'Atomic Energy' Book Signed by Einstein, Oppenheimer, Bohr, Enola Gay Crew

[jamal-kumar]

I found a piece of trinitite cleaning out my friend's grandma's place after she passed away. It's labelled 1942 NEW MEXICO TRINITY, she apparently was involved in the manhattan project somehow. We didn't know whether it was dangerous or not so we invested in a geiger counter to make sure we didn't just discover a superfund site in a pill bottle in the medicine cabinet. It's fine.

I cannot for the life of me find a professional jeweler with the balls to wrap it. They all get mad at me like I'm trying to poison them when there's really more radioactive particles being emitted from bananas.

[Aurornis]

> It's labelled 1942 NEW MEXICO TRINITY, she apparently was involved in the manhattan project somehow.

Tritinite souvenirs were popular until the government made it illegal to collect it.

Someone from that era possessing a piece doesn’t mean they were part of the Manhattan Project.

[mikewarot]

You're not sure it's safe, unless you've got an Alpha particle detector, which you didn't mention. Also, the internals of it might be an alpha emitter, and only get exposed on grinding.

I wouldn't do anything that might abrade it. I'd say the jewelers are right.

[perihelions]

I'd be concerned if that process involves anything like grinding or cutting to shape. Particularly with alpha-emitter nuclides, things that otherwise are harmless and inert might become less so when there's inhalable dust involved.

[rqtwteye]

I wonder where the 1942 comes from. At that time nobody knew that there would a test named Trinity and trinitite was also 3 years away.

[cookie_monsta]

As a data point, did you try to get any of them to wrap bananas?

[mikestew]

Is it irresponsible to just not tell the jeweler what it is? You’ve already confirmed that it’s not radioactive.

[walnutclosefarm]

I'm not a collector, but I'm tempted to bid on this book. It's remarkable to imagine the effort the original owner had to put in, over a couple of decades, to collect all those signatures, and it really is a who's who of the Manhattan project, and of course, of the bombing itself.

[ralphc]

TIL that Vannevar Bush, known around these circles for his "As We May Think" essay, was also a "key figure in establishing the Manhattan Project".

[pcl]

He was also a big figure in MIT's WWII history. If you're interested in such things, check out "Tuxedo Park". The main focus of the book is Alfred Loomis, but quite a lot of the other characters of the era make appearances.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Tuxedo-Park/Jennet-Co...

[irrational]

That’s quite something. Anyone have any idea how all these people came to sign this one book?

[davidjhall]

At the bottom, it says the book belonged to an amateur historian who went around collecting all the autographs. Cant imagine how easy/hard it would've been to get all if them.

[credit_guy]

What an embarrassment of riches, when you claim that 14 Nobel laureates have signed the book, when it was actually 15 (they missed listing Hans Bethe as a Nobel prize winner).

[nilslindemann]

Enola Gay Crew seems a bit misplaced here.

[perihelions]

- "Enola Gay Crew"

Gross. Wiping out one hundred thousand human lives with a press of a button isn't something to make trophy memorabilia out of.

[picture]

Do you also blame the ones who refined the metal that went into making the plane and bombs and the electronics within? What about the rivets and bolts and hinges that were part of the bomb release mechanism? The crew of Enola Gay were as much a cog in the machine as anyone else. If they refused the order to deploy the weapons, other people will. Everyone contributes to history, including your grandparents or great grandparents who quite definitely participated in the economy. Even the idea of deploying nuclear weapons were justified with the idea that it will save more American and Japanese lives should a ground operation be conducted. Blaming anything or anyone for events of history is short sighted.

[jedberg]

Or did they save 1,000,000 lives with the press of a button?

The situation is far too complicated and nuanced to be a black and white call of "gross".

[iancmceachern]

My grandfather was at Pearl Harbor. He was a submariner through the war, purple heart recipient, a hero.

His war memorabilia which I have from him are among the most valuable possessions I own.

It's not because of all the horrific things they could represent. It's because of the beautiful things they represent. The triumph over evil.

It was awful, a truly awful thing to do (Hirshima and Nagasaki).

But let's not forget the greater context. The US actively tried to stay out of the war, deliberately, for as long as possible and had their hand forced.

I say it every December 7th, but now I'm saying it on Sept. 18th.

Remember Pearl Harbor.

Remember my Grandfather.

This book is similar. It's not for all the negative things that we remember it. It's for the positive things we've done since, despite it.

[burkaman]

I wouldn't really call this a trophy. They are historically significant people no matter how you feel about them, and this is a pretty tasteful way to represent that significance - just a simple signature in a topical book from their time.

I also think it's a bit strange to single out the crew. They are not any more responsible (and arguably less responsible) than the physicists and bureaucrats represented here who designed and built the bomb explicitly for the purpose of dropping it on Japan.

[mbg721]

You'll never guess what Rosie the Riveter was putting rivets into...

[mitthrowaway2]

I had a similar reaction, although I cannot blame the crew for following orders. It does seem to change the nuance of the meaning of the signatures, though.

[Dig1t]

It might be if your father, brother, uncle, etc died in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Not saying I agree, but you'd probably have a different attitude if the war personally affected you.

[nvy]

It might not be a happy thing to own but it's certainly historic.

[jordanpg]

Surely this is worth more than 22k?

[mbb70]

The bidding will continue for several more days. The site lists an 'estimate' price at > $100,000

[civilitty]

It's currently in pre-bidding and the real auction hasn’t even started yet. These numbers are purely aspirational (for the bidders) because more than a dozen bids at this point indicates that it will be a very competitive live auction and none of these prebids will mean anything. The closing price will be 10-100x of prebids once the professional brokers and dealers get involved on behalf of their clients.

[sambazi]

go bid :D

[Octokiddie]

The title fits into a broad pattern of misdirected attention about atomic weapons. The cover story is always "energy" but the underlying truth is all about weapons. It's the same for every country, too, it seems.

[jedberg]

It's because the two are very intertwined. The same technology that allows bombs also allows for creating a lot of energy for powering homes and businesses.

The technology for storing and securing spent nuclear materials from the making of the bombs is the same technology for storing the waste from making energy for homes.