Einstein's Greatest Mistake

2025 marks 80 years since the dawn of the atomic age and 146 years since the birth of the so-called “father” of that age, Albert Einstein. 

But did you know it was a title the man himself rejected? 

Photo Credit: Brittanica.com

Born in Ulm, Germany in 1879 to non-practicing Jews, Einstein excelled at both math and physics from an early age. In addition to advanced academic powers, Einstein also developed deeply held political and social beliefs early in life, embracing secular humanism, more agnostic views over atheism, and staunchly pacifist leanings. In fact, he renounced his German citizenship in 1896 to avoid state-mandated military service.

Shortly before Hitler came to power in 1933, Einstein left Europe for good and took a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. After winning the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physics, he ultimately applied for U.S. citizenship in 1935. Although his citizenship was granted, his outspoken pacifism and left-leaning politics did not go unnoticed; he was immediately put on the FBI's radar and was routinely surveilled for over twenty-two years. 

So it may be surprising to learn that a pacifist devout and outspoken enough to land himself on a government watch list would, in the late 1930's, find himself at the helm of a movement to bring forth unprecedented weaponry to the United States' arsenal.

In December 1938, German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, buoyed by Einstein's most famous equation E=mc2, which had made the splitting of atoms theoretically possible, succeeded in splitting a uranium atom in two. The discovery was announced at a physicist conference at George Washington University on January 27, 1939 and soon scientists from around the globe were attempting to achieve the same process on their own. Almost overnight, the enormous energy that had bound an atom together became available for man to harness as he wished.

Meanwhile, across Europe, Hitler's reign of terror was beginning. The world would soon be at war.

What happened next is a matter lost to the he said/he said version of history. 

What is known for sure is that on August 2, 1939, a letter signed by Einstein was delivered to President Roosevelt. Einstein later claimed his colleague Leo Szilard wrote the letter and he had merely signed his name. Szilard, on the other hand, claimed Einstein was deeply involved in writing the letter. According to his account, the idea of fission being weaponed caused Einstein such a panic, especially when combined with the rumors of German scientists already experimenting with such a device, that he immediately drafted a letter.

It, in part, encouraged "quick action on the part of the Administration..." because "...it may become possible to set up a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium...this new phenomenon would also lead to the construction of bombs, and it is conceivable--though much less certain--that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may thus be constructed." He urged Roosevelt to "give particular attention to the problem of securing a supply of uranium ore for the United States [and] to speed up the experimental work...by providing funds."

Roosevelt responded by saying he had "convened a board to thoroughly investigate the possibilities of your suggestion regarding the element of uranium." The board's progress, however, was too slow for Einstein's liking and, in March 1940, he wrote a second letter, warning him that, "since the outbreak of war, interest in uranium has intensified in Germany." He urged Roosevelt to devote more resources toward the science.

Despite this, it wasn't until 1942 that the idea behind atomic weapons really began to take off, when the program was handed over to the U.S. Army under the code name "Manhattan." Einstein, desperate to help, volunteered for the project, but was ultimately denied the security clearance needed. Scientists were even forbidden to consult with him on project matters aside from one small issue--the problem involving separation of isotopes that shared chemical traits, which Einstein solved in less than two days.

By then, however, Einstein was already beginning to have doubts. In December 1944, he wrote to physicist Niels Bohr, saying "...when the war is over, then there will be in all countries a pursuit of secret war preparations with technological means which will lead inevitably to preventative wars and to destruction even more terrible than the present destruction of life."

Work, however, progressed without him and, on August 6, 1945, the world's first atomic weapon was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, followed soon after by another on Nagasaki. Einstein, upon hearing the news, supposedly muttered the words, "Woe is me."

Photo Credit: New York Times

Although the United States celebrated the weapon and the war's subsequent end, Einstein was filled with regret at the effects of the weapon whose creation he had set in motion. Einstein claimed he had put his support behind a bomb only due to a threat of a similar weapon in the hands of the Nazi's. The bombing of Japan, however, came three months after German's surrender, when the Nazi threat had long passed, an aggressive move rather than a last resort.

Immediately after the bomb, he began distancing himself from the project. He maintained that his work in physics did not provide a map for fission but only explained the energy released during it. "I do not consider myself the father of atomic energy," he said. "My part in it was quite indirect."

This line, no matter how oft repeated, did little to quell his remorse or stifle the praises of the public. In an interview with Newsweek, he tried to make himself even more clear by saying "Had I known that the Germans would not succeed in developing an atomic bomb, I would have done nothing."

Einstein spent the remaining years of his life fighting against the very thing he had supposedly created. In 1955, he added his name to the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, which called for a conference where scientists from all nations could assess the dangers of nuclear weapons. It was hoped that, through this, world leaders would understand the risk of "playing with fire" and seek more peaceful resolutions to global conflicts.

Directly or indirectly, big or small, Einstein's role in the development of atomic weapons weighed heavily enough upon his shoulders to bring about a lifetime of rallying against their use. To him, however, the efforts were too little too late. Just months before his death, he told friend and renown chemist and peace activist Linus Pauling that "I made one great mistake in my life...when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made."

Jennifer L. Wright grew up wanting to be a reporter, but it only took a few short months of working in journalism for her to abandon those aspirations for fiction writing instead. She loves to reimagine and explore forgotten eras in history, showcasing God's light amidst humanity's darkest days. Her books have won multiple awards, including Golden Scroll and Angel awards. She currently lives in New Mexico with her husband, two kids, a couple of hyperactive dachshunds, and an ever-growing herd of guinea pigs.