An April Fools’ Day read from Lab history Famed physicist Richard Feynman’s safecracking, cipher-creating sense of play

Technical Report · Sun Feb 27 23:00:00 EST 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1846903· OSTI ID:1846903

Templeton, Patricia A. ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Richard Feynman was fresh out of Princeton University’s doctoral program when recruited to assist in the creation of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. In 1943, Lab director J. Robert Oppenheimer wrote that the 24-year-old was, “by all odds the most brilliant young physicist here, and everyone knows this.” Feynman attempted to live and examine life in a state of play and, as such, it’s only fitting to take a look back at the Nobel Prize winning scientist’s years at the wartime Lab as April Fools’ Day approaches.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• DOE Contract Number: 89233218CNA000001
• OSTI ID: 1846903
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-22-21828
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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