Nuclear Physics

How a Small Miscalculation Stopped Germany From Developing the Atomic Bomb in WWII

Heisenberg’s controversial miscalculation of the critical mass of an atomic bomb.

Heisenberg’s 1939 report to German Army Ordinance on the feasibility of nuclear fission bombs (left) [5] and an aerial photo of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima (right), U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

On the 8th of May, 1945, Germany unconditionally surrendered to the Allies, bringing an end to the European theatre of World War II. Soon…