Walther Bothe's Graphite: Physics, Impurities, and Blame in the German Nuclear Program (2020)
The physics, experimental setup, and analysis of results involved in Walther Bothe and Peter Jensen's mistaken 1941 measurement of the capture cross section for thermal neutrons by carbon are examined. Their experiment, while well-conceived and executed, was corrupted by the presence of unappreciated impurities. This erroneous measurement was crucial as it prompted a decision by German military administrators to abandon graphite as a possible moderator for a nuclear pile in favor of heavy water, a decision which set their program back irreparably.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Book
Hoffmann, Klaus;
(2001)
Otto Hahn: Achievement and Responsibility
Chapter
Vincenzo Cioci;
(2016)
Alvin Weinberg e il nucleare: Riflessioni su Hiroshima 70 anni dopo
Article
B. Cameron Reed;
(2018)
From Fission to Censorship: 18 Months on the Road to the Bomb
Chapter
Vincenzo Cioci;
(2009)
Szilard e Rasetti: due scienziati a confronto
Article
Sime, Ruth Lewin;
(2012)
The Politics of Forgetting: Otto Hahn and the German Nuclear-Fission Project in World War II
Book
Cassidy, David;
(2008)
Beyond Uncertainty: Heisenberg, Quantum Physics, and the Bomb
Book
Ball, Philip;
(2014)
Serving the Reich: The Struggle for the Soul of Physics under Hitler
Article
Santos, Gildo Magalhães;
(2014)
A Tale of Oblivion: Ida Noddack and the “Universal Abundance” of Matter
Book
Szasz, Ferenc Morton;
(2012)
Atomic Comics: Cartoonists Confront the Nuclear World
Book
Carlo Bernardini;
(2009)
La fisica nucleare e subnucleare nel '900 in Italia: lo sviluppo spontaneo di una scuola scientifica di frontiera
Article
Cesareo, Roberto;
(2000)
Dalla radioattività artificiale alla fissione nucleare: 1934-1939
Chapter
Giulio Maltese;
(2009)
Enrico Fermi e il suo ruolo nella scienza, in Italia e in America
Chapter
Simone Turchetti;
(2009)
Il brevetto, la bomba atomica e l'FBI : storia del brevetto Fermi sul metodo per la produzione di sostanze radioattive artificiali, 1934-1953
Article
Morgenweck-Lambrinos, Vera;
Trömel, Martin;
(2001)
Wissenschaft und Legende: eine Nachbetrachtung zu Lise Meitner, Otto Hahn und die Kernspaltung: eine Legende aus unseren Tagen
Thesis
Yruma, Jeris Stueland;
(2008)
How Experiments Are Remembered: The Discovery of Nuclear Fission, 1938--1968
Article
Fick, Dieter;
Kant, Horst;
(2009)
Walther Bothe's Contributions to the Understanding of the Wave-Particle Duality of Light
Article
Fick, D.;
(2012)
Bothe's 1925 Heuristic Assumption in the Dawn of Quantum Field Theory
Article
Mangravite, Andrew;
(2011)
Hot Pursuit
Chapter
Walker, Mark;
(2009)
Nuclear Weapons and Reactor Research at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Physics
Thesis
Lueckel, Wolfgang;
(2010)
Atomic Apocalypse---“Nuclear Fiction” in German Literature and Culture
Be the first to comment!