Excerpt of the biography of Fritz Zwicky by Roland Mueller

                     Covering the years 1932-1941

 

tentative translation by Roland Müller;

for the real English translation see:

Alfred Stöckli, Roland Müller: Fritz Zwicky. An Extraordinary Astrophysicist. Cambridge: Cambridge Scientific Publishers 2011, 248 pages (published Mai 2012), 44-77.

 

 http://www.cambridgescientificpublishers.com/

 

 

 

A SPECIAL GIRL FROM PASADENA

 

 

At the beginning of April 1932 in the Pasadena Star-News appeared the portrait of a pretty young lady looking seriously. The legend was: “Mrs. Fritz Zwicky”.

 

The text read:

“Pasadena Girl Weds Scientist.

Pasadena Society and science circles were given a big surprise yesterday in the form of a single little announcement from Mrs. Egbert James Gates, a member of one of Pasadena’s 'first families'.

The announcement revealed the secret marriage in Santa Cruz on the March 25th of her daughter Dorothy Vernon Gates to Fritz Zwicky, one of the world’s outstanding young scientists, a member of California institute of Technology faculty.

The formal announcement said Professor Zwicky, a protégé of Dr. Albert Einstein, and the bride were making their home for the present at the Gates residence at 1306 Wentworth Avenue, Oak Knoll. Tyrzah M. Gates, a sister of the bride, and Franklin Baldwin from Pasadena witnessed the ceremony. The bride, one oft the most popular of Pasadena’s younger society set, met Professor Zwicky at the California Institute of Technology, in which her family is largely interested.

Dr. Zwicky, a Swiss, came to Caltech as exchange professor of theoretical physics in 1925. Since then his researches have brought him world recognition.”

 

Reactions to the marriage

 

Further information is to be taken from a letter of Zwicky to his early love Roesli Streiff of the 12th April:

“It is difficult for me this time to write to you. Two weeks ago I married a girl from Pasadena. Now I have broken my word because we can no longer make our for a long time planned common tour into the Valais. Please be not angry with me that I did not write to you formerly. I got to know my bride in October of last year, and we decided on getting married about two months ago. This decision forced both, my wife and me, to give up many beloved things; without sufferings it does not pass. - The worst irony for me is, that in spite of that we both grew up in Glarus, we have not met earlier. I can only tell to you, that through your letters I became very familiar wit you.

To hear from you was always a great joy to me, and your many successes made me proud of you and my home country. It means a lot to me that you keep me as a good friend and also a good Swiss in your memory - in spite of many of my traits that you do not understand.”

Already on 28th April 1932 Paul Scherrer wrote:

“I congratulate you cordially on your marriage with Miss Gates. I am extremely pleased that you found a woman with whom you always want to be together. As I know you, this must be a very special girl; already her name is delighting. I long to meet her. Please send me soon a picture, or come both soon to Switzerland.”

 

On the same day Hella Weyl wrote from Goettingen:

“If I did not presume that all letters you get now from Europe begin with that, I would write: What surprise and what good one! Congratulations on - in order to talk with Einstein – you finally having found knack. May it run for you in the positive sense! Please tell your wife that we congratulate sincerely; indeed we do not know her, but we know you!”

 

Times ago Zwicky has said with respect to marriage: “If I take an American, I never can come back to Switzerland; if I marry a Swiss, she feels bores in America.” Now he had decided to take the first step. He did not give up, however, either science nor the close connections to Switzerland. More he could convince his 27 years old wife to pass the honeymoons in Europe, especially in Switzerland.

 

"One of our most promising young physicists"

 

Zwicky, however, did not lose touch with astronomy. He had not published since two and a half years, but had always stood in contact with the observatories. In 1930 he assisted as a group of astronomers wanting to explore in the region of Palomar Mountain, about 150 kilometres southeast of Pasadena, whether the view to the stellar sky was so clear that the new giant telescope could be set up here.

In 1931 he met James Jeans, and now he held - in middle May 1932 - a well attended lecture at the Caltech on the question “How Far Do Cosmic Rays Travel?” A short memo on that appeared in January 1933 in the Physical Review. Of the lecture there was a report of a journalist in the Los Angeles Times: «Dr. Zwicky's mathematical mills ran at full power, perhaps, because he is just at the starting off for a three month honeymoon to his home country Switzerland.” Since only a percent of the cosmic radiation comes from the galaxy, the rest must come from the intergalactic space. But from where and of as far? Zwicky could not give any answer, but he could show through computations that the intergalactic space looks different anyway than up to now accepted. Simultaneously he attempted to demonstrate that the cosmos does not expand, anyway not how one imagined so far.

