Heterogeneous Catalysis - ACS Publications - American Chemical

17 Einstein in the U. S. Navy STEPHEN BRUNAUER

Downloaded by UNIV OF ARIZONA on January 6, 2013 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: June 3, 1983 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1983-0222.ch017

Clarkson College, Potsdam, NY 13676

The figure of Albert E i n s t e i n has fascinated his contemporaries; he was not only the greatest scientist of our age, but also the best-loved and most admired man among a l l s c i e n t i s t s . Because of his stupendous contributions to science, one of which r e sulted i n the atomic age, his name became known, through newspapers, magazines, radio and t e l e v i s i o n , not only to the educated laymen, but also to those who had less education than the present audience; and even those who know the name of no other s c i e n t i s t know the name of E i n s t e i n . Several biographies of E i n s t e i n were published, which dealt with almost every aspect of his life, but one aspect of his life - i n my opinion an important aspect - was not discussed i n any of them but one, and i n that only very b r i e f l y and to some extent misleadingly. This aspect i s the story of how E i n s t e i n , a l i f e l o n g p a c i f i s t , helped during World War II to fight the Nazis through his work for the U.S. Navy. The best and most complete biography of E i n s t e i n was written by Ronald W. Clark, with the title E i n s t e i n , the L i f e and Times, and it was published by the World Publishing Company i n 1971. Clark devoted less than two pages i n his 631-page book to E i n s t e i n ' s work for the Navy Bureau of Ordnance, and even that i s p a r t l y erroneous, based on George Gamow's book My World Line. This i s not C l a r k ' s f a u l t ; he wrote what scant information he received, and apparently no one referred him to the person who could have given him both more and more accurate i n formation, namely, to me. At the time Mr. Clark wrote his book, I was a professor i n the Department of Chemistry at Clarkson College of Technology. F i r s t I have to tell you the background of how E i n s t e i n and I became acquainted. At the time of 0097-6156/83/0222-0217$06.00/0 © 1983 American Chemical Society In Heterogeneous Catalysis; Davis, B., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1983.


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P e a r l Harbor, I was a r e s e a r c h chemist i n the U.S. Department o f A g r i c u l t u r e . S o o n a f t e r that, I a p p l i e d f o r a commission i n the Navy. A f t e r a l o n g drawn-out f i g h t w i t h the Navy, which i n c l u d e d one r e j e c t i o n , I won the f i g h t , and r e c e i v e d my commission as a f u l l l i e u t e n a n t ( e q u i v a l e n t t o a c a p t a i n i n the Army) on September 2, 1942. A f t e r t h a t i t took more than a month u n t i l I l o c a t e d a b i l l e t i n the Bureau o f Ordnance and was c a l l e d i n f o r a c t i v e duty. Mr. C l a r k , f o l l o w i n g Gamow's book, wrote about the " D i v i s i o n o f High E x p l o s i v e s " i n the Bureau o f Ordnance, but t h e r e was no such t h i n g . The Bureau had a "Research and Development D i v i s i o n (Re)," the d i v i s i o n had a s e c t i o n c a l l e d "Ammunition and E x p l o s i v e s (Re2)", and the s e c t i o n had a s u b s e c t i o n c a l l e d "High E x p l o s i v e s and P r o p e l l a n t s (Re2c)." I was a s s i g n e d t o Re2c. I t had two o t h e r r e s e r v e o f f i c e r s i n i t when I j o i n e d , and we d i v i d e d the work among ourselves. One became head o f p r o p e l l a n t r e s e a r c h , I became head o f h i g h e x p l o s i v e s r e s e a r c h , and the t h i r d , who was a l i e u t e n a n t j . g . , became my a s s i s t a n t and deputy. I was, on the b a s i s o f my broad e x p e r i ence i n the f i e l d , e x c e l l e n t l y q u a l i f i e d f o r my assignment. I knew the names o f two h i g h e x p l o s i v e s : TNT and dynamite. With t h a t knowledge, I became head o f h i g h e x p l o s i v e s r e s e a r c h and development f o r the w o r l d ' s l a r g e s t Navy! But I was young and l e a r n e d f a s t ; furthermore, the s t a f f kept on growing as the war p r o g r e s s e d . I a c q u i r e d two groups o f c i v i l i a n s c i e n t i s t s ; one headed by one o f the speakers a t t h i s meeting, Raymond J . Seeger; another o f t o n i g h t ' s speakers, Harry Polachek, was i n t h i s group; the o t h e r group was headed by Gregory Hartmann, who e v e n t u a l l y became T e c h n i c a l D i r e c t o r o f the post-war Naval Ordnance L a b o r a t o r y a t White Oak. I a l s o had a few o f f i c e r s . Besides the p e o p l e d i r e c t l y under me, I had v e r y many o t h e r s c i e n t i s t s working f o r us i n d i r e c t l y . The g r e a t majori t y o f the c i v i l i a n s c i e n t i s t s d o i n g war r e s e a r c h was o r g a n i z e d i n t o t h e National Defense Research Committee (NDRC), which had two d i v i s i o n s doing r e s e a r c h on high explosives: D i v i s i o n 2, headed by P r o f e s s o r E. B r i g h t W i l s o n o f Harvard U n i v e r s i t y , which worked on underwater e x p l o s i v e s i n Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and Division 8, headed by Professor George K i s t i a k o v s k y , a l s o o f Harvard, which worked on e x p l o s i v e s i n a i r i n Bruceton, P e n n s y l v a n i a . This i s a l o n g i n t r o d u c t i o n t o my meeting E i n s t e i n , but I bel i e v e i t was n e c e s s a r y t o see the set-up t o understand b e t t e r what I w i l l say from t h i s p o i n t on.

