up in Rome, his brightness caught  the attention of his father’s colleague,   railway engineer Adolfo Amidei who  guided him and taught him far more   about math and physics than he  was learning in high school. Had he not nurtured the 13-year-old Enrico,  history might have turned out differently. By the time Enrico entered university in 1918  to study physics at the prestigious Scuola   Normale Superiore in Pisa, there really wasn’t  anything more his professors could teach him.   So he spent a lot of time studying  quantum physics and relativity on his own. He was thoroughly impressed with Einstein’s  Special Theory of Relativity, particularly   his equation E = mc2, which shows that mass  and energy are different forms of the same   thing…and that a small amount of mass can  be converted into a large amount of energy. As a student, he wrote: “If we could  liberate the energy in one gram of   matter we would get more energy than  exerted by a thousand horses working   continuously over three years…an explosion  of such an awesome amount of energy would   blow to pieces the physicist who had the  misfortune of finding a way to produce it.” These words were prophetic,   given his later work developing the  deadliest weapon known to humankind. After studying in Pisa, he went off  to the University of Gottingen in   Germany, where the Italian was  overlooked by his counterparts. Marie Curie apparently “...ignored him  to the point of exceeding rudeness,”   according to a future colleague of his on  the Manhattan Project to build the bomb. As he had done in Pisa, he focused  on probability theory in Germany. His mastery of probability allowed him to  make accurate predictions with minimal data,   a vital piece in figuring out  how to create the atomic bomb. According to biographer David Schwartz,  Fermi’s interest in probability theory   may have been sparked by the death  of his beloved brother Giulio,   who died during an operation on a  throat abscess at just 15 years old. Schwartz surmises, “Fermi may have taken away  from this trauma the need to understand the   likelihood of any particular event and a feeling  that in understanding that probability he was in   a better position to anticipate it, prepare  for it, and perhaps even shape its outcome.” His set of guidelines called  Fermi-Dirac statistics,   developed in tandem with English  physicist Paul Dirac, rely on the   use of probabilistic reasoning to predict the  energy levels of particles called fermions. Imagine particles are concertgoers,  and their energy levels are seats. Just as each person has a unique seat,  each particle has a unique energy level. Just as no two people can share a seat, no  two particles can share the same energy level. His development of Fermi-Dirac statistics  propelled him from his job teaching at the   University of Florence to a prestigious  position at the University of Rome,   where he became Italy’s first  professor of theoretical physics. He sought to establish Rome as  a leading center of physics and   was a natural leader others gravitated toward. In the Italian capital, he developed  his explanation of beta decay,   a process where unstable atoms break down  and emit a specific type of radiation. Fermi proposed that inside these decaying atoms,   one of the neutrons is turning  into a proton. When this happens,   the neutron releases an electron and a tiny,  almost massless particle called a neutrino. Although this theory solidified his  reputation as a leading physicist,   it was his later experiments developing the atomic  bomb that catapulted him into the limelight. He built on the work of Marie Curie and  her husband, Pierre, who discovered that   bombarding substances with tiny particles called  alpha particles could make them radioactive. Inspired by the Curies, Fermi did something  similar using neutrons and discovered that   certain elements bombarded with  neutrons also become radioactive. Fermi thought he had created new elements. He even won the Nobel Prize in  Physics in 1938 for this discovery. But what he had actually  done, was split uranium atoms,   a process that is fundamental to  the operation of an atomic bomb. He didn’t realize it because  he thought the nucleus of a   uranium atom was like a solid brick  wall, incapable of changing shape. It wasn’t until German physicists  replicated his experiments five   years later that they made a monumental  discovery; they realized firing neutrons   at uranium splits the uranium atom,  a process called nuclear fission. This releases an enormous amount of energy,  which is fundamental to nuclear weapons. Fermi found out about his embarrassing  overlook after he moved to America in 1939. Fascist Italy had become intolerable by then. Fermi had actually joined the Fascist party  earlier as it was common for career advancement. However, as Hitler pressed  Mussolini to target Italian Jews,   there was fear that his wife, Laura,  who was Jewish, would be persecuted. Another incentive to leave his homeland was that  the physicist and politician Orso Mario Corbino,   who had guided his career and opened doors  for him, had died suddenly from pneumonia. After Corbino’s death, funding  for his research began to dry up. Fermi took the opportunity of collecting  his Nobel prize at the Awards ceremony   in Stockholm to the quietly head to New  York with his wife and two young children,   where a position awaited  him at Columbia University. Two weeks after arriving in  America on January 2, 1939,   he learned about the major discovery of  nuclear fission that he should have made. But