 

Although Zwicky’s theses on astrophysics as well as on solid state physics got little approval from conservative scientists or were laught at, there was increasingly recognition among the experts. In the March Issue of the Scientific American appeared a photograph of Zwicky and Russell W. Porter in mountaineering outfit.

“Dr. Zwicky’s name has figured prominently in the discussion of cosmology among the most noted men of science. Professor Einstein has said that he considers Zwicky as one of our most promising young physicists. His work has been done mainly in the structure of matter...

It was Dr. Zwicky and some of his colleagues in Zurich who introduced short, broad skis (summer skis) for mountain climbing, making the first winter ascent of the Aiguille du Goûter ridge of Mt. Blanc. He also improved the technique of climbing steep ice slopes with crampons. Slopes up to 60 degrees may be climbed without chopping steps, by backing up.”

 

 

 

 

With date of the 13th June 1932 Zwicky received a letter from the editorial staff of the Science Press:

«Dear Mr Zwicky,

I have the pleasure to inform you that in connection with my study about American scientist of the last 30 years you have been chosen as one of 37 physicists that presumably belong to the 150 leading physicists and 1000 leading scientists of the United States.

The methods applied in this study are described in the last and former editions of the Biographical manual of American Scientists.

Cordial, your J. McKeen Cattell.”

 

The main topic of the July edition of the oversized “Fortune” magazine was the California Institute of Technology. A photograph shows Fritz Zwicky next to Dr. Robert A. Millikan on the stairs in front of the athenaeum standing laughing and pipe smoking. In the legend Zwicky is introduced as “Alp climber, collaborator of Einstein and one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists of the Caltech”. In the chapter «The new physics» his solid-state physics is praised highest. Zwicky’s “bold spirit” plays an increasingly important role in modern physics and cosmology.

In the chapter “The new cosmology” is mentioned “the colourful Dr. Zwicky” four times, under them with his theory of the gravity friction (here called “gravitational 'pull'”): “If this theory is correct, one can presumably return to Einstein’s former hypothesis of a finite, but unlimited universe.”

 

Honeymoon and a small cottage

 

However, now he should for honeymoon. The stay in Switzerland, at least in Glarus, was short. Zwicky’s wife is remembered by Mrs. Betty Vogel as “sweet” – but she could not speak German nor climb mountains. Jakob Staehli felt her as a spoilt American.

After their return the Zwicky’s searched for a house and finally found one at Lorain Road 1260 in San Marino close to the Caltech. On November 26th Fritz Zwicky wrote to Roesli Streiff:

“My wife and I both regret very much, that we did not have time anymore in Switzerland ... Last Week we moved in a small cottage and currently in such a muddle, that I can not find either my collar button nor the front-door key and my belief in science and intuition is strongly fluctuating.

Life here has got new momentum since Roosevelt is president and the possibility of unlimited consumption of liquor, and everything looks with confidence in a drunken future. If you sometimes receive some funny letters from me, you have not to wonder about.

 

Great discoveries at the Caltech

 

It could have been at these times that occurred the following scene: Robert A. Millikan just again had been honoured as the discoverer of the cosmic radiation and has been awarded the gold medal oft the Roosevelt Memorial Association. This annoyed Zwicky because the discovery had been more complicated and because Millikan was turned into “prophet of the new time”. Zwicky went to Millikan and said: “Mr. Millikan, I have read every paper you ever wrote, I have listened to every speech you ever gave, and I can tell you I have never found one original idea of your own.” Millikan answered: «All right young man, how about you?” Said Zwicky: “I have an original idea every two years, and I go further: You name the subject, I bring the idea.” Millikan said: «All right young man: astrophysics.”

 

In result Zwicky gave lectures in astrophysics after his main field had been analytical mechanics. On 21st February 1933 he reported Roesli Streiff:

“In the institute I have still to do unforeseeable work which comes of having been to much lazy on travel; in addition they have loaded me with lectures in astrophysics. Indeed I had already certain knowledge in this field, but nevertheless it did not suffice for lectures so I have to prepare myself always tremendously. Besides we always have great excitement about cosmic radiation, and now the positive electron blows in – it has played with us for 100 years hide-and-seek. Nuclear physics has to start again.”

