The Manhattan Project: Personalities and Problems
[Note from OLLI: We are at capacity for in-person attendance. Interested in joining online only? Please sign up!]
The Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bomb was, perhaps, the greatest assemblage of scientists and engineers in history. Many of the participants had already established their places in scientific history before becoming members of the project. For the younger participants the project provided an unfettered environment for their research that shaped the remainder of their careers.
This course will explore the prior work that brought great established scientists (e.g., Robert Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr, Hans Bethe, Enrico Fermi, Edward Teller, Ernest Lawrence, John von Neumann) to Los Alamos and the renowned scientists (e.g., Richard Feynman, Glenn Seaborg, Luis Alvarez, John Archibald Wheeler, Wolfgang Panofsky) whose future careers were shaped there. It will also describe the unprecedented scientific, engineering, and ethical problems the team faced in the design, testing and execution of “the gadget.” The course will present a balanced mixture of the history and science that defined the beginning of the nuclear age.
Faculty Bio
Bebo White is retired from the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, the U.S. National Laboratory at Stanford University where he worked as a computational physicist. He currently holds faculty appointments at multiple academic institutions.
This is an In-Person, Livestreamed + Recorded Course
- Classes meet in person at the Golden Bear Center, Suite 365, at 1995 University Ave., Berkeley
- Classes will also stream live simultaneously, and be video recorded
- Fee assistance is available if cost is a barrier. Learn more.
Schedule Highlights
- Course starts on Thursday, Sept. 21 and ends on Thursday, Oct. 26
- Classes meet for six weeks, two hours per session (1–3 PM)
- Videos will post on Fridays in Member Dashboards
- All course materials, including videos, will be available to view and enjoy through Dec. 31
Faculty Q&A
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Read a recent interview with Bebo White