Re-examining Heisenberg: Objections to Present Theses

Such is the power of technology that a new invention can change the outcome of an armed conflict from bitter defeat to stunning victory. In the last days of the Hitler regime, there are anecdotes of the Fuhrer raving about the development of a Wunderwaffe- wonder weapon- that would bring Germany’s enemies to its knees at their greatest hour. Indeed, the prospect of a nuclear weapon in Hitler’s hands is frightening. London, Moscow and New York, instead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, may no longer be standing. Such alternate universes are now the stuff of imaginative fiction, because the Third Reich was ultimately denied nuclear power, peaceful or destructive. Yet such is the development of technology that individual scientists can have a huge impact on its progress. To examine the reasons behind the failure of the German atomic bomb project, one must therefore examine the individuals leading it. Werner Heisenberg in particular played a key role, giving rise to two main types of speculation as to the reasons behind his failure. The first of these, called the apologetic 1 thesis, argues that Heisenberg and his colleagues were engaged in a conspiracy to den