 

 

 

 

THE "THEORY OF THE SUPER-NOVAE"

 

 

On 8th December 1933 Zwicky managed to startle the experts with a new theory. Not only the Los Angeles Times, but also the New York Times reported fully about that. In the Los Angeles Times we read:

«Cosmic rays are made by strange temporary stars which are known as 'Super-Novae'. They consist completely from neutrons and emerge in the galaxy only once all 1000 years.

Astronomers of the Mt. Wilson Observatory and Scientists of Caltech whispered excitedly when Zwicky revealed what his collaborators call ‘presumable the boldest theory about the origin of the cosmic rays’.

The speaker, a former collaborator of Dr. Albert Einstein in Switzerland, filled six blackboards with equations from which the last one showed that the current strength of the cosmic radiation on earth corresponds exactly to the one that is to be expected  to be emitted from such neutron stars.

Dr. Zwicky’s theory supplies the first theoretical picture of the strangest objects in the sky astronomers know, the temporary superstars. Only two of such appearances were observed up to now. The most remarkable, 'Tyco’s star', emerged in 1572 in our galaxy and could be observed even on day and lighted up more brightly than the planet Venus. After 16 months it disappeared. Another such star emerged suddenly in 1885 in the Andromeda nebulae.

The old recordings of the astronomers on the star of 1572 were enough for Zwicky to compute some of his peculiarities. At the beginning, Zwicky estimates, the star measured 800 000 miles in diameter, at about our sun. When the star passed nearer than usual by another star, presumably all neutrons shot into his centre, with the result that the electrons were stripped off outside of this neutron pile suddenly. So the diameter shrank in less than a week on 19 miles. In this neutron sphere now concentrates an enormous energy.

The light radiation of such a star corresponds to that of 100 million suns, Zwicky computed, or as much as of a whole galaxy or spiral nebula. The extraordinary movement of atomic particles in such a Super-Nova would cause, if the star was in our galaxy, cosmic radiation 10 000 times stronger than we receive today on the earth, Zwicky estimates.

By means of computations of Dr. Edwin Hubble and Dr. Richard Chase Tolman concerning the density of matter in space, and by means of other dates Zwicky computes that about one freak neutron star or a Super-Nova arise all 1000 years.

'The proof for this theory', he closed, 'must wait until a further Super-Nova emerges in our galaxy, and that can be the case in one or in 1000 years.

Only when the sun, as the star of 1572, would loose one tenth of her mass in 25 days, the mortals would have to put on protective clothing against cosmic rays, says the physicist.

 

In another newspaper we read, Zwicky computed a temperature at the blast of a Super-Nova of about two million and a half degrees, and when the star has reached 50 times the size of the sun, the light broadcasted during his blast corresponds 100 million suns.

In a further newspaper a journalist concluded his short commentary on “this cosmic radiation stuff” with the questions: “Good heavens! can you understand, what’s all about this? And when you understand, does it worry you? These damned professors make us all mad.”

 

Astounding demonstrations

 

Of Zwicky’s activity at the institute some examples are recorded. In a lecture he showed how one can cut window glass with usual scissors. One must hold both of them under water. A few days later professor Potapenko also demonstrated this trick a group of 50 astronomers and physicists. In the newspaper appeared a photograph of that.

Once Zwicky asked a student how long he worked on a problem. The student answered:

“Yesterday between 4 and 5 o’clock. When I began, the hands stood on top of each other, when I stopped, they stood in a straight line.”

The physicist congratulated the student on his shrewdness, kept on wanting to test him, however, when he asked him for calculating exactly how long he was at work. Since the big hand moves 12 times faster than the little hand, he gains eleven minute-parts in twelve minutes on the little hand.

Consequently the student answered, that he had begun his work at 16 hours and 21 minutes and ⁹/₁₁ seconds, stopped at 15 hours 54 minutes and ⁶/₁₁ seconds, and had therefore worked for 32 ⁸/₁₁ minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At another time Zwicky promised his class free day if somebody could prove by logic that 10 is an even number. The next morning stood at the blackboard:

 

 

            “Through subtraction            SIX                    6

                                                              IX                    9

                                                            ____________

                                                            S                      -3

 

                                                            SEVEN            7

                                                           -S                       3

                                                           _____________

            From that                                 EVEN           10”

 

The students were allowed to ski on this day.

