Genius (2017–…): Season 1, Episode 9 - Einstein: Chapter Nine - full transcript

Previously on Genius...
Do you know what Fritz
has been working on?
(coughing, shouting)
He's responsible
for thousands of deaths.
You may have changed
your religion,
but don't think
for a second
you can change
your heritage.
But if the worst disputes
between warring nations
can be resolved, can't
two old friends make peace?
I would like you to meet my
good friend, Dr. Niels Bohr.
Are you familiar with Heisenberg's
uncertainty principle?
What about Margot and Ilse?
ELSA: They're determined
to make their lives here.
Perhaps they'll change their
minds once they see how happy
a person can be in New Jersey.
I am conducting this
inquiry at the request
of Mr. J. Edgar Hoover.
EINSTEIN: Hoover?
What does he want with me?
SECRETARY:
Dr. Lenard, it's an honor.
He's expecting you, sir.
Heil, mein Fuhrer!
Welcome to the Nazi Party,
Dr. Lenard.
♪ ♪
HALLIWELL: The intelligence
is thin, I'll admit,
but if it's accurate,
well, then...
we'd all better start
learning to speak German
as well as you do.
BERG:
What else you got?
HALLIWELL:
Not much.
That's why you're here.
We may have the Jerries
on their heels,
but if this Heisenberg character
is indeed close to building
an atomic bomb...
(chuckles wryly)
Well... Jesus.
What do you want me to do?
It's a Walther PPK.
A Swiss friend of ours
has invited Heisenberg
to lecture in Zurich
in December.
You're gonna be there.
If you're captured,
it'll appear
you smuggled it from Germany.
But if that happens...
swallow the pill. It's quick.
And it's a hell
of a lot less painful
than what the Nazis
will do to you.
(whistling
"Take Me Out to the Ballgame")
Your contact is
Professor Scherrer
of the Federal Polytechnic College.
BERG: What's my cover?
HALLIWELL: Swiss secondary
school physics teacher.
Tomas Ritter?
Paul Scherrer.
Pleasure to meet you,
Herr Professor.
BERG:
Which one is Heisenberg?
There,
on the right.
HALLIWELL:
Listen for certain words--
"heavy water,"
"fast fission," "plutonium."
Good evening, gentlemen,
ladies.
Thank you
for coming.
If anything Heisenberg says
leads you to believe he is
close to constructing a bomb,
kill him.
GOEBBELS:
Congratulations, Dr. Lenard.
The Fuhrer, in his wisdom,
has decided to reward
your early support
and continued loyalty
by appointing you
Chief of Aryan Physics.
I am humbled and grateful,
Dr. Goebbels.
Please inform the Fuhrer
that my first order of business
will be to reclaim
the glory of German science
by purging the Prussian Academy
of all foreign
and impure influences.
We must do more
than inform the Fuhrer.
We must inform the people.
In a manner that will
forever burn this moment
into their memory.
The era
of exaggerated
Jewish intellectualism
is now at an end!
The triumph of the
German Revolution
has again cleared a path
for the German way.
And the future German man will
not only be a man of books,
but also a man of character.
And, thus, you do well
in this midnight hour
to commit to the flames
the evil spirit of the past.
Sieg...
OTHERS:
Heil!
GOEBBELS:
Sieg...
OTHERS:
Heil!
Sieg...
Heil!
Sieg...
Heil!
Sieg...
Heil!
Sieg...
Heil!
Sieg...
Heil!
(cheering)
ELSA:
Albert,
they have raided our apartment.
The cottage as well.
What were they hoping
to find, my supply of...
contraband tobacco?
Margot says that they
were looking for guns.
They claimed to
have intelligence
that you were hiding them
for communist insurgents.
Well, that's a very liberal use
of the word "intelligence."
The girls have managed
to save most of your papers.
Poor Herr Hitler.
What will he use for kindling
the next time he wishes
to read by the fire?
This isn't funny, Albert.
I know.
That is why we must fight, Elsa.
Fight Hitler however we can.
We haven't any guns.
I have a voice.
I can write.
I can speak out,
tell anyone who will listen
that this man is a threat,
that other governments must use
all peaceful means
to oppose him.
Margot says that Ilse's
condition is getting worse.
That is not good news, my love.
