The Manhattan Project Essay

On July 16, 1939, at the insistence of Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner, physicist Albert Einstein sent a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, warning the President of Nazi Germany's scientific research of the atomic bomb. His letter would acknowledge Roosevelt of the importance and the danger of this type of weapon in the hands of Adolf Hitler. Roosevelt immediately created the Advisory Committee on Uranium. After some time had passed, Einstein was forced to send another letter to Roosevelt because the government was not fully funding the committee because Leó Szilárd and Eugene Wigner were both born outside of the U.S. and were considered possible security risks. Roosevelt immediately ordered the government to give them the needed funds, and this brought about the Manhattan Project. After realizing the bomb would likely be used, Einstein regretted sending the letters to Roosevelt. Although a pacifist,

Thesis: The research for the first Atomic bomb was done in the United States, by a group of the best scientists; this research was given the name of "The Manhattan Project". On Monday July 16th, 1945, a countdown for the detonation of the first atomic bomb took place near Los Alamos, New Mexico. This atomic bomb testing would forever change the meaning of war. As the atomic bomb was detonated it sent shock-waves all over the world. There was endless research done on the bomb in the United States. The research was called "The Manhattan Engineer District Project" but it was more commonly known as "The Manhattan Project."1 The Manhattan Project was brought by fear of Germany and it's atomic

“We believe that . . . an early unannounced attack against Japan inadvisable. If the United States were to be the first to release this new means of indiscriminate destruction upon mankind, she would sacrifice public support throughout the world, precipitate the race for armaments, and prejudice the possibility of reaching an international agreement on the future control of such weapons. Much more favorable conditions could be created if nuclear bombs were first revealed to the world by a demonstration in an appropriately selected uninhabited area.” The initial test for the atomic bomb was dropped in Alamogordo, Mexico with experts observing more than 20 miles away. The explosion was estimated to be a blast of about 10,000 tons of TNT. The Atomic bomb’s intense and destructive power frightened many scientists who were working on the Manhattan Project (Knebel 78). Including the father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer felt as if he had created something that would bring forth destruction to the world, instead of using his brilliant scientific mind to improve and usher the world into an era of peace like he intended to. In fact, many scientists within the Manhattan Project were shocked and against using such a powerful weapon as the atomic bomb against other humans, so much that a group of scientists and

     The atomic warfare capabilities of the United States were brought about in a letter from Mr. Albert Einstein to Franklin D. Roosevelt, our current

Well known scientist Albert Einstein, who fled from Nazi persecution, and Enrico Fermi who escaped Fascist Italy, were now living in the United States, on which they both agreed that the President should be enlightened of the vulnerability of atomic technology that was in the hands of Axis power. Fermi made an attempt and travelled to Washington in March to express his involvement with the government officials, who showed little to no concern. Einstein who as well shared a great concern in this topic; penned a letter to President Roosevelt imploring the development of an atomic research program later that year. Roosevelt saw neither prerequisite nor adequacy for such a project, but agreed to proceed gradually. In late 1941, the American effort to scheme and build an atomic bomb which received the code name as the Manhattan Project. The very first research was placed at only a few universities such as Columbia University, University of Chicago, and the University in California at Berkeley. The

     When the first atomic bomb was detonated in Alamogordo New Mexico on June 16, 1945, all the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project understood the great destructive power of radio-active isotopes. Although the atomic bomb was a very destructive force our world would not be as good without it. Because of the government funding involved in the project coupled with the need for an atom bomb, much research that otherwise may not have occurred took place in the US. The Manhattan project opened the door to nuclear advancements and applications.

In the summer of 1945 Robert Oppenheimer was prepared to test the first atomic bomb. Which was July 16, 1945 the bomb was tested. The bomb was tested at the

On August 2, 1938, in the heat of World War II, Albert Einstein, a physicist born in Germany, sent a letter to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. The letter suggested America to build an atomic bomb before the Nazi Germany does. However, it took more than two months for the letter to reach Roosevelt. On October 19, 1938, Roosevelt agreed, replying, “I found this data of such import that I have convened a Board … to thoroughly investigate the possibilities of your suggestion regarding the element of uranium” (“President Roosevelt's response to Dr. Einstein”). As a result, America held a secret program, code named Manhattan Project, and started to build new, destructive weapons in a laboratory in Los Alamos,

The first atomic bomb was produced in Los Alamos New Mexico and was successfully tested on July,16,1945.That led to the U.S forming the Manhattan project that began in 1940.Two years after Two german scientist Otto hahn and Fritz Strassmann discovered nuclear fission.The atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima with an explosive force of 12,500 tons of TNT followed by another bomb landing on Nagasaki.Do you think the bomb should have been used in Japan?