 

As the Star News reported, at that time Zwicky began to understand American cartoons, and consequently the American soul. Three or four weeks after the announcement of his theory about the origin of the cosmic rays in Super-Novae a cartoon appeared in a popular-scientific journal of that discovery.

“Now I understand the Americans, I appeared in the cartoons.” He expressed that in his weekly demonstration lecture at the Caltech. Then he continued his demonstration on “physics of crystals” and dished up some things - how the newspaper writes -, that one can either believe or not. He showed a calcite-crystal. If one looks through, everything appears double. “That is good”, Zwicky said, “for a teacher, to look through - particularly, when he has a small audience.”

 

 

 

 

 

THE SUPERSTARGAZER ON PALOMAR

 

 

Zwicky’s observations with the 12-inch-telescope in one of the two domes on the roof of the astrophysical laboratory of Caltech had not shown anything. Now the 18-inch-Schmidt-telescope reached completion. It was thought to bring Zwicky his own results long longed for. Zwicky was in such excitement he did not got to summer vacations.

 

Palomar Mountain

 

In 1934 the building began of the big dome on Palomar Mountain that should include the 200-inch-mirror. A first mirror from Pyrex glass was cast in March the same year in the Corning Glass factories, New York, but useless because of flaws in the molten glass. A second cast succeeded on December 2nd 1934. It was cooled off in a stove especially built for that during ten months, every day only some few degrees, in order to avoid flaws. A special train, never faster than 40 kilometres per hour, took the 20 ton piece of glass in a special packaging to California. In April 1936 it arrived. Till August the under side was smoothed in the optician's workshop of the Caltech, then began the polishing so that the mirror got the correct form - a millionth of a centimetre was the dimensional tolerance.

Dr. John A. Anderson, the supervisor of the works, hoped for being ready in the year 1940. But, interrupted by the Second World War, the arduous work of polishing lasted in total eleven years so that the telescope only in 1948 could be put into operation. More than five tons glass had been removed with 30 tons of abrasives before the disk was ready for the silvering.

 

In his book “Everyone a Genius” Zwicky tells of the building operations at the dome and he mentioned the pied piper Adamski who built a snack corner at the foot of Palomar and made strange stories out of conversations with astronomers about “flying saucers”. He later published them in part in a book.

 

The peak of Palomar Mountain is 1871 meter above sea level, the observatory on 1706 meters. That is favourable for observations of the sky, because no smog obscures the atmosphere and no lights of the city irritate the observer.

The access roads were bad. Again and again cattle herds barred the way, and two gates had to be opened. When in the summer 1936 a reporter of the Los Angeles Times drove up, he saw only the foundation oft 40 meter dome for the “Big Eye”. 15 to 20 holes for the anchoring had been dug about five meters deep into the ground and indicated the diameter of the observatory - also 40 meters.

In some distance of it the small dome which should house the new 18-inch-telescope had been finished. Next to it a small white cottage, in which Zwicky wanted to live with his wife. At the northwest edge the gigantic water tank and tower, the steel scaffold for the power station fed from a diesel engine and the workshop, further a wood hut with the short-wave transmitter for a direct contact with the Caltech. The building material was lugged by united efforts of the Army and Navy on cart ways to the top. Luxurious worker huts with electrical refrigerators and gas heating accommodated about 40 technicians and building workers.

 

Before Zwicky installed on Palomar, he had begun in August 1936 to search the galaxy after usual novae with the 12-inch reflector on the Caltech. Since end of August the Schmidt telescope had been mounted on Palomar. On the very first photographic shot on September 5^th the same 'Nova 618.1936 Aquilae (I)' could be seen which Zwicky had detected with C. F. J. Overhage just before.

The Los Angeles Times reported: “The true reason that the physicist takes over even the work of an astronomer now, lies in the wish to test his favourite theory that cosmic rays originate from Super-Novae - often designated as exploding stars. Since astronomers were busy with other tasks, the physicist, as others before him, decided it would be better to carry out the work himself than to get others to do it.”

 

Subsequently Zwicky spent three days a week on Palomar, the other time he dedicated to his lectures at the Caltech. In spite of this enormous load he could send already an article to the National Academy of Sciences on the last day of the year 1936. It was the result of long discussions with Walter Baade, Edwin Hubble and Milton L. Humason. It dealt among other things with the question whether light of different wavelength expands differently rapid.

