Robert Richtmyer discusses how he ended up at Los Alamos and his friendship with Edward Teller.

Fitzpatrick:

Mm hmm. I'm curious, thought, to go back, how did you end up coming from Los Alamos? Who recruited you?

Richtmyer:

Let's see now. Well, I knew both Teller and Gamov, and they were both at George Washington University when I was in Washington, so I got together with them, you know, a lot of Physics, attended seminars there. And I think my going to Los Alamos was partly influenced by Gamov — I mean, by Teller, and Teller and I were quite good friends, then. And we continued to be good friends for some years, and then after a while things changed.

Fitzpatrick:

How's that?

Richtmyer:

Well, he just changed, you know.

Fitzpatrick:

When did he change? I'm not sure what you were —

Richtmyer:

Well, it was a gradual thing; partly when he turned against Oppenheimer, you now, all that sort of — So he and I just ceased having that kind of... So, I've never quite understood what happened there. But during the early years, he was a wonderful guy, you know? He took interest in young people and helped them and all that sort of thing, and he was a good physicist, and he played the piano, with his right foot rather heavily on the...

Fitzpatrick:

Because he has an artificial foot, yeah.

Richtmyer:

...on the pedal. But with great interest and enthusiasm.