Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls, (5 June 1907 – 19 September 1995) was a German-born British physicist who played a major role in Tube Alloys, Britain's nuclear weapon programme, as well as the subsequent Manhattan Project, the combined Allied nuclear bomb programme. His obituary in Physics Today described him as "a major player in the drama of the eruption of nuclear physics into world affairs".Peierls studied physics at the University of Berlin, at the University of Munich under Arnold Sommerfeld, the University of Leipzig under Werner Heisenberg, and ETH Zurich under Wolfgang Pauli. After receiving his DPhil from Leipzig in 1929, he became an assistant to Pauli in Zurich. In 1932, he was awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship, which he used to study in Rome under Enrico Fermi, and then at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge under Ralph H. Fowler. Because of his Jewish background, he elected to not return home after Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1933, but to remain in Britain, where he worked with Hans Bethe at the Victoria University of Manchester, then at the Mond Laboratory at Cambridge. In 1937, Mark Oliphant, the newly appointed Australian professor of physics at the University of Birmingham recruited him for a new chair there in applied mathematics.
In March 1940, Peierls co-authored the Frisch–Peierls memorandum with Otto Robert Frisch. This short paper was the first to set out that one could construct an atomic bomb from a small amount of fissile uranium-235. Until then it had been assumed that such a bomb would require many tons of uranium, and consequently was impractical to build and use. The paper was pivotal in igniting the interest of first the British and later the American authorities in nuclear weapons. He was also responsible for the recruitment of his compatriot Klaus Fuchs to work on Tube Alloys, as the British nuclear weapons project was called, which resulted in Peierls falling under suspicion when Fuchs was exposed as a spy for the Soviet Union in 1950.
After the war, Peierls returned to the University of Birmingham, where he worked until 1963, and then was the Wykeham Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford until he retired in 1974. At Birmingham he worked on nuclear forces, scattering, quantum field theories, collective motion in nuclei, transport theory and statistical mechanics, and was a consultant to the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell. He received many awards, including a knighthood in 1968, and wrote several books including Quantum Theory of Solids, The Laws of Nature (1955), Surprises in Theoretical Physics (1979), More Surprises in Theoretical Physics (1991) and an autobiography, Bird of Passage (1985). Concerned with the nuclear weapons he had helped to unleash, he worked on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, was President of the Atomic Scientists' Association in the UK, and was involved in the Pugwash movement.
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Some of their strengths
Rudolf Peierls has many admirable traits.
Based on spiritual traditions from around the world, they are someone who can be described as Brave, Charming, Energetic, Intelligent, Passionate, Optimistic, and Independent.
Charming and Quick-witted
According to Mysticism’s Astrology tradition, Rudolf Peierls is someone who is a charming, quick-witted, and energetic person who combines passion and intelligence with an ability to feel what others are feeling and to effectively communicate with them. A person who is ambitious and motivated.
Adaptable and Versatile
Based on Daoism’s Ba-Zi or ‘Chinese Zodiac’ tradition, people who know Rudolf Peierls well know them as someone who can be adaptable, flexible, and polite, like a flower or a sapling.
Independent and Organized
According to Hinduism’s Jyotisha or ‘Vedic Astrology’ tradition, many would also describe Rudolf Peierls as someone who is independent, organized, inventive, and generous.
A person who is curious and a loves learning, who seems to always know what to say, who has an optimism that can overcome any difficult situation, and who seems to be able to master almost any skill.
Dynamic and Imaginative
Based on the Mayan Tzolk’in or ‘Mayan Astrology’ tradition, Rudolf Peierls is someone who can bring a purifying element to situations, and who is a risk-taker with vision and imagination.
They are also someone who is intuitive, imaginative, and an agent of change, and who is always dreaming of life's great possibilities and partnering with people to try to achieve those possibilities.
Logical and Reasonable
According to Judaism’s Kabbalah tradition, Rudolf Peierls tends to be someone who is understanding, logical, and reasonable. Who can be intellectual and intuitive, speak the truth at any cost, be witty and sociable, and live life to its fullest.
Some of Rudolf Peierls's challenges
While Rudolf Peierls has many strengths, nobody is perfect. They also have some challenging traits they need to manage.
For example, Rudolf Peierls can be Short-tempered, Impulsive, Hypocritical, Self-centered, Difficult, Perfectionist, and Domineering.
Hypocritical and Self-centered
One of Rudolf Peierls's key challenges is that they are someone who can be perceived as hypocritical and self-centered.
Domineering and Impatient
Rudolf Peierls is someone who can be demanding, egotistical, and controlling, can have a lack of judgment regarding personal finances, be argumentative and stubborn, and who can have a tendency to be withdrawn and spend time in self-imposed isolation.
Indecisive and Distracted
Finally, Rudolf Peierls also can have a hard time staying focused and can easily become restless.
