History of the Manhattan Project - Research Paper Example

A Critical Analysis of the History of the Manhattan Project Introduction The Second World War ended in Europe in June 1945 when the German representative of Adolf Hitler made an unconditional surrender on behalf of the Nazi government. However, the war persisted in Asia for another month or so. This was because the Japanese maintained a high degree of military control over the territory they had captured under the aegis of the Axis connection with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The war in Asia was ended when two atomic bombs were dropped on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This led to the unconditional surrender of Japan. This paper examines the Manhattan project which led to the creation of the atomic bomb. The paper would evaluate the the detailed history behind the Manhattan project. It would examine the history behind the project and assess the creators of the project. It would also include an in-depth assessment of the role the Manhattan project in World War II and the effects it created. Early Origins In 1938, German scientists discovered that if your bombarded elements of uranium with neutrans, you would split the nucleus of the atom and this could create enormous heat and a blast1. The Germans called this nuclear fission because it was similar to the split of asexual organisms in their reproduction process. Prior to that era, scientists in Europe had collaborated freely with no signs of hostility. The various scholars collaborated in cities like Cambridge, Rome and Berlin where they shared ideas and views on inventions and new ways of improving science. However, the rise of Nazism and Fascism split Europe and put the Jewish population of physicists and scientists in danger. In the 1930s and 1940s, many of these Jewish scientists fled Germany and parts of Europe due to the inimical ideologies that sought to annihilate the Jewish people. Most of these scientists ended up in the United States of America. A notable example is Albert Einstein who got himself a job in the Princeton University. In the 1930s, theoretical Physics was like an esoteric science which was known by a handful of people2. Thus, most scientists doubted the power of nuclear fusion and the possibility of splitting uranium atoms to create powerful bombs. However, Hungarian-born physicist, Leo Szilard knew of the German attempts to develop the atomic bomb. He organized two other Jewish-European migrants to discuss the threat. Szilard made it clear that Hitler's acquisition of the atomic bomb could make him the winner of a war between Germany and the free world. Szilard and his colleagues asked Einstein to intervene in the matter. Thus, in Summer 1939, they met Einstein and discussed the matter with him. Einstein immediately saw the danger of the threat and drafted a letter and set it through a friend to President Roosevelt3. Roosevelt took listened to the dangers of the atomic bomb and took some steps to deal with it. To this end, he set up a small committee called the “Advisory Committee on Uranium”. This included the head of the Bureau of Standardization. Szilard and his fellow scientists carried out a couple of tests but the US military was not impressed about the possibility of the atomic bomb to become the deciding factor in any war against Germany. They were despised as a group of 'foreign scientists' who did not have anything to offer the United States. Towards the end of 1939, Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began. Leo Szilard was given a place in the Columbia University where Enrico Fermi another Italian professor had been given a position4. In this process, Szilard and Fermi did a couple of studies on the Uranium atom and they were able to show proof that the atom could be used to conduct various chain reactions that could lead to major explosions. After gathering enough evidence, a meeting was conducted by Lyman Briggs, head of the Military Bureau of Standardization. Briggs was showed clear evidence of the potency of the uranium fission. Briggs wrote to US President Roosevelt and stated that the uranium fission could create bombs that can cause more destruction than anything ever known5. Through this, Briggs sent a proposal to the National Defense Research Committee for funding to undertake serious research into the Uranium atom. Parties & Units Involved Eventually, Briggs led an NDRC application for $167,000 to fund the research into Uranium isotopes6. In June 1941, US President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8807 which created the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD). This was to create a system through which large scale research could be conducted on the Uranium atom and also improve it for use in military circumstances. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, British scientists were studying the Uranium atom. The University of Birmingham was the main center for the development of the British atomic project7. In March 1940, the British formed the Maud Committee to handle the large scale development of the atomic bomb so that it could be used in military warfare. This was meant to expand and improve the engineering of the processes and enable the bomb to be developed in large quantities and deployed to the Royal Forces where necessary8. Like all other British military endeavors, it was done in conjunction with the different colonies and dependencies. In 1940, an Australian scientist on the British Maud committee flew to the United States and convinced the Americans to commit more efforts to their atomic program. This scientist was able to add more voice to the demands for the Untied States to take the atomic program seriously. In October 1941, the US authorized the Atomic Program and entrusted it to the Army instead of the Navy because it was risk to carry it out in vulnerable locations9. In June 1942, it was settled that the military and large scale manufacturing should of the atomic bomb should go ahead. So the New York Office of the Atom project was set up in Broadway. This was was to create an administrative center for liaising with the various points on the ground and also provide a direct linkage and contact with Washington for the transmission of information to the Presidency. Location of the Project The district within which the New York Office was located was not clear. However, it was close to the Manhattan office of Stone and Webster, so the project took the name of the district as the tradition of military programs had established10. Thus, the Manhattan Project was commissioned and it was carried out through the various engineers who were deployed to different locations for the manufacture of various component parts and the completion of various research works that came together to form the atomic bomb. The main sites include the following: 1. Oak Ridge 2. Hartford 3. Los Alamo These were the core sites where activities were carried out for the creation of the atomic bomb and the conduct of research into it after 1942. At that time in history, it was believed that Uranium deposits were found in Canada, Colorado, Czechoslovakia and Belgian Congo in Africa11. However, the United States sought to maintain its