Frisch, Otto Robert

Shortly after the results of the Stern-Gerlach experiment appeared in the scientific literature. Stern received an invitation to join the faculty at the University of Hamburg, where, over the period 1922 to 1933, he continued his experimental work. In 1932, Stern decided to adapt the molecular beam method to a daunting experiment to measure the magnetic moment of the proton, the nucleus of the hydrogen atom. Joining him is this endeavor was Otto Robert Frisch. 

Vice President Harry S. Truman of Independence, Missouri, who knew only the bare fact of the Manhattan Project s existence, said later that when he heard from Eleanor Roosevelt that he must assume the Presidency in Franklin Roosevelt s place, I kept thinking. The lightning has struck. The lightning has struck Between the Thursday of Roosevelt s death and the Sunday of the memorial service on the Hill, Otto Frisch delivered to Robert Oppenheimer his report on the first experimental determination of the critical mass of pure U235. Little Boy needed more than one critical mass, but the fulfillment of that requirement was now only a matter of time. The lightning had struck at Los Alamos as well. 

FRISCH, ROBERT OTTO (1904-1979). Austrian-born physicist. Frisch made several fundamental contributions to nuclear physics, especially to the development of nuclear weapons. In 1939, Frisch and his aunt, Lise Meitner, provided the first mathematical explanation for the results of Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann and correctly identified that these results confirmed the process of nuclear fission, a term chosen by Frisch himself. 

Many distinguished scientists contributed to the Manhattan Project, including Niels Bohr and Robert Otto Frisch. U.S.-born nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer supervised research into fast neutrons and directed much of the work at Los Alamos, causing many to view him as father of the American nuclear bomb. 

MEITNER, LISE (1878-1968). Austrian-bom physicist. With her nephew Robert Otto Frisch, Meitner was the first to provide a mathematical explanation for the results of Otto Hahn and Fritz Strass-mann and correctly identify that these results confirmed the process of nuclear fission. Meitner s private communication of their findings to Niels Bohr in December 1938 spurred U.S. development of a nuclear weapon. 

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