In Heterogeneous Catalysis; Davis, B., et al.; ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1983.


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The top people o f the Army, Navy and the two c i v i l i a n d i v i s i o n s had o c c a s i o n a l j o i n t c o n f e r e n c e s to d i s c u s s t h e i r r e s e a r c h on h i g h e x p l o s i v e s . At one such c o n f e r e n c e , the name o f E i n s t e i n was mentioned by somebody. That gave me an i d e a . I asked the Army p e o p l e whether E i n s t e i n was working f o r them. The answer was no. Then I asked the c i v i l i a n s whether E i n s t e i n was working f o r them, and the answer a g a i n was no. Why? "Oh, he i s a p a c i f i s t , " was the answer, "furthermore, he i s not i n t e r e s t e d i n a n y t h i n g practical. He i s o n l y i n t e r e s t e d i n working on h i s u n i f i e d f i e l d theory." I was not s a t i s f i e d w i t h t h e s e answers. L i k e those who gave the answers, I was i g n o r a n t o f the f a c t t h a t E i n s t e i n had changed h i s p a c i f i s t views p u b l i c l y s i n c e H i t l e r ' s a s c e n s i o n to power; nor d i d I know t h a t E i n s t e i n was i n t e r e s t e d in practical things. The first biography of E i n s t e i n , t h a t o f P h i l i p p Frank, was t o appear o n l y four years l a t e r . Nevertheless, I f e l t that E i n s t e i n c o u l d not be a p a c i f i s t i n a war w i t h H i t l e r , nor d i d I b e l i e v e t h a t he would be u n w i l l i n g t o c o n t r i b u t e h i s e f f o r t s t o t h i s war. So I d e c i d e d t h a t I would t r y t o get E i n s t e i n f o r the Navy. In the second week o f May, 1943, I wrote a l e t t e r t o E i n s t e i n , a s k i n g h i s p e r m i s s i o n t o v i s i t him in Princeton. The g r a c i o u s consent came by r e t u r n mail. The v i s i t took p l a c e on May 16. A f t e r the p l e a s a n t p r e l i m i n a r i e s , I asked E i n s t e i n whether he would be w i l l i n g t o become a c o n s u l t a n t f o r the Navy i n g e n e r a l , and f o r me, i n the f i e l d o f h i g h e x p l o sives research, i n p a r t i c u l a r . E i n s t e i n was tremend o u s l y p l e a s e d about the o f f e r , and v e r y h a p p i l y gave h i s consent. He f e l t v e r y bad about b e i n g n e g l e c t e d . He had not been approached by anyone t o do any war work s i n c e the U n i t e d S t a t e s e n t e r e d the war. He s a i d t o me, "People t h i n k t h a t I am i n t e r e s t e d o n l y i n t h e o r y , and not i n a n y t h i n g p r a c t i c a l . This i s not t r u e . I was working i n the Patent O f f i c e i n Z u r i c h , and I p a r t i c i p a t e d i n the development of many i n v e n t i o n s . The gyroscope too." I said, "That's f i n e . You are h i r e d . " We both laughed, and agreed t h a t E i n s t e i n would t a l k the d e t a i l s over w i t h Dr. Frank A y d e l o t t e , the D i r e c t o r o f the I n s t i t u t e f o r Advanced Study, where E i n s t e i n was employed. Already on the next day, both Einstein and A y d e l o t t e wrote s e p a r a t e l e t t e r s t o me, and i t i s worth q u o t i n g both l e t t e r s i n f u l l . Both l e t t e r s came on the s t a t i o n e r y o f the I n s t i t u t e . The f o l l o w i n g was E i n s t e i n ' s l e t t e r :