 

1937: the first Super-Novae detected

 

From September 1936 to end of May 1937 Zwicky made about 300 photographs of the Virgo Cluster and its southern and northern environment with the Schmidt telescope on Palomar. In addition numerous nebulae were photographed again and again. Zwicky was supported by Dr. Joseph J. Johnson. He estimated that in these nine months between 5000 and 10 000 pictures of nebulae had been searched carefully for “new stars”. The efforts had a first success half year after beginning of this project, on February 16th 1937: In the object NGC 4157 Zwicky discovered his first Super-Nova. Apparently it had reached her greatest brightness already in January, but could not be photographed at that time due to bad weather conditions. Therefore no spectrum could be included.

In August the observation circumstances were far better. Nevertheless Zwicky could make use of them at the end of the month because he had been on a family visit Varna (Bulgaria). Only on 28th August Zwicky detected a Super-Nova in IC 4182 half so far away as the further - indeed three million light-years, and the brightness of 500 million (later adjusted to 400 and 600 million) suns. Although the position (in the hounds) was not favourable to find a modification of the cosmic rays - since the magnetic field of the earth distracts these - Zwicky hoped to confirm his theory on the origin of cosmic rays in Super-Novae.

Although this Super-Nova was not visible with the naked eye, it was the brightest of the 15 up to now observed ones, except for the one of Z. Centauri 1895 - approximately 10 times brighter than a usual Super-Nova and 100 times brighter than the small nebulae in which it exploded.

Already half a month later Zwicky could report the next discovery: a Super-Nova in NGC 1003 in the constellation of Perseus, in a distance of about seven million light-years (later adjusted to 4.5 million light-years).

Milton L. Humason and Walter Baade could both confirm these discoveries with the 100-inch-telescope on Mt. Wilson. The Schmidt-telescope on Palomar was mainly used particularly for the broad sky scanning for interesting events. Its observation field is several 100 times larger than that of a reflector, and a lot of photos can be made in a single clear night. Also it is little sensitive on atmospheric troubles. But if a discovery has been made once, the bigger telescopes come in action and allow more detailed studies, among other things also spectrum analyses. Such had now shown for the two new objects the typical wideband-patterns of Super-Novae.

 

On September 14th Zwicky noted:

“Dreadful crash with [Dr. R. M.] Langer because of Science Service, Street and Stevenson, etc. Langer raging because I did not tell him of the second Super-Nova. Afterwards he told Baade he could have done wonderful propaganda for us if I had confided my discovery to him. So science is made!. This confirms my former opinion on astronomy, Sycophants etc.”

 

On November 28th 1937 Zwicky noted ironically:

“Describe how most fellows become famous in science: 1. Steal an idea. 2. Publish. 3. Find a third man as Langer who makes propaganda for that without you saying Yes or No. 4. If it comes out that the idea is correct - that means if another proves it experimentally -, publish all your dates rapidly, engage the newspapers and broadcasts by the third person and inundate them with propaganda.”

 

Just at the time Zwicky had detected the second gigantic Super-Nova, Time magazine brought an article on the just preceded discovery with a photograph. Since Zwicky was designated as “an outstanding young astrophysicist, born in Bulgaria”, he felt bound to a reply:

«I am not Bulgarian, but Swiss, although born in Bulgaria. This as advice for caution, if you ever encounter one of the thousands Zwicky’s, whose life and death are listed since more than 600 years in the parish registers of Mollis, canton of Glarus, Switzerland.”

Even two years ago a compatriot described Zwicky not only as “strongly introvert scholar”, but also as “an unspoilt Bernese”.

Zwicky’s discoveries were perceived also in his home country. On October 5th the Neue Zürcher Zeitung reported under the very unusually personifying title “The Super Nova Zwicky” he had discovered “at the Physical Institute of the University of Pasadena a new star already shining in eighth magnitude. Prof. Zwicky, a specialist in the exploration of the new big stars, is Swiss born”.

 

The birth of Zwicky gave occasion for as much confusion as the birth of a Super-Nova. Anyway the discovery of the two large Super-Novae was the greatest astronomical discovery of the year 1937. And it was never missed to emphasize Zwicky not being an astronomer but physicist, that he had made his discoveries with a relatively small instrument, ant that the discoveries were the results of an exceptional extensive and systematically search.

