[btilly]

Things to consider.

- Feynman got involved in the belief that the Americans needed to build this before Germany did. Which Germany certainly had the talent, motivation, and resources to do. In short if the bomb was going to be used, he didn't want it used against his country.

- Once the nuclear bomb was exploded, and Feynman realized what he had helped do, he fell into a significant period of depression.

- In later years he publicly criticized himself for getting caught up in the project and continuing it after Germany surrendered and it was clear that there was no race.

- Feynman died believing that his work on the nuclear bomb is what caused the leukemia that killed him.

It is easy to paint a picture of black and white and make people out to be pure villains. But reality is seldom so simple.

[arethuza]

Nuclear weapons are perhaps mankinds most terrible invention - but it is fairly clear that political leaders on both sides of the Cold War were utterly terrified of using them. If they hadn't been invented then I suspect there probably would have been direct armed conflict between the Soviets and/or China and/or the West at some point after WW2, so we were probably saved from another horrific conflict by scaring ourselves rigid with these weapons.

Rational, perhaps not, effective - arguably yes.

[hboon]

Do you remember the source where you read he died of leukemia and he believed it was caused by work at Los Alamos?

His ex-wife died of leukemia. On the other hand he died of stomach cancer. (he had 2 cancers).

[btilly]

Sorry I don't remember the source on that. I'm going off of memories of what I read some 20 years ago. As my misremembering the the type of cancer shows, my memory is imperfect.