there was no time to  dwell on missed opportunities. Besides, the process of fission  was not fully understood. He joined forces with another  recent American immigrant,   Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard to understand and  control each step of the chain reaction process. They aimed to harness the enormous amount of  energy liberated within a fraction of a second,   opening up the possibility that  uranium could be used for power   generation or, potentially, to build a bomb. They were aware of the implications of  their work in light of the escalating   tensions that would eventually lead  to WWII and informed the U.S. Navy. The dean of graduate studies at Columbia,  George Pegram sent a letter to Admiral   Stanford Hooper outlining the potential  consequences of Fermi’s research: “...this might mean the possibility that  uranium might be used as an explosive that   would liberate a million times as  much energy per pound as any known   explosive. My own feeling is that  the probabilities are against this,   but my colleagues and I think the bare  possibility should not be disregarded…” The U.S. Navy gave Fermi a small  $1,500 grant to continue his work. The government’s interest in Fermi’s research only   intensified after Szilard wrote a letter  to President Roosevelt clearly spelling   out that “extremely powerful bombs of  a new type may thus be constructed”. He warned that Nazy Germany was demonstrating  a keen interest in uranium research,   hinting at their pursuit of a nuclear weapon. The most famous scientist  in exile, Albert Einstein,   signed the letter to give it extra clout. The U.S. government would eventually spend  $2.2 billion to build the first atomic bomb. Scientists had to figure out how much  uranium would be needed to create a bomb,   and how to assemble the bomb in such  a way that it would explode properly. J. Robert Oppenheimer oversaw the  Manhattan Project, coordinating the   many teams who worked on different  aspects of the bomb’s development. The Manhattan Project was so secretive that most  staff had no idea what they were working on. Fermi was primarily responsible for  developing the first nuclear reactor,   which demonstrated that a nuclear chain  reaction could be initiated and controlled. By then, he had moved from Columbia to the  University of Chicago at the request of the   U.S. government, which wanted to consolidate all  the nuclear research projects across the country. On December 2, 1942, he and his team  conducted a nuclear experiment beneath   the University of Chicago's abandoned  football field, in the squash court area. It was the only space with high enough  ceilings to allow the construction of   the pile of bricks of graphite and uranium,  carefully arranged to facilitate a reaction. The graphite slowed down the speed of the neutrons  so that they could cause further fissions. This atomic furnace, called “Chicago Pile-1”,   demonstrated the first self-sustained chain  reaction, ushering in the nuclear age. When Fermi realized the reaction  was self-sustaining, “...his whole   face broke into a broad smile,” described  David Schwartz in his biography on Fermi.  tephen A member   of Fermi’s team recorded the moment in  a logbook, writing: “We’re cookin’!”. The team shared a bottle of wine to mark the  occasion, but they didn’t make any toasts. This wasn’t really a celebratory moment, as they  knew the implications of what they had achieved.   The Chicago “pile” was the predecessor to the  giant nuclear reactors at Hanford, Washington. The U.S. government acknowledges Fermi’s  pivotal role in creating the bomb,   declaring, “More than any individual,   he was responsible for developing a means for  the controlled release of nuclear energy.” Yet, Oppenheimer has gotten  far more credit than Fermi. One reason is that Fermi rarely appeared on TV,   and he wasn’t into self-promotion. And he also  passed away before television became widespread. On the other hand, Oppenheimer was  often interviewed and photographed   as the leader of the Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer recognized and acknowledged  Fermi’s contributions and intellect. At a dinner party after Fermi’s death,   Manhattan Project physicist Leona Libby  recalled that Oppenheimer suggested a   game he called “Who do you want to be on  your day off?” and then, he chose Fermi. In 1944, Fermi moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico,   the main hub for the Manhattan Project,  where he became an associate director. He served as an advisor, offering advice to  other scientists when they ran into problems. On July 16, 1945, scientists detonated the first  nuclear device near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Fermi made a rough calculation of  its explosive energy by dropping   small pieces of paper from his hand as the  shockwave arrived and estimated from their   deflection that the test had released  energy equivalent to 10,000 tons of TNT. The actual result was more than  twice that amount, 21,000 tons. This is enough energy to power two  million American homes for a year. The Trinity device unleashed at  Alamagordo had a plutonium core,   which Fermi and his team achieved  through a series of transformations   with uranium that resulted in the  creation of the human-made element. This design was later replicated in one of  the two devastating bombs dropped on Japan. We don’t know how Fermi reacted to the bombing  of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the hundreds of   thousands of people who perished instantly or who  later died from injuries and radiation sickness. He kept his emotions to himself. What we can glean is that during  the development of the bomb,   Oppenheimer recalled Fermi was surprised  by the group’s enthusiasm for building such   a weapon and remarked, “I believe our  people actually want to make a bomb.” Fermi’s sister Maria did hold strong  views and wrote to her brother: “All, however, are perplexed and  appalled by its dreadful effects,   and with time the bewilderment  increases rather than diminishes.   