https://cs.au.dk/~danvy/lafb.html

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One of the first interesting experiences I had in this project at
Princeton was meeting great men. I had never met very many great men
before. But there was an evaluation committee that had to try to help
us along, and help us ultimately decide which way we were going to
separate the uranium. This committee had men like Compton and Tolman
and Smyth and Urey and Rabi and Oppenheimer on it. I would sit in
because I understood the theory of how our process of separating
isotopes worked, so they'd ask me questions and talk about it. In
these discussions, one man would make a point. Then Compton, for
example, would explain a different point of view. He would say it
should be this way, and he was perfectly right. Another guy would
say, well, maybe, but there is this other possibility that we have to
consider against it.

So everybody is disagreeing, all around the table. I am surprised and
disturbed that Compton doesn't repeat and emphasize his point.
Finally, at the end, Tolman, who's the chairman, would say, "Well,
having heard all these arguments, I guess it's true that Compton's
argument is the best of all, and now we have to go ahead."

It was such a shock to me to see that a committee of men could
present a whole lot of ideas, each one thinking of a new facet, while
remembering what the other fella said, so that, at the end, the
decision is made as to which idea was the best---summing it all
up---without having to say it three times. These were very great men
indeed.


"Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!"
Richard P. Feynman (as told to Ralph Leighton (edited by Edward
Hutchings))
W. W. Norton, 1985

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February 28, 2000 - danvy@cs.au.dk