Privatdozent Photo Edition #7

John von Neumann, Richard P. Feynman and Stanislaw Ulam (~1949)

Photo: AIP, Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Ulam Collection

Richard P. Feynman (1918-88) was only 22 years old when World War II broke out, but still managed to get hired to J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-67)’s Manhattan Project in 1943. Before he left Oppenheimer personally phoned the young Feynman, who still an undergraduate, to let him know that he had found a hospital in New Mexico for his wife Arline, who was seriously ill with tuberculosis. In Los Alamos, Feynman worked for Hans Bethe (1906-2005)’s theoretical division, eventually being promoted to group leader. In collaboration with Bethe, one of Feynman’s main contributions to the project was the Bethe-Feynman formula for calculating the yield of a fission bomb.

John von Neumann (1903-57) was by 1943 an established mathematician who had made significant contributions to set theory, quantum mechanics, game theory and economics before arriving in Los Alamos. Beginning in the late 1930s, von Neumann developed an expertise in explosives …