In September 1936 Zwicky had presented his investigation plan the Star News. He defined 132 areas of the sky to be photographed every two or three weeks. The plates containing about 2000 potential Super-Novae were examined microscopically. Since Zwicky estimated the occurrence of a Super-Nova once in 1000 years in a galaxy, two per annum should be observed. Now his expectations were exceeded: he found three in a year - two of them in the period of two weeks.

 

Further Supernovae without great response

 

From December 1937 to December 1938 Zwicky detected another four Supernovae. (Until May 1938 he wrote "Super-Novae", from June 1938 on "Supernovae". Also the newspapers changed the spelling, however, not always.)

The supernova of December 1937 in NGC 1482 could due to bad weather - frequently in the winter months - not been observed well. Because of the proximity of the sun it was impossible to photograph a spectrum. Zwicky did not exclude that it could have been a variable star in our own Galaxy. This suspicion proved unfounded: It was a supernova.

He detected the next supernova on November 12^th 1938 examining a plate of August 26^th 1937 (Field 49 in the Aquarius). It was seen faint also on a photograph of October 28^th 1937.

At the beginning of December 1938 he found on plates of a spiral once more a supernova which had shown the greatest brightness a month before. And on December 12th he found again one during the check of faint nebulae on old plates - on the first photograph of a series of a spiral he had begun on September 24^th 1936.

 

Nothing spectacular - and a time-consuming work anyhow. Zwicky complained he could look in the first survey of the plates only at the brighter an clear visible nebulae, because he had not been provided with a search apparatus capable oft the investigation of the whole photograph films. Therefore he was forced to hold two photos of the same field on top of each other in order to find new stars. This method makes it impossible to search the fainter nebulae.

William S. Barton, science journalist of the Los Angeles Times, who frequently reported on Zwicky’s progresses, got some specifications from Zwicky: He applied a stereoscopic enlarger. Furthermore he trusted in his memory making mental notes of the normal appearance of a nebula and then searching the whole films for points looking a little bit different.

 

End of June 1938 Zwicky had sent a “Letter to the Editor” of the London magazine Nature on the subject “collapsed neutron stars”. The letter was returned due to a great crush in the letter pages. If Zwicky would reduce the size to the half, however, the editor would try to find place to print it. Zwicky sent the letter to the Astrophysical Journal in which it was printed in November. Beforehand he had a “crash” with H. N. Russell who finally agreed “to send the article in some modified form”.

 

In January, May and July 1939 Zwicky could report again the discovery of present-days Supernovae. The first in NGC 4636 caused some flurry in the press and advanced to England (Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail) and Switzerland. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung recorded it as “Supernova Zwicky”. The second, next to it in NGC 4621 in the Virgin, did not get great response as ell as the third one in NGC 6946. In March/April Zwicky had detected one on old plates in NGC 3184.

 

Besides all that Fritz Zwicky remained 'Enfant terrible' in sport and science. On Palomar he built a ski jump: When the snow was high enough, he carried so much together to construct a jumping platform almost six meters high. He succeeded with jumps far about 15 meters.

He astounded science with his proof that the cosmos can not expand, according to his observations and considerations about the formation of clusters of nebulae. He showed that it would have lasted much more than - accepted up to now - two billions years for the individual nebulae to get together from some hypothetical chaotic initial state to the current distribution - more than a billion billions (10¹⁸) years. At least Hubble seems to have been open to such considerations of Zwicky shut.

 

At the end of 1939 Zwicky could close his first program with the discovery of the twelfth supernova - two more he had expected: The faintest was 6 million times, the most powerful 600 million times brighter than the sun. He had explored about 3000 nebulae during the last three years. Now he wanted to base on another procedure: He intended to observe in the next three years only 100 nebulae not further away than three million light-years. That should allow observe them, because of the greater brightness, over longer time, possibly more than two, three years. That might give further evidence on their spectra or temperatures and density.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a hope to find some supernovae in spite of the small number of observed nebulae, in accordance with the poem of one of his many admirers, Mrs. Dorothy Kiel:

 

“Twinkle twinkle little star;

We soon will know who you are.

If you do not have any name yet,

you will receive one.

Just explode, do something tricky,

Catch the eye of Dr. Zwicky

But remember, little star,

Do it over Palomar!”

