Manhattan Project History

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Soon, Compton became more involved with human problems, his interest soon led him to the greatest challenge of his life and leadership responsibility. During World War II, physics research had changed drastically, especially for Compton. Compton became involved in the “uranium problem” that led to the evolution of nuclear reactors and soon after, the atomic bomb. On November 6th, 1941, Compton introduced a report on the military uses of atomic energy with the help of physicist, Ernest O. Lawrence. His presentation set forth many possibilities. Lawrence had told Compton about the unearthing of plutonium. This discovery had changed the probability for atomic energy. The commencement of the Manhattan Project in the U.S. was predominantly because …show more content…
Albert Einstein was escaping from Nazi persecution because he was Jewish. And Enrico Fermi was escaping from fascist Itay. They were both living in the United States. Nuclear facilities were located in Oak Ridge, Tennesee and Hanford, Washington, but the main assembly plant was located in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The scientists had to be very quiet about this project, if anything was leaked, Japan or Germany could potentially sabotage their plan. Therefore, the Manhattan Project was so covert, that not ever vice president Truman knew about this project. The scientists had to work very cautiously and not give away anything. Compton and Lawrence had started this project so that they could build the atomic bomb before the Germans to avoid worldwide annihilation and so that they could end the war with Japan. Once the two bombs, Little Boy and Fat Man were built, the United States dropped o]them onto two cities in Japan. Little Boy was dropped onto Hiroshima and Fat Man was dropped onto Nagasaki. On August 14th, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II. “Every great discovery I ever made, I gambled that the truth was there, and then I acted in faith until I could prove it’s existence”

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