Life With The Bomb

Forward/History

There were many events leading up to the discovery of nuclear fission. Even though fission opened the door for nuclear power and weaponry, its scientific discovery was based on a different theory. If you were to think of this entire stem of history as if it was an explosion itself, Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Fritz Strassmann would evidently be the spark lightning the fuse. These three scientists brought together by the intriguing new possibilities of radioactivity, would eventually find the key to unlocking one of the most important scientific discoveries of their time.

This photograph was taken at Dr. Meitner's home in Cambridge, UK, when she received the Enrico Fermi award for 1966, shared with Hahn and Strassmann.

1931 — Heavy Hydrogen or Deuterium is discovered by Harold C. Urey.

1932 — The atom is split by John Crockcroft and E.T.S. Walton of Great Britain, thereby proving Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

1933 — Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard realizes the possibility of the nuclear chain reaction.

1934 — The first nuclear fission is achieved by Enrico Fermi of Italy.

1939 — The Theory of Nuclear Fission is announced by Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch.

Table Of Contents

Chapter One: Nuclear Physics

• January 26, 1939, The Discovery of Fission

• January 29,1939, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and The Fission War

• August 2, 1939, Albert Einstein, Leo Szilard and The Letter

Chapter Two: The Second World War and The Manhattan Project

• September 1, 1939, The War Begins

• December 6, 1941, FDR Authorizes The Creation of The Manhattan Project

• September 23, 1942, The Introduction of Leslie Groves

Chapter Three: Nuclear Weaponry

• December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi and The First Controlled Nuclear Fission Reaction

• April 12, 1945, The Change of Presidency

Table Of Contents Ext.

Chapter Four: The Beginning of The End

• May 25, 1945-July 1, 1945, Leo Szilard Warns The President and Signs a Petition

• July 13, 1945-July 16, 1945, ‘Unconditional Surender’ and The Trinity Test

• July 21, 1945, President Truman Orders Atomic Bombs to be Used

Chapter Five: The Bombs

• August 6, 1945, Little Boy

• August 9, 1945, Fat Man

Chapter Four: Impacts and Reconciliation

• August 9, 1945, President Trumans Speech

• September 2, 1945, Japan Formally Surrenders

• Impacts on Canada and New Mexico, Interviews & Historical Significance

January 26, 1939

This particular date marks the start of something powerful. On the 26th of January, at the George Washington University, Neil’s Bohr announces of the findings of Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Fritz Strassmann. The result of this new scientific break through is “fission,” releasing two hundred million electron volts of energy. (200 MeV) The announcement came just weeks after Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, two of Bohr’s colleagues in Copenhagen, reported that they had discovered the element Barium after bombarding Uranium with neutrons.

Neils Bohr

Canada Science and Technology Museum’s Video on Basic Nuclear Fission and its Discovery

January 29, 1939

On the 29th of January J. Robert Oppenheimer hears about the discovery of fission. Within a few minutes, he realizes that excess neutrons must be emitted, and that it might be possible to build a nuclear chain reaction. By the time the Manhattan Project was launched in the fall of 1942, Oppenheimer was already considered an exceptional theoretical physicist and had become deeply involved in exploring the possibility of an atomic bomb.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer's ID badge from the Los Alamos Laboratory

A group of physicists at the 1946 Los Alamos colloquium on the Super. In the front row are Norris Bradbury, John Manley, Enrico Fermi and J.M.B. Kellogg. Behind Manley is Oppenheimer (wearing a jacket and tie)

Julius Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Later on Oppenheimer became the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is often credited as being, “the father of the atomic bomb.”

August 2, 1939

Leo Szilard

Leo Szilard moved to the United States in 1938, where he worked with Enrico Fermi and Walter Zinn on means of creating a nuclear chain reaction. On August 2, 1939, after working tirelessly with fellow Hungarian physicists Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner, Szilard wrote a letter warning the Franklin D. Roosevelt that Germany might be developing atomic bombs and that the United States should start its own nuclear program. To get this message directly to FDR Leo needed a signature from Albert Einstein, a celebrity inside and outside of the science world. FDR and Einstein also had a previous relationship, so his signature would also help to make sure the letter was taken in a non threatening way. When he was brought the letter, Einstein just nodded his head and signed.

Leo Szilard was a Hungarian-American physicist and inventer. He theorized the nuclear chain reaction, and patented the idea for something he called a non-fission reactor. Possibly one of his most significant creations, was that he wrote the letter for Albert Einstein’s signature that resulted in the creation of the Manhattan Project

The Letter

September 1, 1939

On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland, this led Britain and France to declare war on Hitler’s Nazi state in retaliation. From the invasion of Poland until the war ended with Japan’s surrender in September 1945, most nations around the world were engaged in armed combat.

Even though America didn’t start to fight in the war until much later, the start of the war became just the pressure Leo Szilard needed to get his letter signed. Although in many historical pieces they quote FDR as being “a man of action,” some might wonder what choice he really had faced with a possible world war.

Dates
September 1, 1939 – September 2, 1945

Location
Europe, Pacific, Atlantic, South-East Asia, China, Middle East, Mediterranean and Northern Africa.

Commanders
Allies:

Joseph Stalin
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Winston Churchill
Chiang Kai-shek
Charles de Gaulle

Axis:

Adolf Hitler
Hirohito
Benito Mussolini’s

On December 6, 1941 FDR authorizes the Manhattan Engineering District for the purpose of creating an atomic bomb. This will later be called the 'Manhattan Project'. At first the research was based at only a few universities — Columbia University, the University of Chicago and the University of California at Berkeley. A breakthrough occurred in December 1942, when Fermi led a group of physicists to produce the first controlled nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago. (pg 11)

December 6, 1941

This is a video of J. Robert Oppenheimer talking about his experience of the Trinity Test. Here he states his famous quote, “I am become death, destroyer of worlds.”

Later on the Manhattan Project started to take shape and the scientists moved to a top secret location in New Mexico called “Project Y”, later called Los Alamos. As well as the new Los Alamos facility, the Manhattan project branched out as it required precious resources for the creation of the bombs. Nuclear materials were processed in reactors located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Hanford, Washington. At its peak, the Manhattan Project employed 130,000 Americans at thirty-seven facilities across the country.

September 23, 1942

Leslie Groves

On September 23, 1942, Colonel Leslie Groves was placed in charge of the Manhattan Project. Even though his initial wishes were to go over seas, he was persuaded when offered the title of a General. As project leader, he was in charge of all of the project's phases, including scientific, technical and process development; construction; production; security and military intelligence of enemy activities; and planning for use of the bomb.

Leslie Groves(left), J Robert Oppenheimer(right)

That Oppenheimer and Groves should have worked so well together is really no mystery. Groves saw in Oppenheimer an "overweening ambition" that drove him. He understood that Oppenheimer was frustrated and disappointed; that his contributions to theoretical physics had not brought him the recognition he believed he deserved. This project could be his route to immortality. Part of Groves' genius was to entwine other people's ambitions with his own. Groves and Oppenheimer got on so well because each saw in the other the skills and intelligence necessary to fulfill their common goal, the successful use of the bomb in World War II...They treated each other in special ways. Oppenheimer could at times be sarcastic with students or colleagues who could not keep up with his quick mind. Not so with Groves. He patiently answered whatever query the general asked. On Groves' part he treated Oppenheimer delicately, like a fine instrument that needed to be played just right.

~Robert S. Norris, Racing for the Bomb: General Leslie R. Groves, the Manhattan Project's Indispensable Man