Farm Hall Transcripts Reconsidered

Abstract

The Farm Hall Transcripts appeared to offer a unique opportunity for a study in the history and sociology of science. My request for access to the transcripts was initially denied, but later was allowed thanks to the intervention of British intellectuals. The recorded opinions of the interned German scientists indicate that initially they had attempted to produce a nuclear weapon, but later abandoned it. The record also traces their development of a view of history, by which the relative morality of the German scientists’ work could be judged, versus that of the Allies.