The Einstein Papers Read Online Free PDF Page A

power that could result from the improper use of the theory was simply too great a risk for the world at this time. A world populated by men who in the last war had just displayed its cruelest side. A world that seemed bound to wage war and spurn peace.
    The bomb the United States had dropped on Hiroshima agonized Einstein. He was a devoted pacifist. Still, he had tried to justify it by imagining to himself the lives that might have been lost in an invasion of Japan, with fighting island-to-island. The bombing, if it caused Japan to surrender, may actually have saved lives.
    He almost succeeded.
    It was the bomb the United States dropped on Nagasaki that sealed Einstein’s decision. The Japanese were already beaten. Japan’s supplies of food, fuel, and medicine were at dangerously low levels. The Japanese air force and navy were nearly decimated. The country’s infrastructure was in ruins. Japan’s surrender was only a matter of time.
    Once the bomb was ignited over Nagasaki there was no turning back.
     
    Outside 112 Mercer Street, the black Ford sedan driven by the pair of FBI agents was so nondescript it stood out. Even with the availability of automobiles severely limited, no one but a government agency would order a car equipped with blackwall tires and no chrome trim. The FBI agents sitting inside the Ford were dressed in the stark black suits and white shirts that conformed to the agency’s approved dress code. It was only the sweat rings under their arms that might draw them a reprimand from Hoover.
    FBI agents were not supposed to sweat.
    “It has to be ninety degrees in here,” Agent Mark Agnews said.
    Agent Steve Talbot mopped his brow with a handkerchief. “Even the slightest breeze would help.”
    Talbot leaned back in the seat and lowered his fedora over his eyes as Agnews continued to watch Einstein’s residence.
    Inside Einstein’s house at 112 Mercer, the ground-floor study was clouded with smoke. “For what reason would the FBI want to investigate me?” Einstein asked.
    “Are you sure it’s the FBI?” Dukas asked.
    “Yes, I asked the chief of the campus police to look up the license plate number,” Einstein said. “It was registered to the FBI.”
    “What are you going to do about it?” Dukas asked.
    Einstein rose and walked to the window. Parting the curtains slightly, he stared at the Ford sedan parked slightly up the block.
    “Well,” he said finally, “I know what we should do right now.”
    “What is that, Doctor?” Dukas asked.
    “Let’s bring those men in the car some iced tea,” Einstein said. “It’s sweltering outside.”
     
    “We have movement outside the house,” Agnews said to Talbot, who was reading a pulp magazine.
    Talbot stared out the window. “It’s Einstein. And it looks like he has a tray in his hands or something.”
    “We’ve been made,” Agnews said. “He’s coming right toward us.”
    Einstein crossed the street and walked up to the open window of the Ford with the tray balanced in front of him. “I thought you men might be thirsty. It seems the FBI does not believe in giving their agents breaks.”
    He filled a glass and handed it to Agnews in the driver’s seat. “Pass it over,” Einstein said.
    After filling a glass for Talbot, he motioned to the pitcher. “I’ll leave what’s left, in case you get thirsty later. When you’re finished, just leave the pitcher and the glasses on my front porch.”
    Agnews stared at the scientist through the open window of the Ford, then smiled. “Thanks, Dr. Einstein,” he said.
    “It’s no trouble,” Einstein said. “I just have one question.”
    “What is it?” Agnews asked.
    “Do I notify you before I plan to go anywhere?”
    “No, Dr. Einstein,” Talbot said, leaning out the window. “The way it works is you’re not supposed to know we’re here.”
    “I shall attempt to hide from you then,” Einstein said as he walked away.
    “That would be fine,” Agnews shouted after the