SCIENTISTS UNDER NAZI GOVERMENTS

Tansu KUCUKONCU , PhD
( Tansu KÜÇÜKÖNCÜ ( in Turkish alphabet ) )

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SCIENTISTS UNDER NAZI GOVERMENTS

Survey by Tansu KUCUKONCU

Before National Socialists goverment, Germany, especially in theoretical

physics, was the number one in the world.

Nazis gradually applied their nationalist asimilation politics in science,

too. They wanted to constitute a national physics.

The biggest problem of the scientists is to save their scientific auto-

nomy. Most of them are apolitic.

There are two kind of intervention to science. One is to send unwanted

scientists away. The second is to re-establish all the standarts and the com-

ments of the discipline. This one which was tried to be applied by ideologs

was failed.

The send-away program of Nazis for Jewish people was not clear at first.

Academicians could not be hindered completely because of artificial legality

of Nazi laws. But struggling with this using legal ways didn't give a succes-

ful result.

Due to the fame of German universities, immigration of German scientists

(especially physcists) was easier than other people in the country.

Leader scientists, i.e. Planck, Von Laue, Sommerfeld, who didn't be af-

fected much from the applications, tried to keep their communities together.

They wanted to protect the international fame of science in Germany. Their

thought was that 'Nazis are temporary, but science is permanent, so its

continuity must be preserved'. Their efforts are not completely rejected

by the governors. Some non-Jewish scientists were sent away with Jewishs,

but some Jewish scientists, i.e Hertz and Meitner, were not be touched. They

continued their studies.

Inspite of everything, losses in qualified scientists reached up to

% 25. Losses in potentially qualified scientists is another story. Most of

these % 25 were at the top of theoretical physics in the world. Worse thing

was that most of them went to rival countries. Most of them went to U.S.

They studied in Manhattan project. These % 25 played the most important and

effective role in completion of atom bomb very much earlier than Germans'.

Moreover the start to Manhattan project was given by Einstein.

Scientists especially tried to use governers to take support for the

subjects which they deal with.

The cause of failure of German atom energy project was that Nazi econo-

mic politics was not support long-term projects. Another reason was that

the leader theoricians didn't know well how the projects could be applied

in industry. And Germany's lack was that there were not good experimentalists

who would complete the effects of theoricians. Their high level self-trust

in their science was another disadventage. They believed that they were the

best. If they couldn't do something, nobody couldn't do it.

Sent-away of lots of perfect physicists and making the conditions worse

than before for the rest (internentions of goverment to the universities,

national physics story) were factors for worsening of physics in Germany.

But the most important and effective factor was that after the creative ac-

tivity explosian in theory before 1930, experiments should be primary and

theory should become in regression. But the succes of theory obscured ex-

periment. Therefore physics in Germany was deprived of experimental equip-

ments which were necessary for international competion. Nazis worsened the

situation which was getting worsen.

dilar. Fizik alaninda ideolojik dogrunun ne oldugunu belirlemede goster-

dikleri duraksama da kotuydu.Ari fizik hareketi fizikciler tarafindan

politik bir hareket, politikacilar tarafindan ise bilimsel bir hareket

olarak goruluyordu. Bu da basarisizligin bir nedeniydi.

Nazi leadres didn't have any knowledge about the academic physics. They

didn't give much importance to bad situation created by sent-away politics

applied in science.

Ari fizik hareketi alm.nin dunya fiziginde konumunu guclendirmeye yonelik

bir caba olacak yerde alm.nin 20. yy fizigine sagladigi hayranlik verici

katkilarin yadsinmasini temsil ediyordu. Bunda ideologlarinin lenard ve

stark isimli basarisiz iki fizikci olusunun etkisi de buyuktu. Gorecelik

kurami ve quantum mekanigini reddediyorlardi. Kendi aralarinda da anlas-

mazlik vardi. Tek anlastiklari fizige irkciligin sokulmasiydi. Bilimsel

yonetimde bilgiyi degil ideolojiyi on plana cikarmaya calisiyorlardi.

Eger bilimsel basarinin standartlari, esasta ayni degerleri paylasan ye-

tenekli bir gurup tarafindan ve yalnizca bu gurup tarafindan denetlenmezse,

daima birden cok gercek varolabilecekti. (dogal olarak da alm. gerceginin

yahudi gerceginden ustun oldugu dusunuluyordu.

Nazi kuramina meslek planinda karsi cikis, Nazi rejimine politik muhalefetle

ayni sey degildi. Yonetimde bunu farkedebilecek insanlarin olmasi ari fizik-

cilerin kostegiydi.

ulkede kalan Bilim adamlarinin yeterince guclu bir tepki gostermeyislerine

gelince. Bu bilim adamlarinin poltik korkaklar defgil fakat politik

kahraman olmayi bilmeyen kisiler olduklari.. Ileride ulke icin bir umit

isigi olabilmek icin de hayatta kalmalari gerektigi.

Ozellikle teorik fizikcilerin en buyuk kayibi, politik guclerinin olmayi-

siydi. Diger meslek guruplari (eng., applied physic. ..) calismalrinin

ekonomik ya da savasla ilgili onemine dikkati cekebilyorlardi. Atom

fizigi ise pratik sorunlardan cok bilim kurguya ya da felsefeye yakin bir

konu oolarak goruluyordu.