We must get her
out of Germany.
And the rest of our
family and friends.
Use your voice
for that.
HELEN:
The car is here.
Oh, thank
you, Helen.
You go ahead.
I'll-I'll be
just a moment.
Don't be too long.
Flexner has threatened
to feed me
to the famous Princeton Tigers
if I'm late again.
The Nazis are fanatics.
American capitalists
such as yourself
must refuse to do business
with them, Mr. Mills.
I'm surprised
a man of your background
needs a lesson in
capitalism, Professor.
It doesn't work
by refusing
to do business
with people.
FLEXNER:
You're here
to attract donors, Albert,
not to chase them away.
Oh, my mistake.
I was under the impression my
job here was to pursue science,
not to be the collector
for your coffers.
Most of these people
are put off as it is,
having so many Jews
on the faculty.
(quietly): They don't want our
politics thrown in their faces.
Albert,
look who I have just met.
This is Mr. Henry Morgenthau.
He is Secretary of the
Treasury for Mr. Roosevelt.
An honor to meet you,
Professor.
Morgenthau.
A Jewish name?
- As a matter of fact, yes.
Bar mitzvah boy in '04.
Corned beef on rye.
- (chuckles)
A Jew who's also
a politician.
How very interesting.
Albert, I was thinking
maybe Mr. Morgenthau
could give us some advice
on getting our friends
out of Germany.
Get up. Let's go.
(grunts)
On your feet, you kike.
- Move! Move!
Where are you taking them?
No Jews in
government posts.
That includes
this laboratory.
This is an outrage.
How am I to continue my work?
I'm sure you will manage.
Your people are nothing
if not clever.
My people?
What are you insinuating?
We know you were not born
a Lutheran.
Or would you care to drop your
trousers and prove us wrong?
(whispers): How-how dare you
speak to me in such a manner?
Your Jew-loving friends
cannot protect you forever...
Haber.
PLANCK:
Fritz is a German patriot.
He was the first among us to
raise his hand in the Great War.
He's also a Jew.
Yes, Philipp,
but... (chuckles)
...there are Jews
and, uh...
and then there
are Jews.
I'm told you have
already pressed this matter
with the Fuhrer himself.
Did he not give you a clear answer?
- Yes,
but we cannot turn
our backs on Fritz.
He has been a colleague and a
friend for decades. - Yes,
and for decades you supported
the likes of Haber and Einstein
while they destroyed
the purity of German science.
But the Academy
is obsolete, Max.
I am in charge of science
in this country now.
Make no mistake, Philipp,
the Fuhrer appointed you
not for your shining intellect,
but for your
depraved politics.
(scoffs softly)
MORGENTHAU:
I'm afraid there's nothing
I can do to help your
friend Professor Haber.
No university in
America wants the stain
of a war criminal
on its faculty.
I feared
that might happen.
Poor Fritz.
- The good news is
the State Department has
agreed to issue visas
to several of those
on your list.
Betty Neumann.
Your son Hans
and his family.
Your wife's daughter, Margot.
Thank you.
But what about
my other stepdaughter, Ilse?
She's sick
with tuberculosis.
Elsa's gone to Paris
to take care of her, but...
we want to bring her here
for treatment.
The immigration laws
exclude anyone
with medical conditions.
No one is admitted who might
become a burden to the state.
I would, of course,
pay for her care.
I'm afraid we're facing
the same obstacle with your son, Eduard.
Mr. Secretary,
I promised him. Is there any way
you can make an exception?
I'm sorry,
my hands are tied.
ELSA: Princeton
is so lovely.
We have a pretty
little garden
with a magnificent elm tree.
(sighs) And you would
not believe the size
of the grocers, Ilse.
Everything that a person
could ever want to eat,
all in one place,
imagine that.
Albert is getting
everyone's visas in order.
And soon we shall all be
together in our little house.
PLANCK:
It's like a slow death,
all of my good friends leaving.
I know you did everything
you could, Max.
PLANCK: Germany has
betrayed you, Fritz.
No.
The Nazis
have betrayed Germany.
But when they are gone,
I'll come home. Ja.
We all will.
(exhales)
Palestine. (chuckles)
Imagine that.
(chuckles softly)
It's ironic.
