Documents relating to 1941 Bohr-Heisenberg meeting

Document 5b. Page 1 of 2.

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Draft of letter from Bohr to Heisenberg, never sent.

Identical to Document 5a except for handwritten additions (<>) and deletions.

The document includes an addition on a separate page in Niels Bohr's assistant, Jørgen Kalckar's, handwriting.

Two pages.

Facsimile and text Facsimile only Next page | Last page

27.12.61

Kære Heisenberg,

Tak for dit rare brev. Det var en glæde for mig i mit lille bidrag til festskriftet på din 60 års fødselsdag at forsøge at fremkalde nogle af minderne fra de gamle dage. <(1)–(2)> I min alder er det vel naturligt, at jeg dvæler mere og mere i tankerne om det store eventyr, som vi alle oplevede, og som jeg fortalte i Brüssel har jeg i en Rutherford Lecture, hvoraf jeg håber snart at kunne sende dig et særtryk, beskrevet nogle af mine minder både om Rutherford selv og om den udvikling, som opdagelsen af atomkernen skulle føre til.

For tiden er jeg også optaget med en fra mange sider ønsket udredning af atomkernefysikkens rolle i de mørke tider, som vi alle måtte gennemleve under den sidste krig, og jeg har derved ligesom ved enhver anden historisk undersøgelse følt, hvor svært det er at danne sig en rigtig forestilling om begivenheder, hvori mange har taget del. Jeg håber, at vi <snart> skal få lejlighed til at tale nærmere om sådanne spørgsmål, navnlig i forbindelse med dit og Weizsäckers besøg i København i 194<1>, om hvis baggrund og formål jeg stadig bliver spurgt.

Margrethe sender med mig de varmeste ønsker om et lykkeligt nytår for dig og hele din familie.

Din hengivne

Dear Heisenberg,

Thank you for your kind letter. It was a pleasure for me to attempt to evoke some memories from the old days in my small contribution to the Festschrift on your 60th birthday. <(1)–(2)> At my age it is only natural that I dwell more and more on thoughts of the great adventure which we all experienced, and, as I told you in Brussels, I have in a Rutherford Lecture, of which I hope soon to be able to send you a reprint, described some of my memories both of Rutherford himself and of the developments that the discovery of the atomic nucleus led to.

At the moment I am also occupied by an account requested from many quarters of the role of nuclear physics in the dark times that we all had to live through during the last war, and thereby, as with any other historical investigation, I have felt how difficult it is to form an accurate impression of events in which many have taken part. I hope that we shall <soon> have the opportunity to talk in more detail about such questions, especially in connection with the visit by you and Weizsäcker to Copenhagen in 194<1>, the background and purpose of which I am still being asked about.

Margrethe joins me in sending the warmest wishes for a happy new year to you and all the family.

Your devoted