...The Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a significant turning point for the United States in World War II. The rumors of the creation of an atomic bomb put the Allies on edge; each wanting to be the first to create such a destructive technology. The reason behind why the US chose to execute this project, the processes and events that took place, and the subsequent effects of the project depict the importance of this major US event. To fully understand the importance of the Manhattan Project, it is first imperative to understand the reasoning behind why the United States chose to pursue the project. In 1939, Allied scientists had fears that Nazi Germany might develop nuclear weapons (The Manhattan Project). At this point in the War, Hitler was at his most powerful. He had one of the largest followings in history and his reign was producing devastating outcomes for the Jewish population (The Manhattan Project). Once the scientific community discovered that German physicists could split a uranium atom, action needed to be taken (The Manhattan Project). Albert Einstein, who fled Nazi Germany to live in the US, felt as though President Roosevelt should be made aware of the dangers of atomic technology being in the hands of Hitler (Ushistory). A letter written by Einstein was received by Roosevelt, yet the President found no reason to immediately respond to such a situation (Ushistory). However, 1941 began the American effort to construct an atomic bomb (The Manhattan...
Words: 2298 - Pages: 10
...“It was certainly sui generis—it was the first thing of just that kind.” J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the scientists of the Manhattan Project, described the scientific importance of the discovery of the atomic bomb. Immediately after the droppings of the atomic bombs on Japan until the present day, there were many debates on whether the Manhattan Project was justified or if nuclear weapons are even ethical. Seeing the destruction of the “Little Man” and “Fat Boy” bombs in the moment arose great fear and discontent. However, looking at the Manhattan Project in retrospect shows that the advantages gained through the years greatly outweigh the consequences of the nuclear weapons. The Manhattan Project was a pivotal endeavor in America’s history...
Words: 1705 - Pages: 7
...arrival of foreign scientists to America impacted the Manhattan Project and to come to a conclusion of whether or not the incursion of the foreign scientists to America led to the success of the Manhattan Project. This investigation was completed by: · A reading of multiple books about the Manhattan Project and its history · Scrupulous use of the internet · Making an understanding of the science behind the creation of the atomic bomb · An evaluation of Albert Einstein’s letter to President Roosevelt The first section of this investigation will deliver factual material from sources with accurate references. The next section is an evaluation...
Words: 2078 - Pages: 9
...An atomic bomb is a weapon with great explosive power that results from the sudden release of energy upon the splitting, or fission, of the nuclei of such heavy elements as plutonium or uranium. (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016) This catastrophic bomb was used twice during World War II. On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped its first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The bomb was known as "Little Boy", a uranium gun-type bomb that exploded with about thirteen kilotons of force. Three days after the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, a twenty one kiloton plutonium device known as "Fat Man.”(Atomic Heritage Foundation, 2012) This paper will discuss the creation and use of the first two atomic bombs. Early in 1939, German physicists had learned the secrets of splitting a uranium atom. Fears soon spread over the possibility of Nazi scientists utilizing that energy to produce a bomb capable of unspeakable destruction. Scientists Albert Einstein, who fled Nazi persecution, and Enrico Fermi, who escaped Fascist Italy, were now living in the United States. They agreed that President Franklin Roosevelt, must be informed of the dangers of atomic technology in the hands of the Axis powers. In late 1941, the American started to design and build an atomic bomb, which later received its code name, the Manhattan Project, which was named after one of the initial sites of research, Columbia University...
Words: 1203 - Pages: 5
...of the Manhattan Project. I am clearly the one who most greatly contributed the U.S’s successes in the Manhattan Project because I successfully showed that atomic power could be controlled and gave the U.S a momentum boost because now the kenw the atomic bomb was possible. Even though some might say that the atomic pile wasn’t an important part of the Manhattan...
Words: 585 - Pages: 3
...Manhattan Project 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 research. On account of the fear of Germany the United States took action upon testing their own atomic bomb. Once the bomb was tested, the United States had to decide whether it should be used and if so, where? Then there was the process of dropping the bomb. The Manhattan Project was overall one of the highest and most significant projects ever done in the United States.2 The United States government was shocked by the news of German scientists discovering nuclear fission. The news came to the United States from Albert Einstein. Einstein found out the nuclear fission information from a German physicist named Leo Szilard. He then told it to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and urged him to start an investment toward atomic research. 3The research...
