Guide to the Hans Bethe Papers,
ca. 1931-1995

Hans Albrecht Bethe (1906-2005) was among the most prominent physicists of the twentieth century, most famous for his work on the Manhattan Project during World War II, and for his Nobel prize-winning work on solar energy (1967).

Physicist, Cornell University professor of physics, Nobel laureate.

Born in Strasbourg, Bethe studied physics at Frankfurt and under Arnold Sommerfeld at the University of Munich. In 1930 he received a fellowship to Cambridge. He began his professional career at universities in Germany, and also worked with Enrico Fermi in Rome in the early 1930's. Although Bethe did not consider himself a Jew, his mother had Jewish ancestry, and thus he was removed from his university position at Tuebingen under the Nuremberg laws once Hitler came to power. He emigrated first to a position at Manchester, and then to Cornell University in 1935, where he would teach for the rest of his career.

In his early years at Cornell, Bethe formulated his theory of how stars produce energy, an achievement that would win him the Nobel Prize in 1967. Further notable accomplishments included his work on the Lamb Shift, his famous three-part summary of nuclear physics, and his post-retirement collaboration with Gerry Brown on supernovae and neutrinos.

During World War II, he headed the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory as part of the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. Despite his concerns about escalating the nuclear arms race, he assisted in the development of the Hydrogen bomb in the 1950's. Through these experiences, he became a vocal adversary of the nuclear arms race and control, opposing programs such as the Strategic Defense Initiative, and arguing in favor of anti-proliferation and test ban treaties, including SALT I and II. He was also an impassioned supporter of nuclear power as a solution to American energy needs. He was involved in policy throughout his adult life, as a science advisor to several presidents, as someone who frequently testified before Congress on issues of scientific importance, and as an advocate for the role of scientists in public affairs.

He also performed extensive consulting work for the U.S. government and American labs, such as the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and the Oakridge and Lawrence Livermore Laboratories. He also did consulting work for businesses such as Avco. Such consulting work generally related either to nuclear energy, or to defense.

After immigrating to the United States, he reconnected with Rose Ewald, daughter of his earlier physics mentor, Peter Paul Ewald. They married in 1939, and had two children, Henry and Monica. He retired from Cornell in 1975, but continued his astrophysics research and continued to be an expert on thermonuclear processes, shock waves, and neutrino reactions.

Bethe died at age 98 in 2005, having continued to participate in scientific study and policy until late in his life.

Papers consist of Bethe's calculations, notes, and correspondence with colleagues concerning nuclear physics, solar, stellar, and nuclear energy, radiation, conduction in metals, quantum mechanics, the recommendation of physicists for various positions and grants, administration of the Cornell University Physics Department, Cornell courses, arms and arms control, underwater explosion research, nuclear test ban, and other topics; reports and hearings of the Atomic Energy Commission; Navy research reports; President's Science Advisory Committee memoranda; phonograph album of a television interview with Bethe concerning scientific education in the United States; articles, reprints, lectures, and textbooks by Bethe and others; reviews of professional writings; Ph.D. theses from the Cornell Physics Department; an engraving and two posters of Bethe used to advertise the Lauritsen Memorial Lecture for 1980; and correspondence received when Bethe won the Nobel Prize. Collection includes material on Strategic Defense Initiative, the H-Bomb and the Anti-Ballistic Missile, the end of the Cold War, and supernovae. Correspondents include Kenneth T. Bainbridge, Niels Bohr, Gregory Breit, Lee A. DuBridge, George Gamow, R. Clifton Gibbs, Emil J. Konopinski, Sigurd Kohler, Irving Langmuir, Ernest O. Lawrence, Edwin M. McMillan, Carleton Murdock, Lothar W. Nordheim, J. Robert Oppenheimer, George B. Pegram, Isidor I. Rabi, Morris E. Rose, Bruno Rossi, Harlow Shapley, Eugene Paul Wigner, Robert Wilson, and Victor Weisskopf.

Records created or assembled by Hans Bethe. The collection includes correspondence; drafts and copies of Bethe's articles; articles and publications gathered for his research; notes and calculations; material related to arms control and nuclear energy advocacy, including copies of congressional testimony; meeting minutes and memoranda related to Cornell University and the physics department, and material assembled for teaching, such as overhead transparencies; clippings; transcripts of oral history interviews; and material relating to Bethe's consulting work, including memoranda from the President's Science Advisory Committee and Navy research reports.

His research topics include nuclear physics, astrophysics, radiation, quantum mechanics, and metal conduction. Other topics include policy, and materials related to the history of physics and science, including research, biographies of other physics luminaries, and interviews with Bethe. Some Bethe interviews are printed, five are on videocassette, and one is on a phonograph.

While material in the collection dates back to the 1930's, the bulk of it dates from 1950-2000. Bethe actually assembled some of the earlier material later. For instance, he later collected photocopies of his old letters from the 1930's, some of which were photocopied from other archives.

Also, five videocassettes: "An Evening with Hans Bethe: The German A-Bomb Project"; "A Conversation with Emeritus Professor Dr. Hans Bethe and Dr. Victor Weisskopf"; "A Conversation with Emeritus Professors Dr. Hans Bethe and Dr. Robert Wilson"; and, "Hans Bethe: Super Nova Mechanism," and "'I can do that!' - Hans Bethe's First 60 Years at Cornell." Includes a photograph of Bethe, Day, Long et al at the groundbreaking for Newman Laboratory, and a photograph of Bethe with Peter Carruthers and Carson Mark near Los Alamos, circa 1980.

Ten audio recordings, including Fermi Memoriam Session Remarks, 29 April 1955; Hans Bethe, introduced by Norris Bradbury (2 reels), n.d.; Physics Lecture, 7 May 1976 (1 cassette); "The Energy Problem I: The Crisis is Real," 17 May 1976; "The Energy Problem: The Necessity of Nuclear Power," 19 May 1976; and Loeb Lecture, "Reversing the Nuclear Arms Race," 11 November 1982; and "A Talk with Hans Bethe," WSKG, 30 March 1995.

Also, packet celebrating life of Hans A. Bethe containing booklet "Hans Bethe, 1906-2005," DVD "Remembering Hans Bethe," three programs, one news release; movie film, "The Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967."

Unsorted folders primarily contain correspondence.