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May 17, 1943


Dear Lieutenant Brunauer: I have your kind letter of May 13 and have discussed with Dr. Aydelotte, Director of the Institute for Advanced Study, the matter of my cooperation with the Research and Development Division of the Navy. Dr. Aydelotte approved heartily of my participating i n your research operations. He and I both feel that the i n d i vidual contract would be most suitable, and I agree f u l l y with the arrangements outlined i n the enclosed letter from Dr. Aydelotte. I very much enjoyed your v i s i t and look forward with great satisfaction to this association with you i n research on Navy problems. I shall expect to receive from you i n due course the contract and information about the work which you wish me to undertake, and I hope that I shall be able to make some useful contribution. In this connection, I should like to raise one question: Would i t i n any way interfere with my usefulness to the Navy i f I should spend a part of the summer i n a cottage at Lake Saranac? I do not know whether i t w i l l be possible for me to take a holiday away from Princeton i n any case, and certainly i f my usefulness to the Navy would be increased by remaining i n Princeton I should be most happy to do so. If, however, i t would be equally convenient for you, I think I could probably work to better advantage i n the more agreeable climate of Lake Saranac during the hot months of summer. Yours very sincerely, (signed) A. Einstein How c l e a r from t h i s l e t t e r i s E i n s t e i n ' s j o y over t h e f a c t t h a t he was f i n a l l y drawn i n t o t h e war research! "I v e r y much enjoyed your v i s i t and l o o k forward with great s a t i s f a c t i o n t o t h i s a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h you i n r e s e a r c h on Navy problems." I think i t i s o b v i o u s t h a t I enjoyed t h e v i s i t a t l e a s t as much as he. T h i s was my f i r s t o p p o r t u n i t y t o meet t h e man whom I c o n s i d e r e d one o f t h e two g r e a t e s t s c i e n t i s t s o f a l l times (the o t h e r was Newton) . And how c l e a r l y t h e l e t t e r shows E i n s t e i n ' s h u m i l i t y , a s k i n g the p e r m i s s i o n o f a simple Navy l i e u t e n a n t t o spend the summer a t Lake Saranac. I am sure t h a t E i n s t e i n c o u l d n ' t know a t t h a t time t h a t I was a s c i e n t i s t , my f i e l d b e i n g v e r y f a r from E i n s t e i n ' s i n t e r e s t s .


