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Werner Heisenberg at a chalkboard with nuclear equations, looking conflicted

WWII Science & Technology: The Race That Changed Everything - Part 2: The Scientists Who Refused: When Genius Said No to War

Key Takeaways The Mystery Miscalculation: Heisenberg overestimated the critical mass of uranium by a factor of 10—genius-level physics or deliberate sabotage? The Farm Hall Shock: Secretly recorded conversations after Hiroshima reveal German scientists' genuine surprise—or carefully performed innocence. The Passive Resistance: Several scientists found ways to "fail upward"—pursuing reactor research while avoiding bomb development. The Copenhagen Mystery: Heisenberg's 1941 meeting with Bohr remains history's most debated scientific conversation. The Uncomfortable Truth: German scientists may have saved millions by incompetence, conscience, or both—we'll never know which. The Most Consequential Failure in History In the summer of 1942, Werner Heisenberg—one of the greatest physicists who ever lived, Nobel laureate, father of quantum mechanics—made a calculation that would determine the fate of millions. ...

Nuclear and fusion energy

The Arithmetic of Decarburization - Part 7: Beyond Fossil Fuels: The Calculus of Nuclear Fission, Fusion, and 'Clean' Coal

The Arithmetic of Decarburization: A Hard Look at the Energy Revolution ← Series Home The Non-Renewable Options So far, this series has focused on renewable energy: hydro, wind, and solar. But a complete assessment of decarbonization pathways must also consider non-renewable low-carbon sources: Nuclear fission: Mature technology, controversial politics Nuclear fusion: The eternal promise, now perhaps closer Carbon capture and storage (CCS): Making fossil fuels “clean” Hydrogen from fossil sources: Currently the dominant production method ...