What follows is the transcript of a half-hour videotape, recorded on 25 February 2003, in which I interview my Cornell University colleague Hans Bethe about the early days of solid-state physics and the role he played in its development. The tape was shown about a week later as part of a standing-room-only session of the American Physical Society’s forum on the history of physics, organized by historian Lillian Hoddeson, at the 2003 APS March meeting in Austin, Texas. Hans and I were not there.
The original plan had been for Lillian to conduct a live interview over a speakerphone, but then Hans decided it would be better to make a videotape in advance of the meeting. Lillian couldn’t get to Ithaca, so in late February, I, who knew nothing about any of this, received a phone call from Rose Bethe asking if I would be willing to fill in...