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He c o u l d have w r i t t e n s i m p l y t h a t d u r i n g t h e summer he may be reached a t Lake Saranac, b u t no - he asked the p e r m i s s i o n o f t h e Navy l i e u t e n a n t . N a t u r a l l y he r e c e i v e d i t from me, b u t he d i d n ' t use i t . He stayed at Princeton. The l e t t e r o f Dr. A y d e l o t t e i s a l s o i n t e r e s t i n g and I quote t h a t a l s o i n f u l l . May 17, 1943


Dear Lieutenant Brunauer: Professor Einstein has told me of his conversation with you and showed me your gracious letter of May 13th suggesting arrangements under which he may be of assistance to the Navy for theoretical research on explosives and explosions. In talking over the matter with Professor Einstein he and I have both come to the conclusion that probably the best arrangement would be for the Navy to make an individual contract with him on the basis of $25 per day, Professor Einstein to l e t you know at intervals the amount of time he has actually spent on Navy problems. I think i t i s important to leave i n the arrangements for an assistant i n case a great deal of routine work should be necessary, although Professor Einstein cannot t e l l at this time whether or not he w i l l need the services of an assistant. I take the liberty of writing to you simply to say that the Institute f o r Advanced Study cordially approves of this arrangement with Professor Einstein and looks forward with pride to having him undertake this service for the Navy. Believe me, (signed) Frank Aydelotte, Director T h i s g r a c i o u s l e t t e r shows t h a t Dr. A y d e l o t t e was doubly happy about my o f f e r : f o r t h e sake o f E i n s t e i n and f o r t h e sake o f h i m s e l f and t h e I n s t i tute. The most amusing p a r t o f t h e l e t t e r f o r us today i s t h e c o n s u l t a n t f e e o f $25 p e r day f o r t h e world's g r e a t e s t s c i e n t i s t . I t was a r i d i c u l o u s l y s m a l l f e e even a t t h a t time. As t o t h e a s s i s t a n t mentioned i n t h e l e t t e r , i t was never needed because no r o u t i n e work was ever a s s i g n e d t o P r o f e s sor E i n s t e i n . The o r i g i n a l s o f t h e two l e t t e r s a r e i n t h e Navy o r i n t h e A r c h i v e s , b u t I had p h o t o c o p i e s made o f them, and had them framed. This i s the only t h i n g I had on a w a l l o f my o f f i c e , wherever I



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worked, and one o f the g r e a t e s t j o y s i n my l i f e has been t h a t I was a b l e t o make E i n s t e i n happy. And so I became, u s i n g some e x a g g e r a t i o n suggested by a f r i e n d , E i n s t e i n ' s "boss" f o r t h r e e y e a r s . The news o f my s u c c e s s f u l v i s i t spread like w i l d f i r e i n the Bureau o f Ordnance. O f f i c e r s , from e n s i g n s t o a d m i r a l s , came t o me w i t h the q u e s t i o n , " i s i t t r u e t h a t P r o f e s s o r E i n s t e i n i s working f o r us?" When they found out t h a t i t was t r u e , i t s e t t l e d the matter o f the outcome o f the war i n t h e i r minds. The U. S. Navy and E i n s t e i n were an unbeata b l e combination. Einstein's security clearance was obtained v e r y q u i c k l y , and the c o n t r a c t was s i g n e d on May 31. Soon a f t e r t h a t , I made my second t r i p t o E i n s t e i n , t a k i n g t o him f o r c o n s i d e r a t i o n one o f the toughest problems t h a t p u z z l e d us a t t h a t time. The problem was whether the d e t o n a t i o n o f a torpedo s h o u l d be i n i t i a t e d i n the f r o n t o r i n the r e a r . The t h r e e most important c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f the shock wave produced i n a d e t o n a t i o n are the peak pressure, the impulse or momentum o f the shock wave, which i n c l u d e s the d u r a t i o n o f the shock, and the energy r e l e a s e d i n the e x p l o s i o n . If in a torpedo the d e t o n a t i o n o f the h i g h e x p l o s i v e i s i n i t i a t e d a t the forward end, one o b t a i n s the h i g h e s t peak p r e s s u r e . I f the d e t o n a t i o n i s i n i t i a t e d i n the r e a r end, one o b t a i n s the h i g h e s t momentum. The energy developed i s the same, r e g a r d l e s s where the e x p l o s i o n i s i n i t i a t e d . So the q u e s t i o n was which o f the t h r e e main c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s causes the most damage. I f i t i s the peak p r e s s u r e , the exp l o s i o n s h o u l d be i n i t i a t e d a t the f r o n t end o f the torpedo; i f i t i s momentum, i t s h o u l d be i n i t i a t e d a t the r e a r end, and i f i t i s the energy, the l o c a t i o n o f the i n i t i a t i o n does not make any d i f f e r ence . E i n s t e i n was t h i n k i n g about the problem f o r about t e n minutes, and f i n a l l y chose momentum and gave the reasons. But a few days l a t e r I r e c e i v e d a l e t t e r from him t e l l i n g me t h a t he gave much f u r thur thought to the matter, and changed his conclusion. He d e c i d e d t h a t the energy developed i n the e x p l o s i o n was the most important f a c t o r , and gave his reasons. Very expensive experiments performed much l a t e r showed t h a t he was r i g h t . Of c o u r s e t h i s s u b j e c t was h i g h l y c o n f i d e n t i a l d u r i n g the war, but I hope t h a t now - t h i r t y - f i v e y e a r s later - i t is declassified.