Finally, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was unjustified because of the lack of testing. Although the project to design the first atomic bomb, codenamed the Manhattan Project, began in 1941, the first bomb was not ready to be tested until the month before it would be used in 1945. When it was tested at Trinity Site in New Mexico, the detonation caused unexpected results (“The Manhattan Project”). It caused “A blinding flash visible for 200 miles lit up the morning sky. A mushroom cloud reached 40,000 feet, blowing out windows of civilian homes up to 100 miles away. When the cloud returned to earth it created a half-mile wide crater metamorphosing sand into glass” (“The

The seed was planted for the bomb in 1939 when Albert Einstein wrote President Roosevelt a letter regarding the danger of Germany obtaining such a weapon. "In 1942, President Theodore Roosevelt approved a plan to develop an atomic bomb. The plan's code name was the Manhattan Project." (Taylor, Page 25) The Atomic bomb was developed based on Frisch's theory of nuclear fission. (McKain, Page 39) The atomic bomb was developed as a defensive weapon for the United States to protect itself from the Germans attempting to obtain the bomb. The Manhattan Project was conducted by the best American and German refugee scientists, notable scientists include Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, and J. Robert Oppenheimer. The first objective of the Manhattan Project was to test the theory of nuclear fission. In 1942 Enrico Fermi led a group of scientists to create the first nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago. The success of this Fermi's experiment allowed the Manhattan Project to "Move from the theoretical stage to the practical construction of a device based around Fermi's chain reaction." (McKain, Page 78) The second large challenge to the project was producing enough fuel for a bomb, in this case Uranium-235 and Plutonium. To produce a bomb the scientists would need a large quantity of fissionable materials, these were Uranium-235 and Plutonium. "Uranium-235 and Plutonium are the fissionable materials used to make nuclear bombs. To obtain these rare elements, however, they must be extracted from Uranium." (McKain, Page 85) The scientists involved in the Manhattan Project were assisted in obtaining these materials by the DuPont company who used two facilities to produce these materials. As the materials were being gathered, scientists were convened in Los Alamos, New Mexico where they lived and worked to design and build the atomic bomb. By

Einstein sent a letter to the President of the United States during WWII, detailing how uranium could be used in the war. He details of a radioactive chain reaction that could be used in bombs. In the letter though, he takes responsibility for mishaps and if the bombs do not even work.

The machines and processes designed during the 1940’s had adverse consequences as well. The first nuclear reactor was built by Enrico Fermi in 1942. The Chicago Pile 1 was the “world’s first man-made controlled nuclear chain reaction”. This caused the creation of other nuclear reactors and the atomic bomb (CP-1). The atomic bomb was developed and successfully tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico in July 16, 1945. In August 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima and killing an estimated 340,000 people (Sherrow 88).

After the attack of Pearl Harbor Roosevelt decided to build an atomic bomb before Germany’s dictator Adolf Hitler could create one and use it to eliminate on his enemies. The creation of the atomic bomb was known as the Manhattan Project. Roosevelt placed the responsibility of the bomb with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers. Colonel J.C. Marshal put Robert Oppenheimer and Leo Szilard the center of the project. On December 7, 1942 the first atomic bomb was created “Fat Man”, Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie R. Groves U.S Army officer agreed that the Manhattan Project needed to be tested in an isolated area because of the uranium. On July 16, 1945 the atomic bomb was tested in Los Alamos, New Mexico many top generals and important scientists

In the summer of 1939, Einstein, along with another scientist, Leo Szilard, was persuaded to write a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to alert him of the possibility of a Nazi bomb. President Roosevelt could not risk the possibility that Germany might develop an atomic bomb first. The letter is believed to be the key factor that motivated the United States to investigate the development of nuclear weapons. Roosevelt invited Einstein to meet with him and soon after the United States initiated the Manhattan Project (M. Talmey).