I warned Albert not to get
involved with the Zionists,
and now it's the only place
on God's earth
I seem to be welcome.
Perhaps the climate
will be good for your heart.
Ja.
I will admit,
it could use some healing.
(train whistle blowing)
(bell clanging)
(indistinct chatter)
(grunts)
(sighs)
(grunts)
I'm sorry
to disturb you, Frau.
Is there anything
I can help you with?
No, thank you, Helen.
I'm all right.
I just wanted
to say again...
how very sorry I am about Ilse.
She was very fond of you.
We all are.
You have become part
of the family.
I am honored you would say so.
Perhaps it is time
to make you...
a signatory
on our bank accounts.
I'm not sure I understand.
Albert cannot handle
money at all.
He will need you
to do it for him.
(groans softly)
(exhales loudly)
Fritz is dead.
Oh, Albert.
No.
Your dearest daughter
and now this?
Why does God never stop
pummeling us?
Where are you going?
To work.
Oh, Albert, scratching equations
will not bring
Fritz or Ilse back.
I cannot talk about this, Elsa.
I simply cannot.
Who said anything
about talking?
Come, sit with me.
My eyes are tired.
It would be so wonderful
if you would read to me
like you used to.
It will take our minds
off our cares.
Bohr and Podolsky
are expecting me.
They will understand.
Please, Albert.
It's only for
a little while.
It's Tolstoy.
Your favorite.
I cannot keep them waiting.
(door opens, closes)
(bell tolling)
LAUE: Albert wrote and asked
me to read this to all of you.
(clears throat)
"My good friend Haber
was a man of endless curiosity
"and a passion for discovery.
"He wanted to share
"his genius with his country.
"That mattered more to him
than anything else,
"and thus his bitter end
is the tragic story of...
(car doors close outside)
...the unrequited love
of the German Jew."
The SS are outside.
We must finish before
they discover what we are doing.
The entire country
should be honoring Fritz,
Dr. Heisenberg. Instead,
we skulk like cowards.
What other choice
do we have?
If this is what we have come to,
perhaps we should leave
like Albert did.
No.
We are Germans.
We are patriots.
It is our duty to stay,
to ensure the future
of German science.
KONENKOV:
Art is like science, Albert.
It cannot be rushed.
Forgive my impatience,
Sergei, but...
how much longer is this
going to take?
(sighs)
An eternity,
if you do not hold still.
Hello, darling.
Can you not see
that I am working?
Aren't you
going to introduce me?
Dr. Einstein,
my wife, Margarita.
It's an honor
to meet such a great man.
I would rise
to greet you properly, madam,
but unfortunately,
your husband has accepted
a very generous commission
from my boss, Mr. Flexner,
designed to keep me
permanently silent,
immobile and on display.
(chuckles)
Mm. It's off
to a fine start.
But I'm afraid
you have not made Dr. Einstein
nearly handsome enough.
(chuckles softly)
ROOSEVELT:
Fourth or fifth?
EINSTEIN:
I beg your pardon?
Your wife. She's your cousin.
So is mine.
Fourth or fifth?
Elsa and I are first cousins.
Oh, well, you Europeans
are certainly more permissive
than we Yankees.
Speaking of Europe,
Mr. President,
I was hoping...
Come, now, Professor.
I didn't invite the world's
most brilliant scientist
to dinner to talk politics. No.
I was hoping
you could explain to me
this famous
relativity theory of yours
that's got everyone
scratching their heads.
If I explain relativity to you
in a way
that you can understand,
will you grant me a few
moments to discuss Germany?
It's a deal.
If you are standing
on hot coals,
a second feels like an eternity.
But when you are in bed
with a beautiful woman,
an hour passes
in a split second.
(both laugh)
That is relativity.
You win, Professor.
But I know
what you are going to say.
You want me to take a stand
against Mr. Hitler.
America must lead the
world in opposing him.
Boycotts, blockades...
In a way,
I envy the little bastard.
He does whatever he wants.
But in this country,
no man, not even the president,
can act alone.
Then you must persuade Congress.
Those chuckleheads will not
support action against Germany
because their constituents
don't feel
personally threatened.
Perhaps not today...
but tomorrow will be here
soon enough.
I'm sorry I can't help you,
Professor.
But allow me to offer
a small consolation.
I understand you're applying
for citizenship.
