Heisenberg's work in the German Uranium Project (1939-1945)

by Helmut Rechenberg

Thursday 3 Jun 2010, 16:00 → 17:00 Europe/Rome

Aula Conversi (Dipartimento di Fisica - Ed. G. Marconi)

In early 1939 it was demonstrated that through uranium fission nuclear energy might be produced. At the beginning of the war also military use was debated and technical efforts were started by both opposing sides. Heisenberg was drafted in to the so-called German 'Uranprojekt'. After 2 1/2 years he demonstated in experiments with Robert Doepel in Leipzig a possible breakthrough, even prior to Enrico Fermi in Chicago. In June 1942 he persuaded Albert Speer, minister of armament and energy production, and the military leaders not to enter any military project due to restricted sources and manpower. In preliminary experiments at the Kaiser Wilhelm-Institut for Physics in Berlin and Haigerloch he came, in February 1945, close to a critical reactor.