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David Bohm - The Manhattan Project

By Mary Bellis, About.com Guide

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Why was David Bohm Important?:

Quantum physicist, David Bohm made contributions in the fields of theoretical physics, philosophy, and neuropsychology. He was part of the group of scientists that invented the atomic bomb as part of the Manhattan Project. In 1951, he published his now famous book called Quantum Theory.

Bohm Diffusion :

It is a rapid loss of plasma particles across magnetic field lines caused by plasma microinstabilities that scales inversely with the magnetic field strength, unlike classical diffusion that scales inversely as the square of the magnetic field strength. Named after the plasma physicist David Bohm who first proposed such scaling while still a post-graduate student at Berkeley.

From David Bohm:

According to David Bohm, "the universe is an unending transformation in flux whose previous states we are not privileged to know."
David Bohm described inventing in a team as "...becoming open to the flow of a larger intelligence."

David Bohm Biography: December 20, 1917 – October 27, 1992:

David Bohm was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He attended Pennsylvania State College and graduated in 1939. He then began his long relationship with Robert Oppenheimer, head of the Manhattan Project team. Bohm worked with Oppenheimer first at the California Institute of Technology for a year, and then at the University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley, Bohm was introduced to alternative politics.

Atomic Bomb

During World War II, the brightest physicists from Berkeley were hired to help invent the atomic bomb under the Manhattan Project at the secret Los Alamos laboratory.

Robert Oppenheimer tried to hire David Bohm, however, Bohn's interest in politics prevented him from passing the necessary security clearance. One of David Bohm's friend, Joseph Weinberg, was then under suspicion for espionage.

David Bohm stayed at Berkeley, and was given a position as a physics professor. He completed his Ph.D. there in 1943.

Eventually David Bohm did contribute to the development of the atomic bomb. He did the calculations for the Calutrons at the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, which were used to electromagnetically enrich uranium for use in the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

McCarthyism

After War War II, David Bohm was an assistant professor at Princeton University under Albert Einstein. While at Princeton, Bohm was called to testify before the House of Un-American Activities Committee in 1949, due to his friendships at Berkeley. The Committee's court proceeding could be described as a modern day witch hunt, that ruined hundreds of lives.

David Bohm pleaded the Fifth amendment and declined to answer certain questions as was his right, refusing to give evidence against his colleagues. A year later, David Bohm was charged for refusing to answer questions and arrested. The charges were dropped, however, Princeton had already fired him and refused to re-hire him despite pleas from Einstein.

David Bohm then accepted a position as Chair in Physics at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Later Life

In 1957, David Bohm began a research fellowship at the University of Bristol U.K. In 1961, he became Professor of Theoretical Physics at Birkbeck College of the University of London. In 1987, he retired. David Bohm died in London, England October 22, 1992,

David Bohm

Mary Bellis
Inventors Guide

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