By Frank Close
Oneworld
Also available at the CERN bookshop
In this book, Frank Close tells the story of the enigmatic life of renowned Italian physicist Bruno Pontecorvo, reporting plenty of historical details about his work and personal affairs. The reader is taken on a fascinating story, which develops in difficult times – the years just before, during and after World War Two.
Following an introduction about Pontecorvo’s early life, the story continues with a discussion of the discovery of neutron moderation in 1934 and the role played by Pontecorvo, along with its scientific and political consequences. The author gives many insights that will amaze physicist readers.
After this discovery, Pontecorvo begins his career as an international scientist. He moves to France in 1936, where he works with Frederic Jolit-Curie and meets Marianne Nordblom, his future wife. In 1938, Marianne and Bruno have their first son, Gil.
The events of the life and work of Pontecorvo are embedded in an incredible historical background. As an example, in March 1940, about 40 gallons of heavy water are shipped from Norway and hidden from Nazis in France. This precious treasure would later be taken to the UK by two scientists who were working with Pontecorvo. The heavy water is clearly related to the attempt to use and control nuclear fission.
In Paris, Pontecorvo joins the Communist Party. His political ideas will play a crucial role in his personal and professional life. When the Nazis invade France, Pontecorvo has to move away. Helped by his friend and colleague Emilio Segré, in 1940 he and his family set off for the US and settle in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In November 1942 he meets again his mentor, Enrico Fermi, who was interested – together with his collaborators – in the activities of Pontecorvo, and in particular in an instrument he designed to search for oil underground by detecting neutrons. As a consequence of this event, Pontecorvo gets the opportunity to move to Canada and join the Anglo-Canadian reactor project at Montreal, aimed at making a reactor based on uranium and heavy water.
In January 1943, Pontecorvo sets off for his new job, which he will hold for seven years. In Canada, he joins an active team made of some 100 scientists and engineers. At this time, the FBI sends three letters to the British Security Coordination Office in Washington because of concerns about the physicist’s communist sympathies. A number of interesting details and anecdotes are given by Close about this and other related events.
For security reasons, the Anglo-Canadian project is carried out at Chalk River, which then becomes a target for Soviet agents. The author provides fascinating insights about the spy network, collecting information on the nuclear programme in the years after the end of World War Two. Nunn May, a collaborator on the project, is arrested in 1946 for espionage.
During his years at Chalk River, Pontecorvo also becomes interested in neutrinos and carries out important studies.
He joins the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Harwell, UK, in January 1949. Although offered a number of positions in the US, he prefers to move to the UK. One month later, another colleague, Klaus Fuchs, is arrested for espionage. This is a difficult time for Pontecorvo, whose movements are followed by Military Intelligence. Close probes into events in Pontecorvo’s life during these years, to give the reader an idea of the role that he plays. He tells the story of the Soviet agent Lona Cohen, as well as of Kim Philby, another agent who might have had an important impact on Pontecorvo’s decision to escape to the Soviet Union at the end of the summer of 1950. The reader can try to solve the Pontecorvo enigma on the basis of the information reported – did he give information about the reactor commissioned in 1947 to the Soviet Union?
The life of Pontecorvo and his family in the Soviet Union is also described, detailing the problems they faced settling yet again into a new country, after France, the US, Canada and the UK. Many other interesting aspects of his life are discussed, including the events following 4 March 1955 when the physicist was interviewed in Moscow after five years of silence, and the happenings at an international meeting on high-energy physics that he attended in Kiev in 1959.
Close also reports on an interview with Pontecorvo by Italian journalist and writer Miriam Mafai, which gives a profound insight into his mysterious life. In my opinion, the book is very much worth reading and the amount of detail is impressive. The publication of this wonderful book is already stimulating discussions among physicists and will reawaken interest in the Pontecorvo enigma.
