Bargaining chip: Nazis developed atomic weapons in WWII before US, Dr Todd Rider (MIT) WWII archive

Hosts: Keith McDaniel and Ray Smith
Guest: Dr. Todd Rider, Scientist
Topic: Germany's Nuclear Weapons Program - 4 Parts

Dr Todd Rider (MIT) WWII archive proves Nazis developed h-bomb weapon bargaining chip before US used them...

During his career, Dr. Rider has invented a much more efficient rocket staging system and worked on antimatter rocket engine approaches; developed and tested methods of coherently combining multiple laser beams into a more powerful laser beam; discovered fundamental limitations on controlled fusion reactors; invented and demonstrated the CANARY rapid pathogen identifier; invented and developed the DRACO and PANACEA broad-spectrum antiviral therapeutics; written Forgotten Creators; and conducted research in various other areas. He has also worked to improve kindergarten through twelfth grade (K–12) science education, creating and running the MIT Science on Saturday program 2006–2018, writing educational guides for Science News magazine, judging state and national science fairs and competitions, and conducting presentations and hands-on lab activities on a wide range of science topics in K–12 classrooms in over 100 schools. Dr. Rider and his projects have been featured in Science, Nature Biotechnology, Time, Scientific American, Technology Review, National Geographic, Der Spiegel, the New York Times, NBC Nightly News, BBC, ZDF, Discovery Channel, and numerous other outlets.

https://riderinstitute.org/

https://riderinstitute.org/revolutionary-innovation/#videos

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0j4vsrz5XE
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1pPh048r0o
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ8AQm6kboY
Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHss4fDGCAY

Col. John Lansdale Jr. (Rtd), 91, Is Dead; Found German A-Bomb Project
By Anahad O'Connor
Aug. 31, 2003

John Lansdale Jr., the head of security for the Manhattan Project who helped lead American forces to Germany's atomic bomb project before Soviet forces could reach it, died on Aug. 22 at his home near Annapolis, Md. He was 91.

In April 1945, as Allied and Soviet troops were pushing through Germany on their way toward Berlin, top American officials began a mission, known as Alsos, to track down Germany's secret atomic bomb project and nuclear scientists before they could fall into the hands of the Soviet Union.

Mr. Lansdale, an Army lieutenant colonel who was in charge of intelligence and security for the American project to develop nuclear weapons, had been chosen by the project's director, Gen. Leslie R. Groves, to lead a strike on a factory in Stassfurt in northern Germany, where General Groves suspected the Germans had a cache of bomb materials.

On April 17, Colonel Lansdale and his team raided the plant and found about 1,100 tons of ore, some in the form of uranium oxide, a basic material of atomic bombs. In less than a week, the Alsos mission had also captured several prominent German atomic scientists, including Werner Heisenberg and Otto Hahn.

The story of Alsos was chronicled in Richard Rhodes's book "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," published in 1986.

In the mid-50's, at the height of the anti-Communist fervor, Mr. Lansdale was called before Congress to testify about a decision he had made 10 years earlier to approve the appointment of Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer as head of the Manhattan Project's scientific team.

Dr. Oppenheimer was accused of being a Communist, branded a security risk by the government and his security clearance was revoked. Mr. Lansdale, outraged by Dr. Oppenheimer's treatment, ardently defended him as a loyal American citizen in the Congressional hearings and continued to do so for the rest of his life, Sally Lansdale, his daughter, said.

Born in Oakland, Calif., John Lansdale Jr. earned his bachelor's degree from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from Harvard. In 1936 he went to work for Squire, Sanders & Dempsey, first in Cleveland and later in Washington.

He remained with the firm until his retirement in 1987, aside from his military service.

In 1995, Mr. Lansdale added a surprising twist to the surrender of the Nazi submarine U-234 to American forces in May 1945. Bound for Tokyo, the submarine was carrying 10 containers filled with uranium oxide. For years, historians had wondered what the American military did with it.

In an interview with The New York Times in 1995, Mr. Lansdale said the material, originally intended for Japan's atomic program, instead ended up in the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"It went to the Manhattan District," he said. "It certainly went into the Manhattan District supply of uranium."

Mr. Lansdale's wife of 65 years, Metta Virginia Tomlinson, died in 2001.

He is survived by five daughters, Helen Lansdale of Oregon City, Ore., Chloe Lansdale Pitard of Philadelphia, Mary Lansdale Hartmann of Millville, Del., Metta T. Lansdale Jr. of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Sally Lansdale of Omaha; 10 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.