When Scientific Publishing was Withheld

karvind writes "Article in Physical Review Focus reveals the silence practiced by Physical Review during WWII to delay publishing results related to fission, the splitting of an atom's nucleus accompanied by a prodigious release of energy. From the article: Because of fears that Germany would use American research to pursue an atomic weapon, the Physical Review agreed to withhold reports of significant advances. It was not until several months after an atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki, Japan, that Phys. Rev. published the paper announcing the discovery of plutonium, the material used in that bomb. Physicist Abraham Pais later called the journal's silence on the subject 'the most important nonevent in the history of the Physical Review.'"

Comments

Klaus Fuchs

[Toby The Economist]

> In the end, the absence of publications on fission
> in the Physical Review was too glaring to go
> unnoticed. A Soviet scientist deduced from the
> Americans' silence on the topic that they were
> pursuing an atomic bomb. The Soviets soon followed
> suit.

Of course, Klaus Fuchs passing on research details from the Manhatten Project helped.

--
Toby