 

 

 

 

"MORPHOLOGY OF THE TOTAL WAR"

 

 

In his book “Morphology of Propulsive Power” (1961) Zwicky gives a description of his thoughts on the Second World War and his considerations what were to do and what actions he made personally:

“... As a specialist in several fields of physics and astronomy and also with some knowledge in chemistry, I began to deal with problems to protect civilians against gas attacks, with problems of air combat and submarine war and with producing atomic bombs ...

 

However a general survey or a morphology of total war seemed more important. That was not an interesting problem itself. Since the dictators had prepared themselves for the war for years while the democracies stayed inactive, the morphological approach for defence problems seemed the only secure way to escape annihilation. I already had developed morphological methods in astronomy and physics and applied them also in hobbies as mountaineering and stenography. From that it seemed logic to make an analysis of all possible ways of warfare with the same morphological method.”

 

Zwicky submitted his plans first to the Canadian Government, then to American generals in New York and Washington D. C. - ineffective.

When he looked back he wrote: “I myself realized too slowly, that most scientists, also in greatest predicaments, are seldom farsighted and imaginative. Most of my colleagues held me slightly mad without doubts when I proposed in 1940 by means of correct thinking – i. e. the uncompromising application of the morphological method – we would be able to force Hitler to his knees with not more than five divisions or about 100 000 soldiers.

After my One-man-enterprise for a scientifically founded total war was failed in principle, I returned in the fall 1940 to California where I joined the preparations for the protection of civilians in Pasadena and guided some programs for the air defence and for a better arming of the American Air Force.”

 

The failure of his campaign for his ambitious plans may have hit Zwicky really. But he did not lay down arms.

 

"Ir tummä Siäche, das verstünd ir ja doch nüd"

 

Alfons Kubli draws an interesting portrayal of character in his “Reminiscences of Fritz Zwicky”:

“At the beginning of the Second World War a trip on behalf of the American Defence Dept. led me to the pacific coast. I announced my arrival to Zwicky and spent an evening in Los Angeles with him in a Swiss restaurant (Zwicky was in every way tied to his roots). On this occasion he suggested me that besides his lectures he took part in an exceptional secret project of which one would presumably hear about in time (it was the atomic bomb). He also told me he had not been welcomed with open arms at the beginning in Pasadena. 'When I hurled a few differential equations at them, thing got quick better', he added.

 

That’s the way he was: stubborn provocative. As a rule a mediocre newcomer (including myself) has to try and get into the good books of his new environment with much diplomacy. Zwicky was conscious of his superior abilities and did not see any reason to make himself 'popular'. As I mention later, this attitude may have caused a certain isolation of Zwicky in the USA.

 

On a trip to the Caribbean islands in 1942, in connection with a study of naval bases, I had an appointment with an American fleet officer on Antigua. It turned out that he had studied at the California Institute of Technology and visited lectures of Zwicky. He found it not easy to follow Zwicky (he overestimated the absorption capabilities of his listeners and took not care of that). One of Zwicky’s particularities during writing formulae on the blackboard had been an often repeated dampened murmur in an unintelligible language.

Finally some of the students had the idea that it could be a Swiss dialect. They smuggled a resident Swiss in the lecture in order to verify that. It seemed that Zwicky’s murmur was something as: 'You stupid, you do not understand is not at all’ - and variations of this!

 

Zwicky could not even be bothered to cover up cosmopolitanly his being a Swiss and Glarnese as most immigrants do wanting to become rapidly 'American'. Zwicky was proud of his nationality and did not miss any occasion to place particular emphasis on it.”

 

 

 

 

PRIVATE TURBULENCE

 

 

The winter 1940/41 was apparently very warm. In a letter to Roesli Streiff on March 11th 1941 Fritz Zwicky wrote:

“The whole winter till now we had a true summer heat. Nevertheless it rained more than other years, therefore the snow level is very low in the surrounding mountains. In the Sierra, however, it is enough, and it is there we hope to go for spring vacations next week. Sun Valley would be even better, in particular now, with the new ski elevator on Bald Mountain, dragging skiers 1200 meters up the hill. But unfortunately the distance from here is too long and the ride so expensive, hat we can afford it only all two years. - I read W. Prager is now the great ski man of the American Army. He wrote a very nice booklet on skiing which was accepted as an official textbook of the Army. He produces still ski waxes, which should be a lucrative thing - if the waxes are good.

On Palomar everything goes very slowly since part of the engineers were detached for the defence. Perhaps we will have to chuck in the mountain anyway because there is a project to cut our summer vacations in order to reduce the training time for engineers by a third.”

