Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: Not Just a Theory for Physics-

Posted at 10:09 am

I found the events at Farm Hall to be fascinating as this temporary prison served as a type of purgatory for the German scientists who had worked on the atomic bomb. In the discussions that took place an important theme was the question of exactly how greatly did they support Nazi Germany and how much harm did their support do. To a certain extent they were all guilty of not speaking out against Hitler, they all contributed in some way to National Socialism. Perhaps only one of these physicists was actually a Nazi, but they were all supposedly trying to build a bomb and they had not taken on the burden of being sent to a concentration camp by criticizing Hitler as other courageous men and women had done. Farm Hall was not a purgatory for heaven or hell, because none on these men were evil, but it was a purgatory for their conscience as these men had to ponder of they could have done more.

As Professor Walker makes clear, the fundamental questions regarding the scientists cannot be answered with complete precision. Yet, it seems to me that these scientists were at the very least trying to build a nuclear reactor, if not the bomb. It is fascinating that these scientists believed they would be remembered for building a peaceful reactor while the allies built a lethal bomb. I am skeptical of this viewpoint that suggests that German scientists would have not given Hitler the bomb if they had it. In the confusion at Farm Hall regarding the allies’ success regarding the atom bomb it proposed that perhaps they had simply dropped a nuclear reactor on Hiroshima. Therefore it appears that they knew a nuclear reactor was not just a step towards a bomb but a weapon in and of itself. Further it seems unlikely that these scientists would or could have kept the bomb from Hitler even if they were uneasy about the ramifications on unclear weapons. It seems probable that Hitler would have found out about the bomb and coerced it out of these physicists. Either these scientists would have been overtaken by their patriotism and love for German science as a way to save Germany at the end of the war or Hitler would have brutally tortured them until he learned of it. Ultimately these men did not seem all that interested in standing up against Nazi Germany and it not certain they would have started when regarding the Atom bomb.

Heisenberg’s role at Farm Hall is also fascinating. It is a great irony that he stated that a United States of Europe would be far more favorable to a Germany under a Russian Empire, only a few years after he made the argument that science would be better under Germany than Russia. Heisenberg is ever the pragmatist and he seems to have a principle of an uncertain morality. In earlier reading when I first read Heisenberg’s theory of “Active and Passive Resistance” I sympathized with him. Like many Germans he was put in impossible situations and at least he did not fully comply with Hitler. Yet, in the period when German scientists knew the allies had done something with the atomic bomb but were not exactly sure what, he fantasizes about what the Germans might have done better so that not only the reputation of German science will be saved but because their could be great money in it. Instead of actively taking a stand on much of anything Heisenberg is constantly calculating whose rule would be better, how his reputation will be changed, and even at times what his bank account will look like. While the time at Farm Hall provided ample opportunity to discuss guilt and remorse and fear, like once Scientist did in praying that the Soviets would not capture his family, Heisenberg uses the time to justify his failures and non-resistance. Perhaps Heisenberg should have stood up to Hitler in a definite way in the first place and then he would have not had to have written his “Active and Passive Resistance.”