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Copenhagen : The Drama of History

Copenhagen : The Drama of History R E E D WAY D A S E N B R O C K t's been fascinating to watch the opening scene of critical commentary on Michael Frayn's Copenhagen, for it has reproduced in miniature the historical controversy on which Frayn's drama turns. Werner Heisenberg's 1941 trip to Copenhagen to visit Niels Bohr remains of interest more than sixty years later because the uncertainties that continue to surround it reflect deeper questions of interest to us all. Why did Germany fail to develop a bomb in World War II, when it had entered the war ahead of the Allies in some crucial respects? Is the difference between the Nazi failure and the success of the democracies a tribute to the greater openness of democratic societies? No one regrets that failure, but should we celebrate or regret our success? Did the German effort fail because key German scientists wanted it to fail? In that case, can we claim moral superiority as unambiguously as we would like? Heisenberg's visit with Bohr captures these questions in a single place, time, and set of actions. (Aristotle would have approved.) After the war, Heisenberg presented his trip as part of an effort http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Contemporary Literature University of Wisconsin Press

Copenhagen : The Drama of History

Contemporary Literature , Volume 45 (2) – Aug 11, 2004

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Publisher
University of Wisconsin Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin.
ISSN
1548-9949
Publisher site
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Abstract

R E E D WAY D A S E N B R O C K t's been fascinating to watch the opening scene of critical commentary on Michael Frayn's Copenhagen, for it has reproduced in miniature the historical controversy on which Frayn's drama turns. Werner Heisenberg's 1941 trip to Copenhagen to visit Niels Bohr remains of interest more than sixty years later because the uncertainties that continue to surround it reflect deeper questions of interest to us all. Why did Germany fail to develop a bomb in World War II, when it had entered the war ahead of the Allies in some crucial respects? Is the difference between the Nazi failure and the success of the democracies a tribute to the greater openness of democratic societies? No one regrets that failure, but should we celebrate or regret our success? Did the German effort fail because key German scientists wanted it to fail? In that case, can we claim moral superiority as unambiguously as we would like? Heisenberg's visit with Bohr captures these questions in a single place, time, and set of actions. (Aristotle would have approved.) After the war, Heisenberg presented his trip as part of an effort

Journal

Contemporary LiteratureUniversity of Wisconsin Press

Published: Aug 11, 2004

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