Nov 08, 2018 - Sale 2492

Sale 2492 - Lot 180

Price Realized: $ 1,105
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
ABOUT EINSTEIN'S LETTER TO FDR WHICH LED TO MANHATTAN PROJECT (SCIENTISTS.) EUGENE P. WIGNER. Signature, on a typed statement about the circumstances surrounding Albert Einstein's 1939 letter to President Roosevelt. 1/2 page, 4to. Np, nd
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". . . Szilard and I were hardly through with our explanations of the significance of nuclear energy in general and of nuclear weapons in particular when Einstein grasped the full significance of the development. He was at once ready to attempt drawing the attention of the Government and of President Roosevelt to the importance of the U.S. not staying behind in exploring the possibilities of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. He dictated a letter to President Roosevelt which I took down in long hand. I remember how surprised I was that he could formulate his thoughts so quickly and precisely.

"My notes of the letter were taken back to Princeton where I translated them into English. The typed translation was then brought to Einstein's house on Long Island by Teller and Szilard a couple of weeks later and Einstein signed it. It was presented to President Roosevelt not much later by Alexander Sachs."