in reply to Re^9: Organizational Culture (Part VII): Science
in thread Organizational Culture (Part VII): Science

> Needless to mention that most leaders of the Manhattan project where former PhD students or assistants of Max Born in Göttingen, including Oppenheimer and Teller

Yes, I find this era fascinating. So many quirky personalities!

Enrico Fermi was another giant of this era, not only a brilliant theoretical and experimental physicist, but, by all accounts, a very kind and warm person (unlike Teller ;-). Sadly, many of them (including Fermi) died far too young of radiation-related illnesses.

I remember watching Oppenheimer, an excellent BBC TV series with some great acting performances, especially by Sam Waterson in the lead role. Though it also covered Oppenheimer's (communist) political affiliations, most of the series centres on the antics of a bunch of brilliant European theoretical physicists thrown together to work on the Manhattan Project in the middle of the New Mexico desert. :)

  • Comment on Re^10: Organizational Culture (Part VII): Science

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Re^11: Organizational Culture (Part VII): Science
by LanX (Saint) on Sep 19, 2021 at 22:56 UTC
    > I remember watching Oppenheimer,

    Oh me too, when I was a kid. I probably missed many essentials, need to find it again.

    I remember the scene tho, where the General (Colonel?) is flabbergasted to find out that Oppenheimer has a Christmas tree in his living room ... xD

    Cheers Rolf
    (addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
    Wikisyntax for the Monastery

    update

    the mini-series is available on youtube.

[reply]

      > the General (Colonel?) is flabbergasted to find out that Oppenheimer has a Christmas tree in his living room ... xD

      Well, you seem to be in the right place to know about Christmas Trees:

      Modern Christmas trees emerged in western Germany during the 16th century as Christians brought trees into their homes and decorated them with gingerbread, nuts and apples

      Imagining LanX now, wearing Lederhosen, while eating gingerbread, nuts and apples under the Christmas tree. Sorry, couldn't resist. :) Do you ever wear Lederhosen BTW?

      > the mini-series is available on youtube

      Thanks! Watching now. Near the end of Episode 3 (at the 53:55 minute mark) there's a conversation between General Groves and Oppie in Oppie's new Los Alamos office:

      Groves: I was wondering, do you actually celebrate Christmas? well, I mean you being different, well, Jewish?
      Oppie: We have a tree
      Groves: Good, I was wondering if you'd put that under it for me? (he hands Oppie a Christmas present)

      LanX, is that the scene you remembered?

      This mini-series lays bare the stark difference between Scientific and Military Culture ... hmmmm, given my first job was in Defence Science (where I experienced both cultures first hand), the logical next episode in this series seems to be Military Organizational Culture. :)

[reply]
        > LanX, is that the scene you remembered?

        well misremembered. my memory must have it mingled with a similar scene from another film.

        > This mini-series lays bare the stark difference

        it covers many moral and philosophical questions, IMHO not so much physics.

        It might be interesting that the first dramatization (I'm aware of) was done for German TV/theater in 1964 -> In der Sache J. Robert Oppenheimer

        But this centers more around the McCarthy like process.

        I also found various interesting interviews and talkshows with Teller in English and German, not sure if his portrayal is always fair.

        I think his accent and bushy eyebrows helps painting him as a villain...

        > Do you ever wear Lederhosen BTW?

        Whenever I am on Heligoland.

        What about you? Do you bring your didgeridoo along when hunting crocodiles? :)

        Cheers Rolf
        (addicted to the Perl Programming Language :)
        Wikisyntax for the Monastery

[reply]

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