Manhattan Project - Research Paper Example

The success of this project advanced both scientific concepts but changed the potential nature of warfare for the rest of time. Still, today, the threat of such bombs, along with any other Weapons of Mass Destruction, remains a terrifying apocalyptic fear shared by people all over the world. In order to understand how we moved into the “Atomic Age” it is best to discuss how it all began; the answer might be surprising to some people. It all began with a letter to President Roosevelt from Albert Einstein in August of 1939.

He, along with other European scientists, feared that Nazi Germany was exploring atomic technology; in fact, they were already working to purify uranium-235. This is one of the potential radioactive components necessary to create an atomic weapon (Bellis 1-2). Einstein and the other scientists were opposed to Nazi Fascism and were afraid of Nazi Germany developing this technology, primarily because they believed a tyrant like Hitler would not hesitate to use it. At first, Roosevelt’s reaction was not one of great concern and he worried about expending resources and finding the budget necessary might be an issue.

However, after some deliberation he wrote back to Einstein. He explained that they could not risk Nazi forces gaining such a dangerous advantage and that America would be exploring atomic technology. The endeavor to accomplish this in totality makes up the Manhattan Project (Gosling 1-120). Unlike previous top secret military or government projects that used covert and misleading code-names like “Magic,” which was the covert information gained concerning Japanese ciphers and “Overlord,” which was the secret intentions of the Allied forces to invade Europe; the Manhattan project was much more literal (Broad ).

It earned its name because of much of the earliest experimentation and planning began in 1941-1942 in New York at, at least, 10 different locations within the city. Robert Oppenheimer oversaw and participated in the project from its beginnings to its completion. Together, along with the research of some of the greatest scientific minds in history, like Einstein, Walter Bothe, Neils Bohr, and Marie Curie, they worked quickly to accomplish the completion of a functioning atomic bomb (Bellis 1-2).

An atomic bomb ultimately derives its power from the release of nuclear energy at high speeds. Through the process of fission of the heavier atomic nuclei, the damage it causes results from, not only, the heat of the blast, but, also, from the radioactive elements of its design. In December of 1942 laboratory scientists were finally able to produce the controlled nuclear chain reaction. With this success, the research and the funding began to move rather quickly from there. ( Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia).

Nuclear facilities were constructed in Hanford, Washington and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, while the main plant, dedicated to assembly was constructed in Los Alamos, New Mexico (Gao 9-11). By the summer of 1945 Oppenheimer was prepared to test the first atomic bomb detonation; the hard work of, more than 100,000 people and at the cost of, more than 2 billion dollars of government supports brought them to this day ( Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia).On July 16, just before dawn, at the Trinity site, not