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T h i s i s a good example o f t h e problems we took t o E i n s t e i n , and t h i s one example s h o u l d suffice. He always gave v e r y c a r e f u l thought t o t h e problems we took t o him and always came up w i t h a r e a s o n a b l e answer. I a l l u d e d t o some m i s l e a d i n g statements i n C l a r k ' s e x c e l l e n t book. These he took from George Gamow. Gamow, a b r i l l i a n t t h e o r e t i c a l p h y s i c i s t , was a l s o one o f my c o n s u l t a n t s d u r i n g t h e Second World War. A c c o r d i n g t o Gamow ' s s t o r y , he was t h e Navy's l i a i s o n man w i t h E i n s t e i n ; he took t h e r e s e a r c h we d i d t o E i n s t e i n , who l i s t e n e d w i t h i n t e r e s t and p r a i s e d t h e work. The i m p l i c a t i o n i s t h a t E i n s t e i n o n l y " l i s t e n e d , " b u t made no c o n t r i b u t i o n , and t h i s i s f a l s e . Less important i s t h e i m p l i c a t i o n t h a t he was t h e o n l y c o n t a c t w i t h E i n s t e i n . He claimed that he v i s i t e d E i n s t e i n e v e r y two weeks, which i s n o t t r u e ; I v i s i t e d E i n s t e i n about once i n two months and t h a t was more f r e q u e n t t h a t Gamow's v i s i t s . Raymond Seeger and many o t h e r s also u t i l i z e d Einstein's services. I mention here two men. A young man, who worked on torpedoes i n t h e o l d Naval Ordnance Laboratory, asked my p e r m i s s i o n to consult Einstein about h i s r e s e a r c h . N a t u r a l l y , I gave my permission. My co-workers and I c o n s i d e r e d t h i s young man v e r y b r i l l i a n t , b u t we d i d n o t s u s p e c t t h a t he would be t h e f i r s t man, and t o date t h e o n l y one, t o r e c e i v e two Nobel P r i z e s i n t h e same s u b j e c t , physics. H i s name i s John Bardeen. Another man was Henry E y r i n g , who i s one o f t h e g r e a t e s t p h y s i c a l c h e m i s t s o f t h e c o u n t r y and t h e w o r l d . Eyring was then a p r o f e s s o r a t P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y , b u t he had never met E i n s t e i n . He and h i s b r i l l i a n t group o f young co-workers worked on a h i g h explosives project f o r us. I introduced Henry t o E i n s t e i n , and our walk i n E i n s t e i n ' s garden became one o f t h e g r e a t e x p e r i e n c e s o f E y r i n g ' s l i f e . I f I were asked t o s t a t e what s p e c i f i c c o n t r i b u t i o n s were made by E i n s t e i n t o our h i g h explos i v e s r e s e a r c h , I would have t o say t h i s . New and more e f f e c t i v e high explosives were developed d u r i n g t h e war, and they were used by t h e Navy and the Army (which then included t h e A i r Force) a g a i n s t Germany, Japan and t h e i r a l l i e s . (I found out l a t e r t h a t a t l e a s t t h e underwater e x p l o s i v e s , p o s s i b l y o t h e r s , were a l s o used i n t h e Korean and the Vietnam War.) But these developments were t h e r e s u l t s o f t h e e f f o r t s o f l a r g e groups o f people, i n c l u d i n g E i n s t e i n . I t i s impossible t o assess the c o n t r i b u t i o n s o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l s w i t h i n t h e groups. The new developments r e s u l t e d from team work, and



