Re: [Phys-l] A-Bomb

[Jack Uretsky <jlu@hep.anl.gov>]

Hi Jim-
I am confident that you will be taken by surprise by the answer.

Fermi got a patent related to the A-Bomb.  I was never sufficiently 
curious to look up the patent - I have no reason to think it is not in the 
public domain - so I don't know the details.  Fermi "prosecuted" the 
patent, meaning he wrote the application and dealt with the patent office, 
himself.  I know these things because I was once in the Chicago law firm 
of Fitche, Even, Tabin and Welch.  Julius Tabin had been a physicist, 
working with Fermi on the Manhattan project.  After the war he became a 
physics prof at MIT, and while at MIT he attended Harvard Law School.  He 
then left physics for the full time practice of law.  His son graduated 
from Harvard Med School and then went on one of the successful Mt. Everest 
expeditions.

I have a vague memory that Fermi collected some royalties from the US 
government on his patent.  There may have been a lawsuit (check google).
Tabin radiated wealth when I was working for him.  I suspect that much of 
his financial success is owed to contacts he made while working on the 
Manhattan project.
					Regards,
						Jack

On Sat, 8 Jul 2006, JMGreen wrote:

> Was there anyone of whom it could be said that s/he invented the A-Bomb?
>
> Did anyone ever receive a patent for the invention?
>
> Did anyone ever get rich from the invention?
>
> Jim
>
> J M Green
> Email:  MailTo:JMGreen@sisna.com
> WWW: HTTP://users.sisna.com/JMGreen
>
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