The Manhattan Project Research Paper

It was August, 1939. United States President Franklin Roosevelt reads a letter sent to him from prominent scientists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard. The purpose of this letter was to inform the President that the Germans supposedly discovered the secrets to developing nuclear weaponry and to urge the President to do the same (1). This letter changed the course of human history; from this letter came the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was the code-name given to the American research and development of an atomic bomb. The high-stakes chess game of World War Two was in full swing, and every move each side played sent a wave of reaction throughout the world, as did the news of the German’s advancements. Even though the United States

This combination created a critical mass that set off a fission chain reaction to eventually detonate the bomb. The two masses of U-235 had to combine with one another quickly enough to avoid the spontaneous fission of the atoms, which would cause the bomb to fizzle, and thus fail to explode.” In other words, one piece of uranium was sent flying into another to create an incredible explosion. The gun-type design “resembled a cannon” (12), and scientists could only assume it to be a functional design since no tests could be conducted without draining the remaining supply of U-235, which made the production of another like “Little Boy” impossible.

on July 16, 1945, Los Alamos scientists detonated a plutonium bomb at a test site located on the U.S. Air Force base at Alamogordo, New Mexico, some 120 miles south of Albuquerque,” states History.com (13), an event dubbed the Trinity Test by Oppenheimer. Through this test, scientists received information on the amount of energy released from the bomb as well as how it detonates in regards to its symmetrical expectation. They also surveyed the damage the bomb caused as well as the fireball produced upon ignition. According to history.com, the mushroom cloud was “some 40,000 feet across” and it contained “power equivalent to around 21,000 tons of TNT” (12). Ushistory.org states, “A blinding flash visible for 200 miles lit up the morning sky,” (2). At first, joy and a sense of accomplishment filled all those who had a hand in developing the bomb, as most had questioned it it would be successful. However, that jubilance soon turned to “more sober reflections” (13) as the weapons true power set in, and as osti.gov writes, “Expressions of horror and remorse are especially common in the later writings of those who were present,” (13). Feelings aside, the scientists had completed the job their country asked of them, and it was time for the accomplishments of thousands of Americans to be put to