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Weizsc̃ker, Carl Friedrich, Freiherr von, 1912-2007
Oral history interview with Carl Friedrich Weizsacker, 1986 January 28.
The new physics institute, the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut f r Physik (of the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft), established in 1935 partly with Rockefeller Foundation money. Weizsc̃ker joins in 1936; Peter Debye as first director; comparison to other physics institutes (Niels Bohr Institute). Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft's place in German science in comparison with the Universities; interdisciplinary contacts; good German science (i.e., Werner Siemens) important for industry. Foreign support of German science in the 1930s, and the isolation of German science later on. Views on National Socialism in the 1930s; dealings with industrial crisis and unemployment. The Wehrmacht's takeover of Fritz Haber's Institut, and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellshaft's reaction (Otto Hahn's letter to Max Planck, 1933). Germany's place in international physics prior to the late 1930s. Views on uranium research, and Hahn's speech on fission at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut in 1939. The Heeres-Waffenamts (Weapons Ordnance Department) takeover of the Institut, and subsequent departure of Debye for the United States (Ernst Telschow); the "Uranium Society." The atomic bomb, the building, the builders of it, and the ethics of the atomic bomb (the building of it, the builders, and the ethics involved are discussed at length. Weizsc̃ker's presidency of the Max Planck Institut f r Physik; comments on teaching and other responsibilities of a university professor; comments on scientific revolutions and normal science. Discussion of philosophy of science, on becoming and on being a scientist; physics as the fundamental science. Also prominently mentioned are: Ludwig Biermann, Niels Bohr, Bosch, Adolf Butenandt, Max Delbr ck, Diebner, Albert Einstein, James Franck, Samuel Goudsmit, Fritz Haber, Otto Hahn, Werner Heisenberg, Adolf Hitler, Max von Laue, Philipp Lenard, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Georg Picht, Max Planck, Schumann, Werner Siemens, Leo Szilard, Edward Teller, and Vg̲ler.
Biermann, Ludwig, 1907-1986.
Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962.
Bosch
Butenandt, Adolf, 1903-
Debye, Peter J. W. (Peter Josef William), 1884-1966-
Delbr ck, Max.
Diebner, Kurt
Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955
Franck, James, 1882-1964.
Goudsmit, Samuel A. (Samuel Abraham), 1902-1978
Haber, Fritz, 1868-1934.
Hahn, Otto, 1879-1968.
Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976
Hitler, Adolph, 1889-1945.
Laue, Max von, 1879-1960.
Lenard, Philipp, 1862-1947.
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Picht, Georg
Planck, Max, 1858-1947.
Schumann
Siemens, Werner von
Szilard, Leo.
Teller, Edward, 1908-2003
Telschow, Ernst, 1889-1988
Vogler
Weizsc̃ker, Carl Friedrich, Freiherr von, 1912-2007
Kaiser Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Fr̲derung der Wissenschaften.
Rockefeller Foundation.
Atomic bomb
National Socialism.
National socialism and science.
Physics -- Germany.
Science and state -- Germany.
Oral histories. aat
Interviews. aat
Sound recordings lcgft
Transcripts. aat
Macrakis, Kristie, interviewer.
AIP-ICOS
American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
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