HANS BETHE

In 1990 in the summer I arrived at Cornell. At that time I knew about RH and Linus Pauling and Feynman and Gell-Mann and Carl Sagan etc.........but I did not yet know about Hans Bethe. Walking outside between Baker Laboratory and Clark Hall I crossed paths with Bethe several times, and someone then once told me about him. He wore a fine suit and tie......or just the suit and shirt.........he looked European to me. I went to his lecture about Heisenberg in which he claimed Heisenberg was never a Nazi........RH was in his office during this lecture. I went to his lecture on neutrinos and the Solar Neutrino Observatory (SNO) in Canada. Then I went to a very authentically physical talk about high pressure research by Professor Ruoff.........at one point Bethe was there (it was in the Bethe room) and spoke up from the audience and asked Professor Ruoff, "what is B?"........and then Professor Ruoff responded that there is the isothermal bulk modulus and the adiabatic bulk modulus etc..........and Bethe responded, "Yes but what is B?".....He was very intense in his tone of voice.........And from then on I got to thinking about his question........I have never forgotten that exchange. In the Summer, 1994 about the time I completed the first paper with you on glitter.........I was walking on campus from CHESS to S.T, Olin Laboratory.........in the back by the loading dock. As I walked towards the back entrance a silver sedan pulls up next to me and I turn to look and out of the car stands Hans Bethe........holding the car door open and staring (glaring) at me with the most intense expression I have ever seen. Our eyes made contact for a couple seconds and I was too scared to say "Hi, how are you?" I could tell then by his look that something big was up and he already knew all about it. His look was one of saying, "Brother you will have a very troubled life ahead of you........and I'm sizing you up to see if you are up to the task." After all hell broke loose in 1999 I luckily left Ithaca without being a total disgrace and moved on to a really great job in Illinois. In Illinois I sent a dozen red roses to Hans Bethe and to RH for helping me...........and I sent HB my favorite book then "Winesburg, OH" by Sherwood Anderson..........and the video of my favorite movie, "The Man Who Would be King" by Kipling. Bethe answered, even in his 90's, with a card that was the famous painting by Edward Hopper, "Sunlight on Brownsstone" and he wished me the best.........."whoever I may be"...........he thanked me for the gifts too. His wife Rose Bethe wrote the card in his words. I sent some other things to HB but I did not request a response. I was in Kentucky when HB died in Ithaca in 2005 at 98 years of age. Later in 2009 I was very ill and I sent a objectionable holiday card to Rose Bethe.........It was unfortunate. Bethe was a deep influence on me and I will never forget knowing him.