'Einstein and the Bomb' the real tale on netflix
The Einstein and bomb on Netflix docudrama delves into Einstein’s life post his escape from Nazi Germany
If you found yourself intrigued by last year’s stories about how the nuclear bomb came to be, don’t worry! Now, Albert Einstein, who made a funny appearance in Oppenheimer, is getting his own story told. Just like Oppenheimer’s movie got recognized with an Oscar nomination, this new project will explore the deep feelings Einstein and the bomb on Netflix had about this huge scientific discovery.
Einstein And Bomb is that odd thing, a docudrama: real world footage spliced with rather hammy dramatisations of the German theoretical physicist that, according to the official synopsis, will follow “what happened to Einstein after he fled Nazi Germany […] using archival footage and his own words, it will dive into the mind of the tortured genius.
In the Einstein and bomb movie trailer, he mentions, “If I had known the Germans wouldn’t make an atomic bomb, I wouldn’t have been part of starting that whole mess.” But what did Einstein actually do during that time? And did something really important happen in a wooden cabin in Norfolk?
The backstory
By May 1933, Albert Einstein, who was 54 years old at the time and already known as one of the greatest scientists ever, found himself in a tough spot – he was wanted by authorities.
During his time in Nazi Germany, Albert Einstein, being Jewish, faced a lot of discrimination. A brochure titled ‘Jews Are Watching You’ was published, accusing him of spreading lies about Hitler. Under Einstein’s picture, it ominously stated: “Not yet hanged.”
By September of the same year, his house in Berlin was burgled and a reward of £1,000 was offered for his murder, so the next day he fled with his wife, Elsa, and they never returned to continental Europe again.
Instead, Einstein headed to a secluded hut in Roughton Heath, Norfolk, where he stayed for three weeks and gave several press interviews. His recent experiences led the great thinker to come to an historic conclusion, according to the screenwriter for the film, Philip Ralph.
“Before that moment, Einstein was known for strongly supporting non-violence and pacifism,” he explained to The Guardian. “But after three weeks, he addressed 10,000 people at the Royal Albert Hall, where he essentially stated that European civilization faced an existential threat and we would need to confront it.”
The Einstein and bomb
Two days after Einstein spoke at the Royal Albert Hall, he left the UK for the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University, where he crossed paths with Oppenheimer for the first time. At that point, they weren’t particularly close, as Oppenheimer mentioned in a 1966 New York Times article. Despite knowing Einstein for two or three decades, it wasn’t until the final decade of Einstein’s life that they developed a closer collegial relationship and became somewhat friendly.
However, it was Einstein’s renowned breakthrough in 1905 with “E equals mc square” that paved the way for the idea that atomic energy could one day be unleashed. If wielded irresponsibly, it had the potential for catastrophic consequences.
In 1933, Leo Szilard, a Hungarian-German physicist who had collaborated with Einstein before, stumbled upon the concept of the nuclear chain reaction. However, it wasn’t until five years later, when German scientists successfully split the uranium atom, that Szilard and his colleagues started raising concerns and alerted Einstein about the looming problem in 1938.
In August 1939, just before the outbreak of war in Europe, Einstein, gripped by the dread that the Nazis might beat them to it, penned a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt. The letter, drafted by Szilard, urged for expedited efforts in the United States to develop a nuclear bomb.
Einstein stated: “The unleashing of atomic energy hasn’t birthed a new dilemma. It has simply heightened the urgency of resolving an existing one… As long as there exist sovereign nations wielding immense power, war remains unavoidable. This statement doesn’t predict when war will erupt, but asserts its inevitability. This reality held true even before the creation of the atomic bomb. What’s altered is the magnitude of war’s destructiveness.”
“I don’t think that civilization will be entirely eradicated in a war involving atomic bombs. Perhaps two-thirds of the Earth’s population might perish, but there would still be sufficient individuals with the capacity for critical thinking, along with enough books, to initiate a fresh beginning. Civilization could be rebuilt.”
Consequently, Roosevelt initiated a project involving scientists researching chain reactions utilizing uranium, with the potential for development into atomic bombs.
Two months following Einstein’s letter, Roosevelt informed him of his plan to establish a committee comprising civilian and military representatives to investigate uranium, a project that eventually transformed into the Manhattan Project. Subsequently, Einstein penned additional letters to Roosevelt, proposing further actions to advance the development of nuclear warfare.
While Einstein Was never involved in the Manhattan Project, led by Oppenheimer -in 1940 the U.S. Army intelligence office denied Einstein the security clearance needed to work on Manhattan project ,as he was a deemed a “potential security risk”- when the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6 1945 ,Einstein is quoted as having said: “woe is me”
Einstein evidently harbored regret regarding his role in the development of nuclear weapons. He was frequently cited as saying, “I do not regard myself as the father of atomic energy release.” In an interview with Newsweek magazine, he expressed, “Had I known that the Germans would not succeed in developing an atomic bomb, I would have refrained from taking any action.”
And in 1954,a year before he died, he wrote in a letter to his friend, The chemist Linus Pauling :”I made one great mistake in my life -when I signed the letter to president Roosevelt recommending that atomic bombs be made. “
Einstein passed away at the age of 76 in 1955 after a blood vessel burst near his heart. His purported final words were: “I am at the mercy of fate and have no control over it.”