autonomy by mining ore in Colorado instead of relying on suppliers outside the USA. When the ores were mined, they were sent to the Oak Ridge plant where they isotope separation was carried out. The thermal diffusion were also carried out in Oak Ridge. However, there were at least twenty different military plants and pointers throughout the United States that provided various levels of support for the running of the Manhattan Project. One plant and center was located in Canada and this was also linked tot he main plants throughout the United States. Intermediate Findings By 1943, a model for the implosion of the atomic bomb had been discovered. The Untied States had created a system that could theoretically lead to serious and major explosions with the atomic bomb12. A model for the plutonium implosion was identified and created as a prototype for further activities and actions. This became known as the Thin Man an was 10 feet long and 1.5 to 2.5 feet long. However, the Thin Man at that time was made with a very simple separation process. There was no known advanced chemical separation. It was done in a very simple way and manner that was quite complicated and difficult to attain. Further research caused it to be improved and the separation process was enhanced. It was improved and the idea was to drop it from a flying airplane to cause damage on enemy targets. Final Weapons & Usage On July 16, 1945, an experiment was carried codenamed Gadget in the US State of New Mexico13. The test, which became known as the Trinity test to the public involved the explosion of the atomic bombs that were available in the barren desert of New Mexico. This was carried out carefully to prevent other external parties from knowing about the existence of the bomb. After the bomb worked, it was ready to be used in warfare against the enemies of the Allies. At this point, the war in Europe had ended. However, the Japanese military was fighting strongly in Asia and the rest of the World. The Japanese philosophy was to liberate all Asian countries and install puppet governments that were in favor of the Japanese government. In the process, the Japanese had caused serious human rights violations. In China, they had killed many people for allegedly being against the Japanese colonial policy. In the process, Japan had unseated various European colonial governments in the reason with their Asia for Asians policy. They had liberated the island of Indonesia and they had also conquered parts of Vietnam and Myanmar or Burma. It was apparent that they would try to conquer Australia and enter India, where the British colonial government was fighting for survival. With that, there was a chance that the Japanese expansion could move into the Arab world and potentially threaten Europe. Britain had created a buffer in the jungles of Burma and Australia had also been able to ward off Japanese aggression through its relatively advanced Air Force. The Chinese Nationalists and Communists were fighting hard to expel Japanese troops. However, the attitudes of the Japanese in warfare was very disturbing. According to some War Historians, the Japanese always fought to death and it was almost impossible for any country to have a fair chance of restraining the Japanese to surrender in the war14. All efforts to reach the Japanese Ministry of War for any kind of negotiation was unsuccessful. However, the US military found it a little too expensive to use US troops against Japan. This is because the US had already lost tens of thousands of their citizens fighting against the Nazis and some estimates indicated that any attempt to try to take over from the Japanese could prove to add up to the casualties. Thus the US reached a consensus to use the first nuclear bombs of the Manhattan Project against the Japanese in the war. Usage in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Three weeks after the first successful test in New Mexico, the United States deployed Little Boy, a smaller version of the nuclear bomb to be used in Hiroshima by the US Forces. Little Boy weighed 4,400 kgs and it was 3 meters in length and 710 mm in diameter. The US troops flew Post World War II Conclusion Bibliography Cohen, David. The Manhattan Project (New York: Twenty First Century Books, 1999) This book provides a detailed Jewish account of the role of the Jewish emigres to the United States played in initiating the development of the atomic bomb. The book provides a detailed account of the various stages that the Jewish people of the Untied States went through before they created the atomic bomb. Groves, Leslie. Now It Can be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project (New York De Capo Press, 2009) This book summarizes and presents classified documents that existed in relation to the atomic bomb and the Manhattan project in the 1940s. It provides graphic and detailed accounts of what was done and the efforts to conceal them in order to create an atomic bomb for warfare in theUnited States. Hewlett, Richard G and Anderson, Oscar E.. The New World, 1939–1946. (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1962) This book was written after the Second World War and provides various original and first hand account about the way the atomic bomb was developed. It provides an insight into the basic activities that were carried out and the commissioned projects that were conducted by the US government Jones, Vincent. Manhattan, the Army and the Atomic Bomb (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1985) This is a government authorized document on how the atomic bomb was produced. It provides a graphic account of the stages in the creation of the atomic bomb and how it contributed to the overall creation of the atomic bomb by the US military. Kelly Cynthia. The Manhattan Project (New York: Black Dog and Levanthal Publishers, 2009) This is a collection of original actions and first hand accounts of incidents that occurred in the creation of the atomic bomb. It includes first hand historical accounts that were given by people involved in the creation of the bomb. This gives an insight to the early days of the development of the Manhattan project. Nickell David. Guidebook for the Scientific Tourist (Rutgers University Press, 2011) This book is a guide for people who seek to tour various scientific tourist attractions. It provides a strong description and background for various significant places of scientific interest. The portion relating to the atomic bomb and the Manhattan project is critiqued and examined in this paper. Schwartz Stephen. Atomic Audit: The Lists and Consequences of US Nuclear Weapons Since 1940 (Brookings Institute Press, 1998) This book discusses the environmental and economic consequences of the US atomic program since it started in 1941. It evaluates the consequences on the environment and on the enemies it is used against as well as the US government budget. Szasz, Ferenc. The British Scientists and the Manhattan Project (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1992) This book focuses on the role of British scientists in the development of a nuclear program. It describes how Britain arranged its nuclear processes and how it was connected with the American Manhattan project. Read More