 

New objects and ideas - private turbulence

 

First, however, on Palomar the lens grating from Wood had to be tested. Nebulae in the Hydra cluster and in the Fornax group had to be counted. On March 19th Zwicky entrusted Humason with the inspection of the faint blue stars no. 17 and 33.

After they had seen in the movie theatre “Gone by the Wind” the Zwicky’s spent a ski week at Mono Lake and June Lake.

On April 5th Zwicky noted “a topic for a lecture on choosing a career”:

“1. Something of one’s own. Everyone has his own genius.

2. Routine, practical. There are always people who want something practical. In iron.
Everyone must achieve that, also the abstract worker.

3. Embellishment.

4. Humour.

 Work for work or l'art pour l'art, can’t be done.
Usually by laziness or impotence.
Life has to be reproduced.”

 

At this time Dorothy had hay fevers. In the movie theatre they saw “Gaslight” and Chaplin’s “Great Dictator”. In the class on astrophysics Zwicky spoke “On the Large Scale Distribution of Matter in the Universe”. St. Exupéry and the son of the painter Renoir were passed round at the Caltech. In the Stendhal Gallery there was an exhibition of painting of Paul Klee.

Truempler came on Palomar. Zwicky imagined a third kind of Supernovae - as that which caused the crab nebulae. On one of the numerous rides to Palomar they visited the criminal writer Earl Stanley Gardner. In the Lyons club Zwicky spoke on “New Refinements to Aid Palomar Observations”. Later he spoke at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on “A Mosaic Objective Grating”.

On May 15th he discussed the divorce of Dorothy with an attorney, and a week later he took her along for settling all matters. He noted down thoughts for an “Outline on constructive education”:

«No grey theory alone, but realization. Special emphasis on seeing connections and visual instruction. e. g. in botany study of the plants and trees in the sense of artistic morphology, horticulture, technical utilization of plants, demonstration of simple processes, use of woods, fibres, oils etc. for house building, inside decoration etc. (15.5.)

“Paracelsus: The basis of all medicine is love.

With regard to all fiascos the rational philosophy has suffered individually as in the life of the peoples, the opposite point of view of the intuitive, wonderful, mystic must be lived more deeply.

From where stems the power of all quacks, Christian Science, various 'healers' etc.?” (25.5.)

 

Next time Dorothy did not come anymore on Palomar. After the return a terrible pain troubled Zwicky for the first time in a toe. This should happen in later years again and again. He started to write a book: “Give the heretics a chance”. At the funeral of the mother of Theodore von Kármán this said to Zwicky: “You have been the favourite of my mother.”

On July 7th Dorothy’s mother died. (Because she was Christian Science, medical care was refused completely.) Zwicky meant: “The doctor was called in the last minute to remove the abscess. Dreadful how she resisted with the idea of divine aid.”

Middle of July Zwicky had the first thorough meeting with Theodore von Kármán and Pol Duwez on the plasticity of metals. Further meetings followed in fall.

At the end of July Zwicky wrote down:

“Consecutive definitions of the

1. free man, wise man

2. crank

3. quack

4. crook.

 

1. Actions guided by charging the inexhaustibility of the truth.

2. The crank has a dogma and hurts the flexibility of the truth.

3. The quack attempts to practise his dogma and to force it on others (unlike Nietzsche: 'This is my way, which one is yours? ')

4. The crook uses the dogma for financial etc. exploitation.”

 

Middle of September Zwicky made observations with the 8-inch telescope in the High Sierra, and Dorothy could be parted in Reno of Zwicky. On September 27th he went again on Palomar accompanied by Prof. C. G. Darwin, a grandson of the great naturalist. Years later Zwicky reported on that:

“In my enthusiasm I expressed the presumption that one could detect every day a new cosmic object, and for years to come. Darwin meant in his very British manner: 'Why don’t you do it?'”

 

Since the Physical Review did not want to publish a long article, Zwicky noted down after a long consideration of the “extension of the universe”: “When the high priests of the armchair artists become too dogmatic (Letter of the Physical Review) I wonder sometimes if the universe has also an angle momentum that affects the brain of these people.” When Zwicky immediately afterwards held a lecture “On the Large Scale Distribution of Matter in the Universe” he met also with opposition.

On December 21st most workers on Palomar were dismissed. The building activity for the big telescope came largely to a standstill.