Albert Einstein’s most powerful public reflection on the atomic bomb and his role in its creation failed to auction on this week. Einstein never worked directly on developing the world’s first atomic bomb for the United States, but its shadow loomed over his life’s work. Einstein implored President Roosevelt in 1939 to begin work on a nuclear program in order to beat the Nazis to a bomb. “Why did you co-operate with the production of the atomic bomb although you were aware of its tremendous destructive power?” the editor’s letter to the scientist pointedly concluded. One great mistakeAlthough Einstein’s letter in Kaizō marks his most detailed public thoughts on nuclear power, he continued to discuss the matter privately.