In 1940, Mark Oliphant was the head of Physics at the University of Birmingham. In his hands, he held a memorandum from two of his research fellows, which proved, in theory at least, that a super-bomb made from the fission of the uranium-235 isotope could be produced. The significance of this research in war-time conditions was self-evident and it was tabled at a British government committee meeting on the atomic bomb and then forwarded to the USA. Yet in 1941, when Oliphant visited Washington, he was dismayed to learn that the British reports were kept locked in a safe and that they received no action. Rather than returning to Britain, Oliphant went instead to the University of California, Berkeley to visit his friend Ernest Lawrence. Oliphant and Lawrence’s meeting was also attended by Robert Oppenheimer and from that moment a reinvigoration of the American atomic bomb project might be identified. Years later, Oppenheimer called Oliphant’s visit to Berkeley an ‘indiscretion’. But was it? By combining archival research with an analysis of how scientists collaborate, this work argues that Oliphant did in fact breach secrecy protocols. However, itwas done in order to achieve the desired outcome of accelerated collaboration and research between Britain and the USA.

中文翻译：

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Mark Oliphant 的轻率行为：澳大利亚人如何启动美国原子弹计划

1940 年，马克·奥利芬特 (Mark Oliphant) 担任伯明翰大学物理系主任。他手里拿着他的两个研究员的备忘录，这至少在理论上证明了可以制造出由铀 235 同位素裂变制成的超级炸弹。这项研究在战时条件下的意义不言而喻，它被提交给英国政府关于原子弹的委员会会议，然后转发给美国。然而在 1941 年，当奥利芬特访问华盛顿时，当他得知英国的报告被锁在一个保险箱里并且没有收到任何行动时，他感到沮丧。奥利芬特没有返回英国，而是前往加州大学伯克利分校看望他的朋友欧内斯特·劳伦斯。罗伯特·奥本海默 (Robert Oppenheimer) 也出席了奥利芬特 (Oliphant) 和劳伦斯 (Lawrence) 的会议，从那时起，可能会确定美国原子弹计划的复兴。多年后，奥本海默称奥利芬特对伯克利的访问是“轻率的”。但是是吗？通过将档案研究与对科学家如何合作的分析相结合，这项工作认为 Oliphant 实际上确实违反了保密协议。然而，这样做是为了实现英国和美国之间加速合作和研究的预期结果。