Summary
The quest for the atomic bomb found its roots in the theories of Albert Einstein and his famous formula of E=MC2. In 1939 Einstein at the request of physicist Leo Szilard drafted a letter warning President Roosevelt that Germany was on the verge of creating a weapon that if they were successful would end the war in favor of the Axis. They implored President Roosevelt to recognize this danger and to have the United States begin their own atomic program. Roosevelt shared their concerns and first authorized a commission to look into this weapons possibility then once assured that the theories were sound authorized the start of the Manhattan Project to develop the bomb.
Beginning with the first detonation of Operation Trinity in the United States deserts to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the atom bomb delivered all that Szilard believed it could and more.
The first successful testing of an atomic bomb was the mission of Operation Trinity as part of The Manhattan Project. In a very short time after the bomb was successfully tested two more bombs would be made to drop on the cities of Hiroshima (Fatman) and Nagasaki (Little Boy). The bombs were both built for maximum destruction but were made from different designs to test which catalyst provided the best results, plutonium or uranium.
Little Boy (the Hiroshima bomb), fueled by highly enriched uranium-235, was triggered by a simple "gun" mechanism; a small, slug-shaped piece of uranium was fired down a barrel into a larger, cup-shaped piece. This elementary design generated a destructive force of about 15 kilotons—the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT.
Fat Man (the Nagasaki bomb) was triggered by a much more complex implosion-type device. It consisted of a plutonium core surrounded by high explosives wired to explode simultaneously. The shock waves from these conventional explosions triggered the fission of the plutonium, which yielded a 22 kiloton explosion.
The use of these bombs have been argued and questioned since the day they were dropped. The United States government claims that by dropping these bombs they saved hundreds of thousands American lives and show studies stipulating that Japan would have lost the same amount of people both civilian and military if an conventional invasion had occurred. The dropping of the bomb is at best a moral dilemma and at worst mankind at its lowest level of callus brutality. What would you have done if you had to make the decision? Would you drop the bomb?
The quest for the atomic bomb found its roots in the theories of Albert Einstein and his famous formula of E=MC2. In 1939 Einstein at the request of physicist Leo Szilard drafted a letter warning President Roosevelt that Germany was on the verge of creating a weapon that if they were successful would end the war in favor of the Axis. They implored President Roosevelt to recognize this danger and to have the United States begin their own atomic program. Roosevelt shared their concerns and first authorized a commission to look into this weapons possibility then once assured that the theories were sound authorized the start of the Manhattan Project to develop the bomb.
Beginning with the first detonation of Operation Trinity in the United States deserts to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the atom bomb delivered all that Szilard believed it could and more.
The first successful testing of an atomic bomb was the mission of Operation Trinity as part of The Manhattan Project. In a very short time after the bomb was successfully tested two more bombs would be made to drop on the cities of Hiroshima (Fatman) and Nagasaki (Little Boy). The bombs were both built for maximum destruction but were made from different designs to test which catalyst provided the best results, plutonium or uranium.
Little Boy (the Hiroshima bomb), fueled by highly enriched uranium-235, was triggered by a simple "gun" mechanism; a small, slug-shaped piece of uranium was fired down a barrel into a larger, cup-shaped piece. This elementary design generated a destructive force of about 15 kilotons—the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT.
Fat Man (the Nagasaki bomb) was triggered by a much more complex implosion-type device. It consisted of a plutonium core surrounded by high explosives wired to explode simultaneously. The shock waves from these conventional explosions triggered the fission of the plutonium, which yielded a 22 kiloton explosion.
The use of these bombs have been argued and questioned since the day they were dropped. The United States government claims that by dropping these bombs they saved hundreds of thousands American lives and show studies stipulating that Japan would have lost the same amount of people both civilian and military if an conventional invasion had occurred. The dropping of the bomb is at best a moral dilemma and at worst mankind at its lowest level of callus brutality. What would you have done if you had to make the decision? Would you drop the bomb?