Words: 256 - Pages: 2
...neutrons. As a result, the uranium nucleus splits some of its mass to be converted to energy. Other physicists noticed that the fission of one uranium atom gave off extra neutrons, which could in turn split other uranium atoms, starting a chain reaction. Therefore, in theory this energy could be harnessed to make a powerful bomb. Due to this, the development of the ultimate power took many scientists a lot of hard work and dedication to create such an effective bomb. First and foremost, there were problems with the political and social climate of the world that caused a race to unfold in the development of the ultimate weapon. During this period of time World War II was going on, and the United States was fighting with Germany in the Atlantic, as well as Japan in the Pacific. It all started when Adolf Hitler and the Nazis attacked Poland on September 1, 1939, in which the other countries had joined the war for help. As a result, when Leo Szilard heard that Germany had found out about Hahn and Strassman’s discovery he thought they would produce a bomb. Leo Szilard told them that they were attempting to purify Uranium-235, which would make up the atomic bomb. With that being said, he needed to get this valuable information to Franklin D. Roosevelt, the president of the United States at the time, but he did not know how to accomplish that. After some thinking he finally came to a conclusion and thought of Albert Einstein, and his connection with the United States. So, he went to...
Words: 1464 - Pages: 6
...“The Birth of a Little Boy: The Manhattan Project” “The Birth of a Little Boy: The Manhattan Project” In 1919 a New Zealand Nobel Peace Prize winning chemist working at Cambridge University in England would lay the foundation for one of the most prolific and destructive weapons the world has ever seen. Ernest Rutherford changed the way scientists looked at atomic structure when he successfully changed several atoms of nitrogen into oxygen. In this process he discovered the proton. Rutherford’s scientific discovery would get a boost in 1932 when his then colleague, James Chadwick, discovered the final piece to the atomic puzzle, the neutron. With the complete atomic structure established, the process of further breaking down elements began. One element of particular interest was uranium, the heaviest element on the periodic table. Uranium was broken down into three categories by their number of neutrons: uranium-234, uranium-235, and uranium-238.1 Six years later uranium-235 would become a focal point in nuclear research. The year 1938 would bring about the next phase of nuclear warfare, nuclear fission. Radiochemists, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, were working in their lab in Berlin, bombarding different elements with neutrons. As they worked down the periodic table they stumbled on something interesting. Uranium reacted significantly more to neutron bombarding than the other elements they had tested. Additional testing led Hahn and Strassman to hypothesize...
Words: 1417 - Pages: 6
...VIDEO ESSAY 1: THE MANHATTAN PROJECT Terry E. Reid History 314: Contemporary United States History 1945 to Present Dr. Gary Wray THE MANHATTAN PROJECT The Manhattan Project was the wartime effort to design and build the first atomic bombs. With the discovery of fission in 1939, it became clear to scientists that certain radioactive materials could be used to make a bomb with unprecent power. Once presented with this information, Franklin D. Roosevelt creating the Uranium Committee to investigate this possibility. The Manhattan Engineer District was the official name of the project commanded by Army General Leslie R. Groves. He was given almost unlimited powers to call upon the military, industrial, and scientific resources of the nation. While watching the video on the Manhattan Project, three things stood out to me: the research and development, the detonation of these bombs, and the ever lasting effects they would have on the world. The cost of the development and coordination for the Manhattan Project was $2-billion which was used to obtain sufficient amounts of the two necessary isotopes, uranium-235 and plutonium-239. The development and research was conducted mainly at 3 locations. At Oak Ridge, Tenn., the desired uranium-235 was separated from uranium-238 by a process called gaseous diffusion. At the Hanford installation, located in Washington State, huge nuclear reactors were built to transmute non-fissionable uranium-238 into plutonium-239...
Words: 665 - Pages: 3
...The Manhattan Project Nuclear research all started when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and the United States entered into World War II. When the United States realized that Germany attempted to build an atomic bomb, Americans began to concentrate on their research about creating an atomic bomb more heavily. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Manhattan Project, which included a group of top scientists, under General Leslie R. Groves, who worked around the clock to try to develop an atomic bomb within three years (Bondi 493). The Americans and the British combined their efforts to research the development of the bomb and created plants and factories to work in (“The Atomic Bomb…” 257). They created plants for three separate processes: electromagnetic, gaseous diffusion, and thermal diffusion. These plants helped create the plutonium and uranium 235 needed to manufacture the atomic bomb (Gerdes 142). The secrecy of the Manhattan Project was essential in order to develop the atomic bombs to end World War II. The United States and Great Britain kept the development of the atomic bomb a secret (Bondi 493). In order to keep the secret, Groves spread the work out between laboratories so that the people working on the bomb could not figure out they were manufacturing. The members of the Manhattan Project asked the scientists questions about the bomb, and they gave answers back, but they did not know what the responses were for. The project consisted of so many restrictions...