For my part I recommended you to God,  Who alone can judge you morally.” After the war, Fermi opposed  working on the hydrogen bomb,   which is orders of magnitude more  powerful than the atomic bomb,   on moral and technical grounds…though  he still contributed as a consultant. The detonation of an atomic bomb by the Soviet   Union in 1949 sparked Washington’s  interest in a more powerful weapon. Oppenheimer strongly resisted working  on the hydrogen bomb and faced hearings   that questioned his loyalty,  suspecting him to be a Soviet spy. Despite Fermi and other  scientists coming to his defense,   Oppenheimer had his security clearance revoked. Fermi went on to become a distinguished professor   of physics at the University of Chicago,  where he was regarded as a superb teacher. During his later years, he raised an interesting  question while lunching with colleagues: “Where is everybody?” He was asking why no extraterrestrial  civilizations had been discovered,   despite the great size and age of the universe. This is referred to as a Fermi Paradox because  it’s an apparent contradiction between the high   probability of the existence of aliens due to the  vast number of stars that can potentially host   habitable planets and the lack of human contact  with such civilizations or evidence for them. Fermi’s view was that if intelligent  life existed elsewhere in the universe,   we should have been visited by them long ago. While Fermi contemplated the vastness  of the universe, a more immediate,   personal concern soon cast a shadow over his life. His health had started to decline. In the summer of 1954, he was noticeably fatigued. He visited the doctor in that  fall and they discovered he   had stomach cancer that had metastasized. He was given six months to live. Throughout his career, Fermi was  exposed to radioactive materials,   which may have contributed to  the development of his cancer. Fermi was not a religious person, but as he lay  ill and dying, he received visits from priests. His Manhattan Project colleague Leona Libby  who frequently went to see him recalled: “He spoke of his approaching death as a  great experience, but he asked wistfully   if I thought there was anything valid in the  idea of an afterlife. He was really cross   about dying. I came out after each visit and  drove home with tears streaming down my face.” His condition deteriorated rapidly. Two months after his diagnosis,   on November 28, 1954, Enrico  Fermi passed away at his home. He was 53 years old. In an obituary, the New York Times wrote:  “More than any other man of his time,   Enrico Fermi could properly be named  "the father of the atomic bomb." Fermi’s contributions touch our  lives beyond the realm of physics. Tech companies are known to ask candidates complex   problems during job interviews to see if  they can emulate Fermi’s way of thinking. An example of a “Fermi problem” would be   estimating the number of piano  tuners in a city like Toronto. Toronto has a population of  approximately 3 million people. If we assume an average of 2.5 people per  household, this gives us 1.2 million households. If we assume 1 out of every 50  homes has a piano, there would be   24,000 pianos in Toronto. Since pianos are tuned once   a year on average, there would be a  need for 24,000 piano tunings a year.  If a piano tuner takes two weeks of vacation  a year, they work 50 weeks. If they tune two   pianos a day, five days a week for  50 weeks, that’s 500 pianos a year.  If there’s a need to tune 24,000 pianos a year,  and each tuner can handle 500 pianos a year,   there’d be a need for 48 piano tuners in Toronto. While this answer may not be precise,   it's Fermi's approach to problem-solving  that resonates in our lives today. It's this kind of curious mindset that Brilliant  aims to cultivate in learners of all ages. I really enjoy Brilliant’s logic puzzles  to help sharpen my analytical thinking. Brilliant offers a hands-on, interactive  approach for all of its science,   technology, engineering, and math courses. My viewers really love Brilliant’s Computer   Sciences courses that can help you stay  ahead in today’s competitive marketplace. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re a   beginner or interested in progressing  through their more advanced courses. You can try out Brilliant for FREE for 30 days  with the custom link: brilliant.org/newsthink.   The link is in my description. The first 200  people who sign up with my custom link will get   20% off their Premium subscription which  gives you access to all their offerings. Thanks for watching. I’m Cindy Pom.
Info
Channel: Newsthink
Views: 79,406
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: enrico fermi, oppenheimer, atomic bomb, nuclear bomb, trinity, los alamos, fermi, nuclear fission, chicago pile-1
Id: 1sBw-yh9bIc
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 15min 53sec (953 seconds)
Published: Thu Jun 29 2023
Related Videos
Note
Please note that this website is currently a work in progress! Lots of interesting data and statistics to come.