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E i n s t e i n was a member o f the team - t h r e e o f t o n i g h t ' s speakers were members o f the team. But i t i s easy t o a s s e s s the v a l u e o f a d i f f e r e n t type o f contribution of E i n s t e i n - h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n to morale. I t was u p l i f t i n g t o know t h a t " E i n s t e i n was one o f us." I l e a r n e d from C l a r k ' s book t h a t i n J u l y 1943, i . e . , soon a f t e r E i n s t e i n j o i n e d the Navy, he wrote to h i s f r i e n d Bucky, "So l o n g as the war l a s t s and I work f o r the Navy, I do not wish t o b e g i n anyt h i n g e l s e . " But we were unable t o s u p p l y him w i t h enough work t o occupy him f u l l time. Whenever I v i s i s t e d him, I found t h a t the t a l l and l o n g b l a c k board i n h i s study was filled from the l e f t t o right end, and from top t o bottom, w i t h long, complicated equations, w r i t t e n w i t h neat, s m a l l s i z e d symbols - o b v i o u s l y work on the u n i f i e d f i e l d theory. Nor were my b i m o n t h l y or more or l e s s f r e quent v i s i t s spent on b u s i n e s s a l o n e . A f t e r the business came the c o n v e r s a t i o n . We t a l k e d about p r o g r e s s o f the war, about i n t e r e s t i n g items i n the news, about h i s t o r y , p h i l o s o p h y , about personal experiences, and about a g r e a t v a r i e t y o f other things. E i n s t e i n had a wonderful sense o f humor; he l o v e d t o make w i t t y remarks and t e l l humorous anecdotes. He laughed h e a r t i l y a t h i s own jokes and a l s o a t mine. H i s well-known w i s e c r a c k , "I am i n the Navy, but I was not r e q u i r e d t o get a Navy h a i r c u t , " was born i n one o f our c o n v e r s a t i o n s . I am v e r y s o r r y now t h a t I d i d not make d e t a i l e d n o t e s a f t e r each t r i p t o E i n s t e i n . But that was the b u s i e s t time o f my l i f e ; I worked seven days a week and twelve hours or more every day, as d i d many others. During t h r e e and a h a l f y e a r s , we had t h r e e days o f f , the t h r e e C h r i s t m a s days. The g r e a t mathematician G. H. Hardy c a l l e d E i n s t e i n "good, g e n t l e , and wise," and i t would be d i f f i c u l t t o f i n d b e t t e r a d j e c t i v e s f o r him than these. But I would add one more, "humble." You c o u l d see t h a t i n h i s l e t t e r t o me, which I read t o you, but t h a t i s o n l y one example. In a l l my v i s its, I received the impression of a genuinely humble p e r s o n . On one o c c a s i o n , he gave me one o f h i s books as a p r e s e n t . I t was The Meaning o f R e l ativity. On the empty page under the cover he wrote i n h i s b e a u t i f u l , s m a l l , c l e a r l e t t e r s o n l y t h i s much: A. E i n s t e i n , and under i t the y e a r , 1945. I was d i s a p p o i n t e d t h a t he d i d not w r i t e more, but I a t t r i b u t e i t t o h i s h u m i l i t y , t o h i s g r e a t modesty.



17.

