Synchrotron: Roots In Nazi Germany

Today is the grand opening of the Canadian Light Source Synchrotron.

Where on Earth is Saskatoon, Saskatchewan," Gerhard Herzberg asked his Jewish wife Luise after receiving a letter from John Spinks of the University of Saskatchewan.

[...]

From small events great things come and it can be argued that the Canadian Light Source (CLS) -- the largest scientific laboratory built in Canada in a generation and the jewel in the country's innovation crown -- grew out of the serendipitous meeting of these two men, cast together through a mutual love of scientific exploration and, in today's climate, almost unimaginable hard times.

According to Gerhard Herzberg: An Illustrious Life in Science, written by Boris Stoicheff, the U of S was one of a handful of universities around the world willing and able to capitalize on Adolf Hitler's decision to pass the Law for the Restoration of the Career Civil Service.

This law, which required public servants considered to be non-Aryans to leave their jobs, convinced a number of the world's top physicists to look for opportunities abroad -- including Albert Einstein, who resigned his position with the Prussian Academy of Science and took a position with Princeton University in the U.S.

Herzberg had been on the faculty at the University of Gottingen, which was renowned for its physics.

He found many students and faculty at the university accepted Hitler's decrees and was shocked when the faculty of agriculture condemned James Franck, a Nobel Laureate who had won the first and second Iron Crosses in the First World War for bravery.

Franck went on to work on the Manhattan Project.

Although Herzberg was a German, and could prove it, his decision to remain with his wife meant he was considered a second-class citizen and was denied the right to teach German students.

In 1933, in the midst of the upheaval brought on by the Nazis, Herzberg received the letter from Spinks, a scientist in Saskatoon, asking for permission to work in the German scientist's already world famous laboratory.

Within two years of the two scientists working together and becoming friends, Spinks was able to repay the Herzberg's hospitality.

Great article by the Star Phoenix. It will open to public tours on the 30th.

(Previous post here.)

Posted by Kate at October 22, 2004 1:58 PM