My dad worked in the Manhattan project. My mom was a teacher in Los Alamos. They met in Los Alamos. I decided to go back. I took a walking tour. Here are some pictures that I took.
Los Alamos is a high place -- 7,300 feet. This was a viewpoint driving up
There is a walking tour you can take. The online brochure is better than the printed one I got at the Manhattan Project National Historic Park Visitor's Center, because it has numbers indicating which item is which. You sort of have to guess with the printed brochure.
Here are some pix I took on the walking tour.
Video of the Valles Caldera. There is a separate place you can go to learn more, but I didn't have time
link to Valles Caldera National Park
Some observations about trees and climate in Los Alamos. Google says Los Alamos has an average of 18-19" of rain per year, mostly falling during monsoon in summer -- with the wettest month being August. Here are some long needled pine trees. I was surprised to see that the Bethe & Oppenheimer houses were made of logs. Adobe is more popular in the desert -- but lower down there is less rain.
More views of the mountains
Driving home. I don't know if you can see that some of the taller mountains still had a bit of snow -- tho this area is in drought.
There were so many things I didn't get to see. I was frustrated that I only had one afternoon. I wanted to drive into the mountains and see them better. I wanted to go to the sThere were so many things I didn't get to see. I was frustrated that I only had one afternoon. I wanted to drive into the mountains and see them better. I wanted to go to the San Ildefenso Pueblo. I have pottery that my mother bought there. Pueblo. I have pottery that my mother bought there.
I have to blog some tales that my dad told about Los Alamos
The Ranger at Manhattan project national park information center looked my dad up. He could only find reference to my dad helping with the measurements. That was one of my dad's tales. However, I also know that he was called Mr. Neutron. I think he must've done more than just develop the measuring instruments.
However, there were 200 physicist or more in the Manhattan project. Only the leaders really got well known. I was interested to learn that Hans Bethe was the head of theoretical physics there. He visited our home in Wisconsin. I think possibly even more than once.
I remember my father spoke of him with reverence in his voice, so I knew he was important, somehow, but he seemed like an ordinary person when he came to our house. He was quite striking looking -- very tall with a huge nose, and very buck teeth. His picture was up in the information center. In the picture, I could see that, unlike most people, his eyes were below the midline of his head, meaning that the area above his eyes was enormous. I didn't remember that part about him. Of course, he was so very much taller than I was that it would've been harder to see from my angle. The large forehead anything he must've had a very large brain – though also a somewhat receded hairline. Oppenheimer had a big forehead too.
There was a Broadway play called "Copenhagen" about Neils Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. Before the play, there was an information session at CUNY. I remember seeing Fay Selove there. Also, the son of Hans Bethe was there. I felt great identification with him. He looked quite a bit like his father. I wish I had gotten his contact information.
I never met Oppenheimer. I think I did meet Teller, tho.