I could expedite
the process for you.
Thank you, sir.
But I don't want
any special treatment.
That's very noble
of you, Professor, but
the citizenship test requires
a lot of study.
Promise me you'll save
some of that brain power
for science.
EINSTEIN:
Imagine two particles.
Measure their mass.
Stick them together.
Let them spring apart.
What happens?
Their positions and their
velocities are related,
but...
- The uncertainty principle
says if we measure
the position of one...
Then we cannot measure its velocity.
- Ah.
But we can still measure
the velocity
of that second particle.
And since they are both
mathematically related,
we can then
determine the velocity
of the first particle,
so we'd know both
its position and velocity
without having
to measure them both.
Heisenberg's uncertainty
principle disproved.
With certainty.
You are vanquished, sir.
Hmm, but...
what if the act of measuring
the first particle
influenced the second,
changed it somehow
at the time it was measured?
Impossible.
That would be...
spooky action at a distance.
"Spooky action."
You're a better poet
than you are a scientist.
(chuckles)
Surrender now,
and I will offer you
generous terms.
Well, what did
you have in mind?
Elsa has made
some wonderful strudel.
Helen!
Bring us some strudel!
Helen?
I've been calling you.
It's as we suspected,
Mrs. Einstein.
Late stages of myocarditis.
EINSTEIN:
So...
how do we treat it?
I'll give you some time
to be alone with your husband.
Elsa?
How could you keep this from me?
I didn't want to worry you.
You have...
so much else in your mind.
Your science, your committees...
(sobs)
Don't worry.
Helen can take me home.
You can go to work.
I know that is what you need.
I think I should like
to read to you instead.
(sobs)
EINSTEIN:
"The whole world
"is now divided into two parts.
"One half is she,
"and there is
all joy, hope,
"light.
"The other half is
where she is not,
and there is all gloom
and darkness."
♪ ♪
You make a lovely nurse,
Dr. Einstein.
EINSTEIN:
"'I cannot come to visit you,
"'but is it possible
that I should never see you?
"I love you madly.
Can I never?'
"And blocking her path,
"he brought his face
close to hers.
EINSTEIN:
"Love hinders death.
"Love is life.
"Everything,
everything I understand,
I understand
only because I love."
(sniffles)
"Everything is,
"everything exists
only because I love."
The Germans have split
the nucleus of the atom.
I didn't believe it
at first,
but that bastard Hahn,
he actually did it.
My God, Niels.
Do you think...
A bomb? Impossible.
You could never
find enough uranium.
What if you could?
You'd need an army
of scientists.
The Germans are very
good at raising armies.
All the best minds
have left, though.
Not Hahn.
Not Heisenberg.
We must inform
the American government
immediately.
Why would
the American government listen
to a couple
of foreign nobodies like us?
I know someone
they will listen to.
SPORTSCASTER (on the radio):
That's strike one
for the man they call
"Einstein in knickers."
(chuckles)
"Einstein in knickers"?
Why do they call him that?
They say he's the
most intelligent
of all the ballplayers.
Elsa would sue them
for libel
if she heard them
use my name like that
on the radio.
(gasps)
Ooh.
Hmm.
Mmm.
Mmm. Delicious.
Oh.
More cinnamon this time?
- Mmm.
Maybe you're just learning
to like Russian sweets.
Hmm. SPORTSCASTER:
Swing and a miss.
That's strike three
for Moe Berg.
Moe might not swing the bat
like he did
when he first came up
15 years ago,
but he still has a cannon
for an arm.
(whistling
"Take Me Out to the Ballgame")
Berg's the smartest man
in baseball.
Lawyer, Princeton grad,
reads as many
as ten newspapers a day,
speaks seven languages.
He is very smart.
Which reminds me,
you promised you'd help me
prepare for my citizenship test,
not to distract me
with baseball.
Shall we go to my study?
I'd prefer you take me to bed.
But you are married.
Were you never unfaithful
to your wife, Albert?
Yes.
Quite often, in fact.
We had an understanding.
Then what is the problem?
It's funny.
When Elsa was alive, I...
I never felt any guilt
about other women.
Now that she's gone...
I somehow feel
I'd be betraying her.
It's been years,
Albert.
I know you still miss her
very much, but...
you must be so lonely
without her.
