Let's go back to Berlin, to Ghana. This work became the culmination of his scientific work. Further - silence, a departure from science. Why? One can only guess. Germany was changing, and it was impossible not to notice. Racism hit employees roughly: one by one, Jewish colleagues left. The biggest blow, of course, was the departure of Lise Meitner. Although in their tandem, Gan was the leader, who never went from a hypothesis to its factual confirmation, preferring to start with observations and experience, the separation hit him harder. Lise never returned to Germany, first worked for Bohr, in London, retaining her enviable capacity for work until the end of her life (she survived her old friend only for a few months).
The main reason for Ghana's departure from science was his high moral standards, no matter how archaic these words may sound in our time. Of course, from the inside, for the German man in the street, fascism looked different than from the outside. Everything was done under the slogan: for the good of the people, for the future of great Germany. This inspired illusions to the townsfolk - but not to Ghana, which had once already “taken a bite” on patriotic slogans and was burnt. At a crossroads, Gahn clearly saw three paths. One of them chose Heisenberg, who began active work on the uranium project. It soon became clear that the Nazis believed the ultimate goal of the project was to obtain an atomic bomb. To justify or condemn Heisenberg? For a scientist, any interesting problem is a great temptation, often outweighing moral considerations. The second way - departure, it was chosen by Fermi, Einstein. Gan chose the third - silence, silence, the ability not to fight on anyone's side. Age, wisdom, and an excellent scientific career made it possible to make exactly such a decision, which Hahn never regretted afterwards.
Gan was a high-class professional, a man who owed everything only to himself. From the first to the last day of his active research career, he did everything, even the rough operations, with his own hands, never conducting experiments from behind his desk. The reward for this was sharpened observation, refined experimental technique and truly unique experience. In addition, as a result of painstaking many years of work, he created a most valuable reserve of superpure substances, which played an important role in the success of experiments on fission of uranium nuclei. So the years of work have accumulated, spent on solving problems of purely professional interest and did not promise any sensations.
Brilliant natural endowments, the ease with which the first success came, did not seem to dispose to special diligence. But Ghan's taste for life organically got along with respect for work, intuition with solid knowledge. The study of the weakest radiation, work with trace amounts of substances, the constant danger of radioactive contamination required not only the skill of the experimenter, but also the greatest concentration. And Gan possessed it. He worked hard, earnestly, but at the same time regularly, methodically, clearly, submitting to strict discipline. The purity of his research is proverbial. Order reigned on his desk, in notes, in publications. Having dealt with radioactive substances for decades, Gan and his permanent collaborators have managed to avoid radiation damage, which was not uncommon in other institutions. As the physicist F. Soddy, referring to Ghana: "As a matter of fact, a person through whose hands so much radioactive substance has passed should not have been alive for a long time."
In everything related to science, Gan was considered a maximalist. He “closed” the experiment not when a specific goal was achieved, but only after fully understanding the meaning of all, even if insignificant, details. Over the course of 40 years of work, Hahn's style remained unchanged: he went not from a hypothesis to its confirmation by facts, but from observation and analysis to formulating a hypothesis. And at the same time, in his own words, "more often I found what I was not looking for." Respect for facts, whatever they may be, became a law for him. Throughout his long life in science, Gan never succumbed to the temptation to dismiss an inconvenient fact, adjust it to a concept, or pass over in silence. He possessed to the highest degree the main quality of a researcher - the readiness to submit his thoughts to the judgment of experience.
Ghana's memory has served well. He possessed immense knowledge, and a rare memory prompted them to him at the right moment. Already at an old age, he recited long passages from Homer in impeccable Greek, which he had once memorized in company with his brother Karl, a high school student. Having an absolute ear for music, he remembered the themes of all Beethoven's symphonies and many of Tchaikovsky's symphonies.
And in Germany, Wagner's music and military marches thundered. Gan did not seek the favor of the new masters of the country and more than once dared to oppose them. According to many reviews, he not only helped his colleagues who were subjected to repression, but also attracted friends abroad. Firmly resisted interference
“From above” into the work of the Chemical Institute, thereby incurring charges of political unreliability, and at the end of the war refused to carry out the order to destroy the Institute. He persuaded the burgomaster of the city of Thylfingen not to resist the advancing French units and thus saved the city from destruction.
For 12 years living under a repressive regime and without entering into open political confrontation with it, he managed to preserve spiritual independence, professional and personal dignity, and an honest name. This is confirmed by a letter from Einstein to Hahn in response to an invitation to join the Max Planck Society. “It hurts me that I have to send my refusal to you, one of the few who in these terrible years remained faithful to their convictions and did everything in his power. However, I cannot do otherwise … I feel an irresistible antipathy to participate in any undertaking concerning the social life of Germany … Someone who, and you will understand."
In April 1945, the Western occupation authorities deported Ghana and nine other German nuclear physicists to England. Six months later, Hahn returned to the western zone of Germany. In this last period of his life, the scientist withdrew from research, taking up organizational and social activities. Contemporaries noted the wisdom of this man. There was no vanity in him, he clearly distinguished for himself the real and the imaginary, did not envy colleagues, knew how to appreciate someone else's talent and knowledge. He spoke with genuine interest about his fellow scientists, and considered Rutherford the ideal of a researcher. Ghana was not attracted by the opportunity to rule over people, and those in power did not arouse admiration. Assuming the functions of a leader, Gan did so only in the interests of the cause. His leadership was morally endowed with talent and experience, unquestioning disinterestedness. Gan did not have the reputation of being "comfortable", ie. agreeable, but considered an objective and correct leader. For all his severity, he demanded from his subordinates only what he demanded from himself. One is fascinated by such a rare virtue for a leader as scrupulousness in matters of priority. Signing the next joint work, Hahn and Meitner put in the first place the name of the one who this time made the greatest contribution to it.