Hitler'in Planck'a sozu ' o halde biz de birkac yil bilimsiz yapariz'

Almanyada yaygin olan toplumsal gorus 'yaracilik'. Bir seye karsi cikista

bile bir yara olmali. Yapilacak bir is yarar saglamayacaksa yapilmamalidir.

Hitler'in iktidara gelisinde de nazilerin gucunden cok halktaki yaygin bu

pasif gorusun etkin oldugu iddia edilmektedir. Nazi doneminde bilim adam-

larinin tepkisi de..

Icerde kalip da direnis gosterebilen bilim adamlarinin sayisinin son dere-

cede az olusunda amaclari olan meslkei ozerklik kapsaminda direnisin olma-

yisiydi.

German physicists, to preserve their autonomy against national socio-

logists, defended the idea that their studies are not related to politics.

But at the same time, to get economical support for their studies, they

defended how much their studies are important for the war. They lived some

contradictions.

Scientists lived under Hitler didn't understand that profecional physics

could be kept far from politics not with the power of its defenders, but with

weaknesses and political insufficiency of those which attacks against it.

It must not be forgetten that, even that results of their efforts changed

the world, the same pressure, applied to other people, was applied to them

and they showed the same weaknesses.

Pierre Maurice Marie DUHEM's Philosophy of Science

Tansu KUCUKONCU , PhD
( Tansu KÜÇÜKÖNCÜ ( in Turkish alphabet ) )

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Pierre Maurice Marie DUHEM


Survey by Tansu KUCUKONCU

He is a French physicist and philosopher who lived between 1861 and 1916.

His basic thoughts are listed below:

* One could not fully understand a scientific theory or concept without

knowledge of its origins and the development of the problems which it was

designed to solve.

* One of his principal aims is to make a clear theoretical seperation

between physics and metaphysics.

The mataphysician is concerned with explanation, to explain being, 'to

strip reality of appearences covering it like a veil, in order to see the

bare reality itself'. But it's only metaphysics which raises the question

whether there is reality underlying or distinct from sensible appearences.

A physical theory is not an explanation. It is a system of mathematical

propositions, deduced from a small number of principles, which aim at

representing as simply, as completely and as exactly as possible a set of

experimental laws.

* Mathematical deductions have no meaning for a physicist unless they

have physical equivalents.

* 'Agreement with experiments is the sole criterion of truth for a

physical theory'.

A physicist does not conduct physics without some sort of theory.

Physical theory has no objective validity independently of experiment.

* An experiment in physics is the precise observation of phenomena

accompanied by an interpretation of these phenomena; this interpretation

substitute for the concrete data really gathered by observation abstract and

symbolic representations which corresponds to them by virtue of the theories

admitted by the observer.

* It would be unreasonable to work for the progress of physical theory

if this theory were not the increasingly better defined and more precise

reflection of a metaphysics; the belief in an order transcending physics is

the sole justification of physical theory.

* A physical theory does not explain the laws, though it coordinates

them systematically. Nor do the laws explain reality; what we know are the

relations between sensible phonomena.

* Every physical theory is an approximate law. Consequently it can not be,

for the strict logician, either true or false; any other law representing

the same experiments with the same approximation may lay as just a claim as

the first to the title of a true law or, to speak more precisely, of an

acceptable law.

* The more perfect the methods of measurements are, the closer is the

approximation and the narrower the limits. But they never become so narrow

that they vanish.

* He argues that the falsification of a theory is necessarily ambigious

and therefore that there is not and cannot be a 'crucial experiment' in F.

Bacon's sense of phrase. For which the physicist can never be sure that there

is not another conceivable hypothesis which would cover the phenomena in

question. (one can never be sure that it is a given theory rather than

auxilary or background hypothesis which experiment has falsified)

But as the number of rescue operations increases, the theory may lost

its simplicity, so it may be more appropriate to chance it with a new one.

* He refuse to admit that there are scientific hypoteses which are beyond

the reach of experimental refutation and must be regarded as definitions

which remain unaffected by emprical testing.

* In an experiment the formula which was useless when we employed one

of the equipments (tools) may become useful when we employ the second.

* He adds indeed that we cannot avoid the feeling that observed relations

correspond to something in things apart from their sensible appearences to

us. But he insists that this is a matter of natural faith or belief and not

something which can be proved in physics.

* Scientific theories permit predictions. Some of this predictions are

emprically testable. If they are verified, the value of the theory is

increased. If a prediction which represents a legitimate conclusion from a

theory is falsified, then that theory must be modified (if not abondened).

If we assume the truth of a given hypothesis and then deduce that on this

assumption a certain event should occur in certain circumstances, the accual

occurance of the event in these circumstances does not prove the truth of the

hypothesis.

* Science advences through the elimination of hypothesis rather than

through verification in a strong sense.

* Science makes progress because experiments constantly causes new

disagreements to break out between laws and facts, and because physicist

constantly touch up and modify laws in order that they may more faithfully

represent facts.

* We can foolow the slow and graduated transformations through which the

theoretical system evolved; but at no time can we see a sudden and arbitrary

creation of new hypotesis.

* His interpretation of physics is 'positivist in its conclusions as well

as in its origins. He rejects metaphysics

* Experimental approaches do not have the power to transform a physical

hypotesis into an indisputable truth; in order to confer this power on it,

it would be necessary to enumerate completely the various hypothesis which

may cover a determinate group phenomena; but the physicist is never sure he

has exhausted all the imaginable assumptions.