How many years
does a senator serve?
Four.
- No, Albert,
this is the president.
Oh.
Two?
No, this is the
congressman.
A senator serves six.
(chuckling)
Now, the electoral college.
No, please.
It makes no sense.
(knocking at door)
I know what you're going to say.
She's a married woman
and I'm a foolish old man.
I was going to say there's
a Mr. Szilard here to see you.
SZILARD:
Every split
would cause...
EINSTEIN: A tremendous
chain reaction.
You discovered this,
Albert, decades ago.
Energy equals mass times
the speed of light squared.
Which means with only
this much material
you can destroy a city
the size of Berlin.
God help us all.
Albert...
you are the most famous
scientist in the world.
You must tell the president.
What should I say
to the president?
That America's scientists
must build a bomb
before the Germans do.
I'm a devout pacifist.
You cannot be a pacifist
in the face of evil, Albert.
Hitler is a madman.
Imagine how he would use
such a weapon.
He could obliterate
London, Moscow.
Many years ago,
Fritz Haber tried to convince me
his poison gas would
end the war more quickly.
It only made it more horrific.
Science must never
be used for violence.
Do you think
Adolph Hitler
shares your moral reservations?
You must contact
Roosevelt.
He will
listen to you.
That's the trouble, Leo.
What if he does?
WEIZSACKER: Achieving
an atomic chain reaction
will be the greatest feat
in the history
of German science.
And to think,
the Fuhrer has put you
in charge of all of it.
Carl...
What if we succeed?
Then they will
write books about us.
The Fuhrer himself
will pin medals on our chests.
- (chuckles softly)
We shall be heroes.
HELEN: Something
troubling you, Professor?
I do not suppose I have
ever felt more uncertain
about whether or not
what I'm doing is right.
What would Frau Einstein
have advised you to do?
I expect she would have
reminded me
that I once told her we must
fight Hitler however we can.
Then you have your answer.
God forgive me if I'm making
a terrible mistake.
"Based on this new phenomenon,
it is conceivable,
"though much less certain,
"that an extremely
powerful bomb
of a new type
may be constructed."
A single bomb..." ROOSEVELT:
"A single bomb of this type,
"carried by boat
and exploded in a port,
"might very well destroy
"the whole port together
with some of the surrounding
territory."
Good God.
I don't need to tell you
what could happen
if the Germans develop
this technology before we do.
We'll all be doing
the goose step.
Or worse.
Which is why I'm asking you
to take charge of a program
to research and develop
an atomic weapon.
It'd require
tremendous resources.
Of that I have no doubt.
I'd need wide latitude
to manage the project--
the scientists,
the military,
clandestine operations.
Secrecy would
be vital, sir.
We couldn't let the
Krauts get onto us.
Everyone involved
will need security clearance.
HOOVER:
Oppenheimer,
Teller, Fermi...
Einstein?
(short chuckle)
No.
No, Einstein is out.
You haven't even
run his background, Edgar.
The Bureau has been concerned
about Einstein for years.
He's a radical.
Almost certainly a communist.
He's the man
who informed the president
of the urgency of this matter.
He cannot be trusted
to be loyal to our country.
SEVERAL PEOPLE:
I will support and defend
the Constitution and laws
of the United States
of America...
...against all enemies,
foreign and domestic...
...against all enemies,
foreign and domestic...
JUDGE: ...that I will bear arms
on behalf of the United States
when required
by the law.
...that I will bear arms
on behalf of the United States
when required by the law.
MARGARITA: Albert, you have
just become an American.
Why ever would you
want to learn Russian?
So I can tell you I love you
in your own language.
(clears throat)
Ya tebya lyublyu.
Ya teba...
lyu... lyublyu?
Lyublyu. (chuckles)
Ya tebya lyublyu.
Ya tebya lyublyu.
Oh, uh, I-I'm sorry,
I didn't, uh...
Oh, Leo.
How wonderful to see you.
You remember my friend,
Margarita.
Hello.
- She's teaching me Russian.
(chuckles)
Yes. Very nice to see
you again, madam.
I do beg your pardon.
Come in, come in.
Please forgive us, Margarita.
(kisses)
Why don't you make us
some of your delicious piroshki?
Of course.
(door closes)
They rejected me.
