N: re the bomb stories–yeah, it was interesting to see how people reacted when the KGB files about the Rosenbergs were made public. In a similar vein, there are still people who insist that Heisenberg intentionally botched the calculation of the critical mass to keep the Nazis from building a bomb. The British have released transcripts of Heisenberg’s conversations with his co-workers when they learned of the Hiroshima bomb (they were in British custody at the time, and their rooms were of course bugged), and these make it clear that Heisenberg really did just plain botch the math. Nazi archives also make it clear that the German military put a low priority on a-bomb development once they concluded (around 1941) that developing a bomb would take at least five years. By that time, they figured, they would either have completely subdued the Russians and British, or would have lost the war. In either case, the bomb would not be a factor for them, so they didn’t spend much on it.
Sandfan over 13 years ago
Who’s guiltier…the briber or the bribed?
GROG Premium Member over 13 years ago
Whistleblowers got to get greased too.
puddleglum1066 over 13 years ago
N: re the bomb stories–yeah, it was interesting to see how people reacted when the KGB files about the Rosenbergs were made public. In a similar vein, there are still people who insist that Heisenberg intentionally botched the calculation of the critical mass to keep the Nazis from building a bomb. The British have released transcripts of Heisenberg’s conversations with his co-workers when they learned of the Hiroshima bomb (they were in British custody at the time, and their rooms were of course bugged), and these make it clear that Heisenberg really did just plain botch the math. Nazi archives also make it clear that the German military put a low priority on a-bomb development once they concluded (around 1941) that developing a bomb would take at least five years. By that time, they figured, they would either have completely subdued the Russians and British, or would have lost the war. In either case, the bomb would not be a factor for them, so they didn’t spend much on it.
Davison77 over 13 years ago
It’s been a long time since I’ve read this strip. The last time I think Shoe had a typewriter on his desk, not a laptop.
pjbfny over 13 years ago
Same here Davison77. Wonder when that changed.
WaitingMan over 13 years ago
Heisenberg was never certain of anything.