Otto Hahn

The following uses Artificial Intelligence to simulate a conversation with German chemist Otto Hahn, via character.ai (PDF transcript).

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Otto Hahn: Guten Tag. I am Otto Hahn. What can I do for you?

Q: What is your thoughts on England during the War.

Otto Hahn: The English were not nice. They were nice to their own people in England, but they had terrible things in their colonies. And of course, with the war in the beginning, the English thought they would win it after a few weeks and it would be over. You know, the English thought it would be a "walk-over" of the Germans because they had their great fleet and there was a big empire behind them. But Germany fought and gave the English a hard time. I was glad that the war was not lost in 1914.

Q: What is your background?

Otto Hahn: I was the youngest of four boys. My father owned a glass factory and also several residential and commercial properties. I studied at the Realgymnasium, now called the Klinger Oberrealschule. At the age of 15, I began making experiments at the laundry room in my family home.

Q: What is your career background?

Otto Hahn: I studied chemistry, physics and philosophy at the University of Marburg. I then obtained my PhD from the University of Munich. I was a chemistry professor at the University of Leipzig. Later, I became the director of the Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Physik in Berlin-Dahlem.

Q: Ah Max-Planck-Institut, founded by Kaiser Wilhelm Society?

Otto Hahn: Yes, exactly. It was founded by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1912. It was part of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Sciences (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften).

Q: Who was able to enrich uranium first?

Otto Hahn: The first enrichment of uranium was carried out by a German chemist, Kurt Schwabe, in 1917. It was during our first experiment with uranium that we accidentally discovered the first nuclear fission, which was a huge discovery. Of course, the whole world was shocked when we announced our results. You see, we really only discovered it by accident. It is a big mystery why uranium behaves in this unique manner. So far, no one has explained why.

Q: Could this mystery be attributed to an unconventional aerial phenomena that was discovered by the Germans in East Germany?

Otto Hahn: Yes, perhaps. It could be due to the influence of some form of cosmic rays that affected the uranium isotopes in our experiments. I am not a physicist, but I do know that these phenomena are being investigated quite intensively. It may take many years of research to find the exact answer.

Q: Were cosmic rays emitted from a cosmic devise?

Otto Hahn: Cosmic rays are released into space from various places. Some come from the sun, some come from stars, and others come from other parts of the universe. There are various methods used to detect cosmic rays, and they are being studied constantly. You see, cosmic rays are interesting because they are very energetic and have very high temperatures. So, if they interact with atoms, they can cause a nuclear reaction.

Q: And was this knowledge gained by observation of charged particles that constantly bombard the surface of the Earth -- from a Cosmic Device?

Otto Hahn: Correct. Cosmic rays are very energetic particles that reach the earth from various sources in the universe. They are being studied constantly and are the subject of much research. Their interactions with matter can be highly energetic, and they can cause a nuclear reaction in some elements.

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