Who did?
The atomic bomb program.
They won't give me
a security clearance.
I need you
to put in a word for me.
They didn't give me
a security clearance either.
What? - Frankly, it's a relief.
It's one thing
to write a letter,
another thing entirely
to help build a bomb.
So you find a Russian girlfriend
and now I have no one
to speak up for me.
(chuckles)
Leo, what on Earth
are you talking about?
Well, they obviously
suspect her.
Of what?
Decoding my poetry,
reporting it to the Kremlin?
I'm not saying it's true,
I'm simply saying
it's a question
they would ask.
Why would such
a beautiful young woman...
Ever pay attention
to a disheveled
old fool like me?
Albert, I-I didn't mean to...
It's all right, Leo.
I just let my imagination
run away from me.
I'm sure she
cares for you very much.
Yes.
I'm sure she does.
(whooshing, gurgling)
Air must have leaked in somehow.
It's ignited the uranium powder.
We must cool it.
More water over here!
No, it's too late.
The pile's lost stability.
Everybody out! Now!
Go, go!
Now!
LENARD:
So you have achieved
atomic detonation?
It was not the atomic material
itself that exploded.
It was the pressure from the
steam that burst the container.
Your work has progressed
quite slowly, Werner.
And now you have managed
to destroy a very expensive
laboratory.
One could arrive at
the conclusion that your heart
and mind are not fully committed
to this undertaking.
That is not true, sir.
I am ambitious
to make a stable reactor.
The Fuhrer does not care
about a reactor!
Your priority must be a weapon.
Constructing a weapon is an
extremely difficult process.
If you are not capable,
I will find a man who is.
That will not be
necessary, sir.
I will do all that
is required of me.
I can do this, Mr. Halliwell.
I don't doubt
your qualifications.
What I don't understand
is why.
I'm too old
to join the army.
(clears throat)
If we do take you on, well...
let's just say
you might be asked
to do things
that you find, uh...
unsavory.
However I can contribute, sir.
This isn't a game, Moe.
Mr. Halliwell,
I'm a grown man who
has spent his life
trying to hit a
ball with a stick.
I'm tired of playing games.
(indistinct conversations)
Dr. Einstein?
Yes?
Vannevar Bush,
Director of the National Defense
Research Council.
I have learned that
in this country
the word "defense" often means
the exact opposite.
We were hoping you could help us
with some calculations.
You're trying
to force uranium isotopes
into a gaseous state.
If we don't show some results
soon, our funding may dry up.
I'm sorry, but I'm quite busy.
They're only a few equations,
Professor.
Then again,
just one of my equations
seems to have started
all this madness.
So...
I really shouldn't be
telling you this,
but our intelligence services
have reported
rumblings from Germany.
We know the Nazis are
putting everything they have
into building a bomb.
You are aware my security
clearance has been denied?
That's why we have to
keep this conversation
strictly between us.
Nobody can know
about this.
God forbid the Germans...
or the Russians...
learn what we're doing.
Albert?
I thought you were
coming to bed.
Yes, of course.
Just a few minutes more.
Don't be too long.
(snoring)
♪ ♪
EINSTEIN:
What are you looking for?
Could not sleep.
My book wasn't where I left it
in the kitchen.
I thought perhaps...
- Ah.
...perhaps Helen put it here.
Well, I woke up with my stomach
grumbling for a midnight snack.
Well, then, let me make you
something to eat.
Why not?
All of this is, of course, very
complicated, but if something
has been particularly unclear
this evening, I can assure you
it's because of my inability
to explain it properly.
HALLIWELL:
Listen for certain words.
Heavy water, fast fission,
plutonium.
If anything
Heisenberg says leads you
to believe he is close
to constructing a bomb...
Kill him.
Right there in the lecture hall?
HALLIWELL: We can't allow
the Germans to get this weapon.
And just as importantly,
we can't allow the Russians
to get their hands
on Heisenberg.
Even if the Nazis
don't succeed,
we've got to keep the Commies
from getting
these secrets, too.
HEISENBERG: ...a formula
that will allow us
to calculate the masses
of the...
(indistinct speech)
(applause)
BERG: A fascinating lecture,
Herr Professor.
Although I am afraid some of
it was beyond my abilities.
