Classified: The Manhattan Project^2

Introduction

1943, World War II is in full swing. Somewhere in the world, German scientists are on their way to creating an invincible weapon of mass destruction. The nuclear bomb. There are some who know that if the Nazis get to create this bomb, there will be no chance for the allies. They go to Einstein and ask him if he will write United States president Roosevelt a warning. After many drinks Einstein agrees, and they plan a letter to warn the US government of the new sciences emerging in Germany. Soon Roosevelt puts in place the Manhattan Project. A project dedicated to creating a nuclear bomb. The operation was top secret, run by General Groves and Robert Oppenheimer. They built a town known as Los Alamos to house the employees and their families, keeping them secluded and the secret safe from the rest of the world. On July 16, 1945 they detonated the first atomic bomb at the Trinity Site. On August 6th, they dropped the first uranium atomic bomb known as Little Boy on Japan at Hiroshima. Three days later on August 9th, they dropped a second bomb made with plutonium on Nagasaki, Japan. These bombs killed thousands, and made way for a nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union.

On October 3rd, 2019 the grade 11 PLP class made our way to New Mexico to learn of these things first hand. We were to visit the places where it all happened, and learn in depth about the Manhattan Project and it’s outcomes to answer the question; How did the development of the atomic bomb change the world in a historically significant way?

The History & Science Of

The Atomic Bomb

Overview

History

The first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6th, 1945 by the Americans on Hiroshima, Japan. It was created originally to be prepared against the Germans in WWII, but the Germans were no longer the main threat when the President of the United States at the time, Harry Truman, dropped The Bomb. The lead up to the creation of the atomic bomb began with scientific discoveries by people such as Marie and Pierre Curie, and worked its way through to The Manhattan Project with scientists such as Enrico Fermi. 600,000 people were involved in it’s creation, and it costed over $2 billion to make. Millions of people died in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the outcomes altered the worlds reality forever.

Nuclear Science 101

Fission -the splitting (of an atom)- in the form of a chain reaction can create an explosion, and in the case of U-235 (Uranium) can create a nuclear bomb. Fusion (sticking together) on the other hand results in the same thing, creating enough pressure to explode within itself. When the element fusing is Plutonium, it creates another kind of nuclear bomb. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima was a uranium bomb, the one on Nagasaki was a plutonium bomb, and only worked to 1.4% of its potential.

The Trinity Site

The Trinity Site was the site of which the testing for the first atomic bomb took place. A space of desert land in New Mexico dedicated to be where they (the creators) finally tested their new bomb to see if all that work had been for good reason. Through the testing of the bomb, a desert area in the middle of nowhere became a place of great interest: the place where The Bomb was first exposed to human eyes. People who worked at the site were amazed, and could see it with their eyes closed for years after.

Stand Up Video

Photo

Los Alamos Historic Site

Interview

Los Alamos: The town of action.
In the middle of nowhere in the desert of New Mexico, a town was built. This town, Los Alamos, was built solely to house the people of the Manhattan Project. From scientists to plumbers, anyone who worked on Project Y was living in the town. They had everything a town needed; shelter, community services, parties, pools, roads, the only thing missing was small businesses... and the town was surrounded by barbed wire. People who had agreed to work on the project were moved away from their homes, families, jobs, just to live in a military town and work on a project they didn’t know the final product of. Those who moved there had to be convinced well to do so. They were moving to a new place without knowing what they were working on, and why they couldn’t talk about it. All they knew was they were helping the war effort.

Note: The work being done for the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos was known as Project Y