Kurchatov organized seminars to explain the uranium problem to the industrial managers. At one of these sessions Kikoin gave a report on isotope separation. When he had finished, Viacheslav Malyshev, one of the industrial managers drawn into the project, turned to Emel’ianov and asked, “Did you understand anything?” Emel’ianov whispered that he had understood a little, whereupon Malyshev sighed and said that he had understood virtually nothing – much to the relief of Emel’ianov, who had understood nothing either.23 Kurchatov evidently sensed this, for he put questions to Kikoin to draw him out
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