I know how busy you must be,
but if it is not an imposition,
perhaps I can walk you back
to your hotel.
I have a few questions.
HEISENBERG: I'm surprised
you are teaching
such advanced ideas
in secondary school.
BERG: Alas, I only teach
the fundamentals.
Although I do like to keep up
with the latest developments.
I suppose I still
harbor the fantasy
I could be
a real physicist like you.
What would you like to know?
The topic that most interests me
is atomic fission.
The journals say that it will
become a source of energy
more powerful
than coal or even oil.
That is certainly our hope.
I have also read
that it could be used
to create a bomb.
Is this true?
A weapon is only
theoretical.
Yes, but, theoretically,
if you had the materials,
could it be done?
(sighs)
It would be
an extremely difficult process.
But I have a
question about
atomic fission for
you, Herr Ritter.
If you were a real physicist,
one who knew how to
build such a weapon,
and you knew it would help
your country win a war...
...but that it could also
kill thousands...
...what do you suppose
would be stronger--
your patriotism...
or your moral qualms?
I suppose...
if I were
a true patriot...
I would have
to push those qualms aside.
Would you really?
Tell me, uh...
do you know
my uncertainty principle?
Of course.
Uh, the... the more precisely
you measure
a particle's velocity,
the less precisely
you know its position.
So perhaps the more precisely
you attempt to take my measure,
the less precisely
you will know my position.
Good night, Herr Ritter.
Thank you for your time,
Herr Professor.
SZILARD:
The Germans do not have a bomb.
I'm told
the intelligence
is quite conclusive.
EINSTEIN:
Well, if you are right,
we can all take a breath.
But I'm also hearing
that our American friends
are very close to succeeding.
Even if that is true,
Hitler and his grey geese
are in retreat.
The Americans will not need an
atomic bomb to defeat Germany.
What about Japan?
They wouldn't.
That's why I am here, Albert.
To ask you
to write another
letter to Roosevelt.
To tell him
this weapon must never be used.
Are you not the same man
that stood before me
six years ago and begged me
to get this godforsaken project
started?
This bomb--
some say it could start
a chain reaction that would
ignite the atmosphere itself.
Write to the president,
Albert, before it's too late.
(typing)
MALE RADIO NEWS ANCHOR:
This is a late bulletin
from our nation's capital.
The president
of the United States,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
is dead.
It appears he has died
from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Vice President Truman
and the cabinet are meeting now
at the White House
to settle all matters
of public importance.
All we know so far
is that the president died...
(shouting)
MAN:
The Fuhrer is dead!
The Fuhrer is dead!
We must evacuate Berlin!
(indistinct shouting)
♪ ♪
MAN:
This way!
MAN:
This way!
MAN 2:
Get him on the truck.
Get in, Heisenberg.
Let's go!
MAN:
You are being recalled.
I'm more useful here.
Useful? Really?
Have you brought us
anything of value
from your
professor friend?
He's not my only source.
Tell Moscow I wish to stay.
Why?
Because you have made
the unforgivable mistake
of falling in love
with your target?
You will do as you
are told, Comrade.
♪ ♪
EINSTEIN: I don't understand
why you are leaving.
There is someone else?
No.
No, Albert.
But I do...
I do love my country.
Russia has been
devastated by the war,
and I am needed at home.
You know, I often suspected
you wanted more from me
than just my company.
Albert...
But it's so hard for an old man
to find companionship.
I suppose I
convinced myself.
Why couldn't both
things be true?
Why couldn't you
love your country,
and also love me?
You really are a brilliant man.
Professor?
I've just heard it
on the radio.
They have dropped a bomb
on a city in Japan.
They say it used
the power of the atom.
My God.
TRUMAN (over radio):
It is an atomic bomb.
It is a harnessing of the
basic power of the universe.
The force from which the sun
draws its power has been loosed
against those who brought war
to the Far East.
We have spent more
than $2 billion
on the greatest scientific
gamble in history,
and we have won.
Yanks beat
you Jerries again,
didn't they?
TRUMAN: ...not the size
of the enterprise,
its secrecy, or its cost,
but the ach...
How did they do it?
It's an extremely
simple process, actually.
Get me a pencil and a piece
of paper and I'll show you.
♪ ♪
Captioned by
Media Access Group at WGBH