BRUNAUER


225

C. P. Snow v i s i t e d E i n s t e i n o n l y once i n h i s l i f e , i n the summer o f 1937. He wrote a l o n g essay about h i s v i s i t . He found E i n s t e i n a sad man and a pessimist. D u r i n g the e i g h t hours t h e y spent t o g e t h e r , he heard E i n s t e i n ' s famous l a u g h t e r o n l y once. E i n s t e i n had good reasons t o be p e s s i m i s t i c then; t h a t was the time o f the r a p i d rise of H i t l e r , and the western powers d i d n o t h i n g about it. But s i n c e Snow's essay appeared twelve y e a r s a f t e r E i n s t e i n ' s death, i t c r e a t e d the i m p r e s s i o n t h a t E i n s t e i n was always l i k e t h a t . T h i s i s not so. D u r i n g my visits, while the war lasted, E i n s t e i n was gay and e b u l l i e n t ; i n those v i s i t s he laughed h e a r t i l y and o f t e n . He had good reasons f o r t h a t t o o ; we were on the way t o e r a d i c a t i n g H i t l e r and h i s Nazi system, and E i n s t e i n was - by h i s work i n the Navy - one o f the e r a d i c a t o r s . A l t h o u g h E i n s t e i n ' s t h i r d and l a s t c o n t r a c t as " C o n s u l t a n t f o r Research on E x p l o s i v e s " r a n from J u l y 1, 1945 ( b e f o r e the end o f the war) t o June 30, 1946 (nine months a f t e r the end o f the war), t h e r e was no need t o c o n s u l t him a f t e r the end o f the war. Hiroshima shook up many p e o p l e , and E i n s t e i n more than anyone e l s e . I visited him twice a f t e r the war; last time in April 1946. E i n s t e i n ' s mood changed - he was w o r r i e d about the f a t e o f mankind. I e x p r e s s e d the deep g r a t i t u d e o f the Navy, the Bureau o f Ordnance, and e s p e c i a l l y o f my own f o r the p r i v i l e g e o f working w i t h him, and he i n t u r n thanked me f o r g e t t i n g him i n t o the war r e s e a r c h , which gave him g r e a t s a t i s f a c t i o n . When we s a i d goodbye t o each o t h e r , I was d e e p l y moved, and perhaps he was moved t o o . That was the l a s t time I saw him. Our paths diverged a f t e r that. Our aim was the same: the p r e v e n t i o n o f a t h i r d w o r l d war, but our paths were different. I s t a y e d i n the Navy f o r f o u r and a h a l f more y e a r s t o b u i l d up a new o r g a n i z a t i o n f o r high explosives research and development. E i n s t e i n ' s p a t h was complete disarmament and the e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f a w o r l d government, and he e x e r t e d a l l h i s e f f o r t , and a l l h i s i n f l u e n c e t o a c h i e v e those i d e a l s . As we know, he f a i l e d . I believe t h a t E i n s t e i n knew t h a t h i s e f f o r t s were doomed t o f a i l u r e ; he was a prophet way ahead o f h i s time. But the " c o n s c i e n c e o f the w o r l d , " as E i n s t e i n was c a l l e d , c o u l d not but f i g h t t o the end f o r what he b e l i e v e d , however h o p e l e s s the f i g h t was. T h i s i s the s t o r y o f E i n s t e i n i n the Navy i n a nutshell. I t i s incomplete f o r two r e a s o n s : I


226

HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSIS


m y s e l f c o u l d have s a i d more i f the time a l l o t t e d t o my t a l k had been l o n g e r . What i s more important, d o u b t l e s s o t h e r s c o u l d add t h e i r experiences to mine. Some day a more complete s t o r y w i l l emerge about t h i s important p a r t o f E i n s t e i n ' s l i f e . But even t h i s s h o r t h i s t o r y i s f a r more complete than a n y t h i n g you can f i n d i n p r i n t t o date. Thank you f o r your a t t e n t i o n . E d i t o r ' s Note: In 1979, on the o c c a s i o n o f the one hundredth a n n i v e r s a r y o f E i n s t e i n ' s b i r t h , the Washi n g t o n Academy o f S c i e n c e s h e l d two commemorative meetings. Stephen Brunauer was one o f the i n v i t e d speakers. The t a l k s were s u b s e q u e n t l y p u b l i s h e d i n the J o u r n a l o f the Washington Academy o f S c i e n c e s , 69 #3, 108-113, 1979 (Lancaster Press, Lancaster, PA, j o u r n a l p u b l i s h e r ) . RECEIVED April 5,

1983


Heterogeneous Catalysis - ACS Publications - American Chemical

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