Quotation about early nuclear physics research
December 22, 2019 11:46 AM Subscribe
I'm trying to find the source of a half-remembered quotation from (or about) an early nuclear physics researcher, talking about how they didn't initially realize that their work would lead to the development of nuclear weapons. It's along the lines of: "We were innocent, like children playing in a sandbox, with no idea of what would come after."
I initially thought it was from Michael Frayn's 1998 play Copenhagen, but I can't find it there. Anyone have any ideas?
I initially thought it was from Michael Frayn's 1998 play Copenhagen, but I can't find it there. Anyone have any ideas?
This sounds like something that J. Robert Oppenheimer might have said, but I don't see any actual quotations that are a close match for your description.
posted by alex1965 at 3:27 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by alex1965 at 3:27 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Sounds like Alvin Weinberg: ”Crazy ideas and not-so-crazy ideas bubbled up, as much as anything because the whole territory was unexplored - we were like children in a toy factory.”
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 3:31 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 3:31 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! I think I must have been combining the Newton and Weinberg quotes in my head.
posted by leslietron at 9:36 AM on December 23, 2019
posted by leslietron at 9:36 AM on December 23, 2019
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posted by zamboni at 1:43 PM on December 22, 2019 [1 favorite]