Intro Slide

John Wheeler showed how bright he was from a young age, his first research paper was published when he was only 19. He would obtain his doctorate in physics at the age of 21 from John Hopkins University. In 1934 after graduation he moved to Copenhagen to work with Niels Bohr where together they co-wrote the paper on the mechanics of nuclear fission which identified uranium 235 for use in developing the atomic bomb. In 1938 after moving back to the United States he took a position at Princeton University where he stayed until 1976. In the beginning at Princeton he worked with the scattering-matrix(S-matrix). The S-Matrix “relates the initial state and the final state for an interaction of particles, and which was to become an indispensable tool in particle physics” (The Physics of the Universe). It is part of the foundation of quantum field theory.

http://manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/john-wheelers-interview-1965
Other early work include working with Bohr in 1939 when he came to the U.S. with information of Germany developed nuclear fission. Together Bohr and Wheeler worked on the liquid drop model of the atom. This model was concerned with explaining nuclear fission. He continued working in nuclear fission because of the war and national defense. He contributed on the Manhattan Project and designing nuclear reactors for Dupont, he also “correctly anticipated that the accumulation of fission product poisons” this accumulation would obstruct the chain reaction by absorbing neutrons (The Physics of the Universe). Later he would work on the hydrogen bomb also in 1949 to 1951. But he would not devote all of his work to nuclear physics which to him was a job not a passion.

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