Words: 1557 - Pages: 7
...The Manhattan Project was a top secret project during World War II conducted by the United States, Great Britain, and Canada to develop the first nuclear weapon (the atomic bomb). Once President Truman was informed of the Manhattan Project, he formed a committee to research and discuss the most effective way to use the bomb to shock Japan into surrendering. Based upon the massive loss of lives suffered by both the United States and Japan on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, President Truman knew that it was unlikely that Japan would surrender unconditionally as demanded by the Potsdam Declaration without an invasion of Japan itself. After conferring with advisers, President Truman considered, but ultimately rejected several alternatives to using the bomb....
Words: 1152 - Pages: 5
...Manhattan Project Research Paper Nuclear research all started when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and the United States entered into World War II. When the United States realized that Germany attempted to build an atomic bomb, Americans began to concentrate on their research about creating an atomic bomb. President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Manhattan Project, which included a group of top scientists, under General Leslie R. Groves, who worked around the clock to try to develop an atomic bomb within three years. The Americans and the British combined their efforts to research the development of the bomb and created plants and factories to work in. They created plants for three separate processes: electromagnetic, gaseous diffusion, and thermal diffusion. These plants helped create the plutonium and uranium 235 needed to manufacture the atomic bomb. The secrecy of the Manhattan Project was essential in order to develop the atomic bombs to end World War II. The United States and Great Britain kept the development of the atomic bomb a secret. In order to keep the secret, Groves spread the work out between laboratories so that the people working on the bomb could not figure out they were manufacturing. The members of the Manhattan Project asked the scientists questions about the bomb, and they gave answers back, but they did not know what the responses were for. The project consisted of so many restrictions for the employees in order to keep the secrecy...
Words: 1420 - Pages: 6
...States of America launched the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima and later on Nagasaki. This was the period of panic, which the entire earth had opened its eye to be mesmerized by the horror of the atomic holocaust. President Harry Truman and Secretary of War Henry Stimson used the nuclear weapons; Little Boy and Fat Man merely as a military action to escape the loss of nearly millions of bodies in the next invasion on the Island of Kyushu. Even though Truman and Stimson saved up to millions of lives they still caused millions of innocent deaths. Around the year of 1942 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt introduced the Manhattan Project after he had found out that the British were on...
Words: 529 - Pages: 3
...Substitute Materials in attempt to create the world’s first atomic bombs. The bombs were planned to be used against the Axis powers, specifically the Japanese after their refusal to surrender unconditionally to the Allies in 1945. The Development of Substitute Materials, more widely known as its later codename the Manhattan Project, was created in 1942 and was in effect until 1946- after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. The bombings of Hiroshima and...
Words: 1376 - Pages: 6
...The Finishers The use of the two atomic bombs in early August of 1945 was among the huge turning points that lead to the end of World War Two. The organization responsible for the research and development of these nuclear weapons was known as the Manhattan project. The development of this bomb changed the way scientists, as well as the rest of the world, looked at nuclear energy. It also help in bringing along one of the biggest arms races in history, the cold war. So why was this atomic bomb produced? It all started with the discovery of nuclear fission by German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann in 1938. This is what made the idea of creating an atomic bomb a very possible theory. The Manhattan project was created in 1942 “During its four years of existence the Manhattan Project mobilized over 120,000 people—including most of the United States' physicists, chemists, engineers, doctors, and technicians, along with a small group of outstanding German/Austrian refugee scientists—into 37 top-secret installations.” (Avery, 383) This made the Manhattan project as big as the auto industry at the time. Basically, the creation of the atomic bomb was inspired by the fear that Germany would make one first, which is what they were on track of doing. On August 6, 1946, a Boeing B-29 Bomber named the Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets, and dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan. “Little Boy” exploded 2,000 feet above Hiroshima in a blast equal to 15 kilotons of TNT,...
Words: 746 - Pages: 3