Gan withstood the test of glory. Unlike many people who liked to exaggerate their merits, he was a master at understating them. He never renounced his non-aristocratic ancestry, was in no hurry to change his lifestyle to a more refined one. Infinitely respecting science, treasured the reputation of a serious researcher, he did not consider himself omniscient, not afraid to reveal his ignorance of something. It gave him tremendous pleasure in answering an overly clever question to say amiably and innocently: “Well, I don’t understand anything about this,” in order to admire the amazement of the interlocutor. Apparently, even in old age, there lived a tomboy-boy who did not mind laughing at people depicting scholarship.
And he was never an armchair hermit, a gloomy ascetic. He managed to preserve an amazingly joyful outlook, the ability to perceive life as a happy gift. He needed friends, had an extraordinary talent for communication. Gan kept his interest in his surroundings and thirst for new impressions until the end of his days. He staunchly resisted old age and disease, not wanting to give them anything that he loved. At 80-plus years old, brushing off all the warnings, he went to the mountains alone - he was fond of mountaineering from a young age.
Although from the outside Gan seemed like a darling of fate, his personal life was by no means idyllic. The wife suffered from mental illness. The only son was wounded during the war and died as a young man in a car accident. The scientist himself was seriously ill in his old age. He was an optimist rather in defiance of circumstances than because of them.
He brightened up the hardships of life with humor. Witty remarks, well-aimed, but invariably tactful, are remembered by many of his colleagues. Often Gahn sneered at himself and even in such circumstances when others were not laughing. He even laughed in a hospital bed when in 1951 he became a victim of an assassination attempt: a mentally ill inventor seriously wounded him. In a conversation with the wife of the physicist Heisenberg, Hahn once dropped a wonderful phrase: "I have always been a clown, although my heart was breaking."
Harmonious acceptance of life, despite all its sorrows, has become one of the sources of his spiritual energy and creative productivity.
In 1945, Gahn took over the leadership of the Society. Max Planck, created to replace the Kaiser Wilhelm Society. This scientific organization owes its formation to a large extent to the energy of Ghana. As the head of the Society, Gan maintained contacts with foreign comets. The very fact that he was awarded the Nobel Prize "For the discovery of fission of heavy nuclei" in 1945 in Germany was perceived as an event of national importance. According to the public, Hahn was instrumental in restoring the badly tarnished reputation of the Germans. However, he was never only a decorative ceremonial figure in West German politics. In February 1946, Hahn rejected an offer to go abroad: "I cannot turn my back on Germany at such a moment."
In February 1955, Gahn addressed the people of the Federal Republic of Germany, Denmark, Austria, Norway and Great Britain by radio with a speech "Cobalt 60 - a threat or benefit to humanity." And in July of the same year, at the initiative of Ghana, 16 scientists, Nobel laureates, issued a statement warning humanity about the possibility of nuclear war. When disputes flared up in Germany about equipping the Bundeswehr with nuclear weapons, Hahn and his associates published the so-called Göttingen statement, in which they firmly spoke out against the atomic armament of West Germany. This sparked a fit of anger in the federal government. An invitation to the Federal Chancellery followed, where the scientists defended their position. Their statement had a real impact on the formation of public opinion in the country, and the main credit for this belongs to Ghana. As one of the newspapers wrote: “In the eyes of the Germans, the signature of O. Ghana probably carries more weight than the signatures of all other scientists put together - not only because he is considered the elder of German science, but also because his decision is clearer than any other, is an act of conscience."
Contemporaries honored in him not only talent, but also a person who clearly showed what the moral duty of a scientist is, and showed an example of honest service to duty.
Otto Hahn passed away on June 28, 1969. The name of the scientist and the uranium fission formula are carved on the tombstone.
In 1968, a nuclear powered ore carrier was built in Germany. (17 thousand tons of displacement, one reactor with a thermal power of 38MW. Speed 17 knots. Crew - 60 people and 35 people of scientific personnel). The ship was given the name "Otto Hahn". During 10 years of its active service "Otto Hahn" covered 650 thousand miles (1.2 million km), visited 33 ports in 22 countries, delivered ore and raw materials for chemical production to Germany from Africa and South America. Considerable difficulties in the career of an ore carrier were caused by the ban of the leadership of Suez on this shortest route from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean - tired of endless bureaucratic restrictions, the need for licensing to enter each new port, as well as the high cost of operating the nuclear-powered ship, the Germans decided to take a desperate step. In 1979, the "nuclear heart" was deactivated and removed, in exchange for the "Otto Hahn" received a conventional diesel installation, with which it is today flying under the flag of Liberia. [/I]
References:
1. Gernek F. Pioneers of the Atomic Age. M.: Progress, 1974. S. 324-331.
2. Konstantinova S. Splitting // Inventor and rationalizer. 1993. No. 10. S. 18-20.
3. Temples Yu Physics. Biographical reference book. M.: Science. 1983. S. 74.
